Doug and Lila Groth
ECMI
February 20156
Dear Friends,
We praise the Lord for what He is doing in the Rabka church in answer to our prayers. From the beginning of our ministry in Rabka we have been praying for and looking for the right Polish people to take leadership of the church. There have been several candidates, both from Rabka and from outside Rabka, but none have worked out. A few years ago a whole family in Rabka came to know Christ through the ministry of the Rabka church. We thank the Lord for Narcyz and Lucyna and their children; Laura (11 years old), Jurek (9 years old) and Luisa (5 years old). Narcyz and Lucyna were baptized in August, 2014 and we also did a re-dedication of their marriage. Shortly after that Laura and Jurek also received Christ as their Savior (a special thanks to Lila for her teaching ministry to kids and parents). Narcyz has developed as a leader and is showing more and more that he has a true pastor’s heart. Lucyna is a real servant to people in the church and has a heart for those who haven’t yet come to know Him. Laura, together with her dad, leads the worship singing in the Rabka church. She is really gifted and does a great job. A few weeks ago Narcyz joined the church leadership team (made up of Narcyz, Alek and Doug).
As for us, Lila and I are planning to spend a year in Oregon beginning in Sept. 2016. There are a few reasons for this. The first reason is that we are required to be resident in the US for six months every 5 years to keep from losing our social security retirement. Secondly, we want to be able to spend time with our family, friends and supporters (both churches and individuals). Families of missionaries also have a price to pay. We’ve been able to spend very little time with our family in the States through the years. A third reason is that we want to have that time to look to the Lord for guidance and prepare for the next stage in our life. We don’t know at this point how the Lord wants us to spend the next 10 to 15 years. Our home church has a house they make available for missionaries to use and we have reserved it for this time.
As for ministry, God continues to give Lila opportunities to use her teaching gift to serve children, parents, other teachers, women and seniors. She is a member of CEF Poland and has recently started a project to organize and teach work shops for other children’s workers in various parts of Poland. Ministry in the Christian grade school in Krakow and in the Rabka church also keep her busy. My main ministry (Doug) is serving as missionary/pastor for the Rabka church. I’m on the church leadership team and do discipleship meetings with other men in the church. The door to Nowy Sacz is still open and I travel there regularly to build relationships, pray and serve in whatever way I can.
Please pray;
-that God will make it clear what He wants us to do in the future. We don’t want it to be a step “down” but “up”. I believe God gave me this verse as a promise of the great things that He has ahead of us; “…but you have saved the best till now.” (Jn.2:10)
-for the Rabka church
-for Narcyz and his family
-that the Lord will help us to make the best possible use of our year in the States
-that God will build His church in Nowy Sacz
Thanks,
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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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