Dear ones, we've received yet another letter of encouragement from long-time partners in ministry. In fact, they are the first people God used to encourage us in this ministry journey in Hungary and Romania. So read below and then continue on to the two additional blogs added in recent days.
Blessings to all,
Rob and Carol
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The following is from Lowell and Sally Senitz, Missionaries to women and children who are victims of slavery, working through Safe Houses Int'l, Inc. If you are interested in being a part of this worthwhile work for the Lord, you can contact Lowell and Sally at: wingsofshelter@aol.com
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Rob and Carol, our friends whom we've prayed for for over 10 years!
Amazing is all that we can say! Our God is Amazing that he has taken a couple out of the middle of America with children and grandchildren at the point of most people's retirement and given them a heart to serve others - on the other side of the World! Amazing is our God who 'places the desires upon our hearts as we follow Him and look toward Him'. Amazing our 'God who fulfills the desires of our hearts'! Amazing is our God who gives those strength and ability as they reach out to serve others! Amazing is the love of God that flows through His servants who are obedient to Him!
Amazing are our friends, Rob and Carol, who for over 10 years have sought to honor God, to please Him, to offer their life in service for Him, who have been willing to be obedient far beyond their comfort zone. Amazing are our friends, Rob and Carol, who have, without expectation, given such Amazing Love to so many hundreds of people. Amazing are our friends, Rob and Carol, who have been willing to make changes that are so far outside our personal control and personal comfort, for the sake of God's leading and the sake of being obedient to the One who has given them life! Amazing are our friends, Rob and Carol, who literally have poured out their lives to serve others because of their confidence in God's love and ability to give them strength and God's willingness to provide them with resources to do the work. Amazing, our friends, Rob and Carol, who listen to God's voice through the Word of God, though the prompting in their Spirit, through other's Godly counsel, through one another, through open and closed doors----to make major changes in their lives --- according to God's Will.
We love them and know they are blessed! We were the first to take Carol on a missions trip to Romania-10 years ago! We saw her fall in love with those precious ones that had "no one to love them", we saw her go back home to America, after the missions trip and grieve and grieve over the situation that she had left, over the burden to do something for these precious ones, and the desire to 'go' and 'serve' outside of their comfort zone! We saw Rob getting ready to retire as a Chief Executive from a successful American Company and struggle through the decisions that would take himself and his precious wife overseas, away from grandchildren and children, friends and comfort of home. We saw Rob and Carol grow with Christ through the experiences they had, both good and bad, as they took the step to "be willing" to be in Eastern Europe for missions, "forever, if that is what their God called them to do".
Now, 10 years later, God is calling them back home to America! They once gain, will go through the suffering of "letting go of great friends", "letting go of an entire ministry that they have wrapped their lives and hearts around for 10 years". But we see the witness through their "lives poured out for others" and through their obedience to "pick up once more - and move their lives back to America", after establishing 10 years on the missions field.
We pray diligently for Rob and Carol, for God's wisdom, for God's comfort and for God's continued leading and protection upon them! We continue to pray, as we have over the 10 years, that they continue to flow out their love - upon others - that love that nourishes and touches the hearts of 100's that they have been near.
We are excited for them to come back to America...where God's next step is waiting......
We love you Rob and Carol, we stay united in hearts and minds and love,
You are welcome to come to stay with us in Florida for a time of R & R and some 'relaxation in the sun',
We love you, we are in pray for you,
Your friends, Lowell and Sally
Senitz
Rob and Carol's your lives are a living testimony of this verse from the Bible:
Acts 20:35-36 (New International Version)
V.35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
Thursday, January 29, 2009
A Word of Thanks
Recently we received a letter from one of our ministry partners who asked us to post it here for all to read. We are humbled and oh so grateful for all the wonderful people God has brought into our lives during these 10 years living in Debrecen and the three years prior while doing short-term ministry trips.
Be assured we will never forget you our prayer partners, financial supporters, and deeply loved friends.
Here is the letter sent to us...
January 24, 2009
Hospitality Ministry
Rob and Carol Greathouse
Debrecen, Hungary
GoodSports International wants to be one of the first to congratulate Robert and Carol Greathouse for their Hungarian Hospitality Ministry. As your time in Hungary comes to a close, we wanted to thank you for the strong ministry presence that influenced so many lives.
Servanthood is a characteristic that is frequently sought, but rarely lived out. However, servanthood truly defines the quality of your personal and public ministry here in Hungary. Your hearts touched many, the orphans in Miskolc and Debrecen, the Roma in Hadjuborszormeny, the women’s ministry in Romania and the children and coaches involved in the GoodSports program. We are truly--eternally--grateful.
