Doug and Lila Groth
ECMI
February 2017
“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mk. 4:35-41) This is the passage I believe the Lord gave us before all the troubles began in the Rabka church.
Everything started because of an interpersonal conflict between two leaders in the Rabka church. One of them accused the other in a very unloving, hurtful and condemning way in front of the other members of the church. As a result three couples decided to leave the church. To our amazement, most of the other church members also decided to leave and they now meet in the home of the man who started the conflict. Many hurtful things were said and long time relationships were destroyed. What we are especially aware of is that we are involved in a spiritual battle and have an enemy who wants to destroy all that is good and from the Lord. At the same time, we are beginning to see the sun starting to shine again after the storm and these are a few examples of the positive signs that we are seeing as we emerge from the storm.
A few weeks ago we sent out one of the members of the Rabka church to be a full time missionary in the Middle East (see attached history). Also an experienced, trusted Polish missionary couple has agreed to come to Rabka for a year to serve in and lead the Rabka church ahead. Another indication of God’s providence is that Lila and I are scheduled for a year long “sabbatical” in Oregon; something that was planned before the Rabka church “blow up”! This will give us a chance to rest and recuperate that will include a 2 week intensive care course for cross-cultural missionaries that our home church, Cedar Mill Bible Church, has graciously agreed to pay for. By then we can begin to focus on the next phase of our life and ministry.
We have served the Lord as missionaries and church leaders in Poland for over 30 years. We have had the joy of seeing people come to know Him and grow as true disciples of His. We have experienced many disappointments and heart-aches. We have seen God do miracles, make a way when there was no way ahead. We have learned many valuable, difficult lessons. We believe that the Lord isn’t finished with us yet and that the best days of life and ministry are still ahead of us – “…you have saved the best till now.” (Jn. 2:10)
Please pray with us;
-For the Rabka church
-That we will make the best possible use of our time in the States
-That God will clearly show us the next steps in our life and ministry
You did not choose me Word Document
Thank you, Doug and Lila
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Doug and Lila Groth
32-434 Skomielna Biala
Nr. 623 POLAND
douggroth@poczta.onet.pl
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ECMA-USA
P.O. Box 2217
Monument, CO
80132-2279
george.brown@ecmi.org
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