If I were to describe the value of your ministry, I would say that your time in Hungary has encouraged, enabled and empowered the Hungarian church and its community of believers. Led by the Holy Spirit you were frequently present at the inception of new outreach ideas. In many ways you both served as a catalyst for believers to conceive, develop and execute a myriad of missions’ opportunities. As prayer warriors, and wise mentors, you were able to engender hope in so many lives.
So we shout our thanks from baseball, basketball and soccer fields. We shout our thanks from Romanian and Hungarian gypsy communities.
How many children, communities and families do you impact? – At least three countries (Hungary, Romania and the Ukraine) and mission teams from numerous stateside churches.
How many smiles have you enabled - countless.
How many have heard of Christ's love because of your ministry? - This list grows every day.
Thank you, good and faithful servants.
Russell J. Chun
GoodSports International Director
For the Body Sport, for the Spirit Hope....GoodSports International
Be assured we will never forget you our prayer partners, financial supporters, and deeply loved friends.
Here is the letter sent to us...
January 24, 2009
Hospitality Ministry
Rob and Carol Greathouse
Debrecen, Hungary
GoodSports International wants to be one of the first to congratulate Robert and Carol Greathouse for their Hungarian Hospitality Ministry. As your time in Hungary comes to a close, we wanted to thank you for the strong ministry presence that influenced so many lives.
Servanthood is a characteristic that is frequently sought, but rarely lived out. However, servanthood truly defines the quality of your personal and public ministry here in Hungary. Your hearts touched many, the orphans in Miskolc and Debrecen, the Roma in Hadjuborszormeny, the women’s ministry in Romania and the children and coaches involved in the GoodSports program. We are truly--eternally--grateful.
If I were to describe the value of your ministry, I would say that your time in Hungary has encouraged, enabled and empowered the Hungarian church and its community of believers. Led by the Holy Spirit you were frequently present at the inception of new outreach ideas. In many ways you both served as a catalyst for believers to conceive, develop and execute a myriad of missions’ opportunities. As prayer warriors, and wise mentors, you were able to engender hope in so many lives.
So we shout our thanks from baseball, basketball and soccer fields. We shout our thanks from Romanian and Hungarian gypsy communities.
How many children, communities and families do you impact? – At least three countries (Hungary, Romania and the Ukraine) and mission teams from numerous stateside churches.
How many smiles have you enabled - countless.
How many have heard of Christ's love because of your ministry? - This list grows every day.
Thank you, good and faithful servants.
Russell J. Chun
GoodSports International Director
For the Body Sport, for the Spirit Hope....GoodSports International
Friday, January 9, 2009
Going Home!!!
After living and ministering in Hungary for nearly 10 years, we were content thinking we would spend our waning years serving the Lord in Hungary. Whenever Rob was asked how long we planned to be here, he would always answer...forever. When Carol was asked, she responded, as long as God wants us to stay.
God in His infinite wisdom knows the number of hairs on our heads, the number of days each of us will have here on earth, and He knows the number of days we are to stay in His service in Hungary.
For nearly a year, we have been praying and asking God to make His will known to us as it related to our service in Hungary. Little by little, changes began taking place that showed us God was moving to pick up the slack that our leaving would cause.
Carol also began experiencing a need for more contact with members of the family, to be available to and for them in their daily lives. At the same time, we both began noticing health issues which needed to be addressed. Rob, not wishing to avail himself of the Hungarian health system, decided to wait until a permanent move before addressing his health issue.
All this led up to an intense period of prayer at the end of 2008. With like minds, both Rob and I felt God was showing us that the time had come to begin the process of leaving Hungary. This means praying for workers to come alongside the ministries we support, financial support raising to continue so that the ministries can continue to function at the same level, plus we also need to sell the property housing the mission and guest houses.
God has allowed us to see a great deal through these nearly 10 years. We have seen the growth of His church through the planting of churches in Miskolc, Hajduboszormeny, Eger, and Nyiregyhaza. The ministry to the orphanage in Miskolc has grown and been enhanced through the partnership of GoodSports Ministry. There is now an annual English Camp which was solely supported by our sending church for the first two years. There are now numerous sports camps throughout the summer months. The local church with it's focus on evangelism is actively working to start a church plant in Ukraine.
The Gypsy Church in Hajduboszormeny which began with just one couple 8 1/2 years ago, now has a weekly attendance of 8-12 adults and anywhere from 15-25 children. The church has purchased a house which serves as their place of worship. Teams from Germany have come to build fences, build a soccer field at the rear of the large property, built a 4-seat outhouse, and lastly, they have painted the outside of the church building and built a large covered patio for fair weather outdoor activities.
The guest house ministry has had the privilege of hosting an untold number of teams who have assisted in ministering at English and Sports Camps, and evangelistic outreaches to the Gypsy population in Hungary and Romania. We have had the privilege of housing pastors and their families who have never had the opportunity to take a vacation. We have been a home base for several families needing medical care at the local Medical Clinics. And, we have been a home for several families who found themselves "homeless" for a period of time.
We have seen our church grow from a hand-full, meeting in the basement of an old building, to where we are now...with our own property and a growing body of believers. We have been blessed these nearly 10 years to have teaching in English by godly pastors who have had a hand in growing our faith and trust in the Word of God.
With each activity we've been a part of, with each person God has put into our lives, we have been the ones blessed. It never ceases to amaze us that whenever we think we are doing something for the Lord, He turns it around and gives us the blessing.
The emotional attachments we have developed with the people and countries of Hungary and Romania is overwhelming. The idea of never seeing the faces of the people we have come to love and consider as our own family, is overwhelming to us.
Please keep us in your prayers, for continued ministry support to cover the expenses until we can sell the property, for the winding down of our day to day activities as the time draws closer to our leaving, and for mutually encouraging closure with the many people we may never have the opportunity to meet again.
Where we go from here is a mystery. God has yet to reveal those plans to us.
God in His infinite wisdom knows the number of hairs on our heads, the number of days each of us will have here on earth, and He knows the number of days we are to stay in His service in Hungary.
For nearly a year, we have been praying and asking God to make His will known to us as it related to our service in Hungary. Little by little, changes began taking place that showed us God was moving to pick up the slack that our leaving would cause.
Carol also began experiencing a need for more contact with members of the family, to be available to and for them in their daily lives. At the same time, we both began noticing health issues which needed to be addressed. Rob, not wishing to avail himself of the Hungarian health system, decided to wait until a permanent move before addressing his health issue.
All this led up to an intense period of prayer at the end of 2008. With like minds, both Rob and I felt God was showing us that the time had come to begin the process of leaving Hungary. This means praying for workers to come alongside the ministries we support, financial support raising to continue so that the ministries can continue to function at the same level, plus we also need to sell the property housing the mission and guest houses.
God has allowed us to see a great deal through these nearly 10 years. We have seen the growth of His church through the planting of churches in Miskolc, Hajduboszormeny, Eger, and Nyiregyhaza. The ministry to the orphanage in Miskolc has grown and been enhanced through the partnership of GoodSports Ministry. There is now an annual English Camp which was solely supported by our sending church for the first two years. There are now numerous sports camps throughout the summer months. The local church with it's focus on evangelism is actively working to start a church plant in Ukraine.
The Gypsy Church in Hajduboszormeny which began with just one couple 8 1/2 years ago, now has a weekly attendance of 8-12 adults and anywhere from 15-25 children. The church has purchased a house which serves as their place of worship. Teams from Germany have come to build fences, build a soccer field at the rear of the large property, built a 4-seat outhouse, and lastly, they have painted the outside of the church building and built a large covered patio for fair weather outdoor activities.
The guest house ministry has had the privilege of hosting an untold number of teams who have assisted in ministering at English and Sports Camps, and evangelistic outreaches to the Gypsy population in Hungary and Romania. We have had the privilege of housing pastors and their families who have never had the opportunity to take a vacation. We have been a home base for several families needing medical care at the local Medical Clinics. And, we have been a home for several families who found themselves "homeless" for a period of time.
We have seen our church grow from a hand-full, meeting in the basement of an old building, to where we are now...with our own property and a growing body of believers. We have been blessed these nearly 10 years to have teaching in English by godly pastors who have had a hand in growing our faith and trust in the Word of God.
With each activity we've been a part of, with each person God has put into our lives, we have been the ones blessed. It never ceases to amaze us that whenever we think we are doing something for the Lord, He turns it around and gives us the blessing.
The emotional attachments we have developed with the people and countries of Hungary and Romania is overwhelming. The idea of never seeing the faces of the people we have come to love and consider as our own family, is overwhelming to us.
Please keep us in your prayers, for continued ministry support to cover the expenses until we can sell the property, for the winding down of our day to day activities as the time draws closer to our leaving, and for mutually encouraging closure with the many people we may never have the opportunity to meet again.
Where we go from here is a mystery. God has yet to reveal those plans to us.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Christmas with our kids - the orphans from Miskolc
Wow, thank you God...for allowing us to share you with the "graduates" of the Miskolc orphanage. We had the privilege of sharing time together, sharing laughs, and sharing our hearts with one another. We thank God for all the people who came alongside the girls and shared their love and time as well.
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