Doug and Lila Groth
ECMI
Winter 2017/2018
Dear Friend,
Only 3 more months until our planned return to Poland. Shortly after Lila’s arrival at the end of August we were able to attend a 2 week long intensive care course for missionaries. It was even more helpful than we had anticipated and did much to help us “get back on our feet”. Many people have asked us how we are using our time here. We have been helping, each Tuesday, with a ministry to feed homeless people – Jesus Table – which is sponsored by our home church, Cedar Mill Bible Church. We have also been helping with a refugee ministry that our church also sponsors. We are so thankful for the time we can spend here with our family. Our daughter, Natalia, was able to come with Lila and stay for 3 weeks (the last time she was able to visit was 9 years ago). We have been able to spend lots of time with Philip and the rest of our family here. This is the first time that we’ve been able to spend the holidays with our family here in over 20 years. I (Doug) have been helping with physical work around our home church. Lila has been doing lots of reading. We were able to take a short vacation at the beach thanks to a gift from friends. We have also been visiting all our supporting churches (4 in Washington, 3 in Oregon and 1 in California) and have enjoyed speaking at services and visiting with friends there.
Sometimes we can see clearly how God is “working behind the scenes”. We are seriously considering joining a new church plant in another part of Poland when we return, Lord willing, at the end of Feb. 2018. One of the leaders in this church plant is a grafic designer and his dream has been to design athletic shoes. He applied for a training course he saw offered in Portland and didn’t get accepted. After we came to Portland he applied again and this time he was accepted. God’s timing is perfect. His course runs from Sept. 25 to Dec. 15 and he is staying with us in the house our church is letting us use. We are able to help him connect with key people. He is able to come home after an exhausting day to a hot meal and be able to speak Polish. We are having lots of good team building time together!
We celebrated Thanksgiving a few days ago. We have much to be thankful for. “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” (Ps. 103:2) “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Ps. 100:5). Thank you for your continued support.
Please pray;
-for our grown kids, Natalia and Philip. Pray that God would lead them and keep them close to Himself
-that we will make the best possible use of our time here, meeting with family, friends and supporters
-that God will prepare us for all He has ahead of us when we return to Poland, Lord willing, at the end of Feb.
-for the ministries we are involved in. For opportunities to serve, share the gospel and make disciples
Thank you, Doug and Lila
Doug and Lila Groth
620 NW 123rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97229
tel. 01 (503) 858 2713
dlgroth55@gmail.com
ECMI-USA
5550 Tech Center Dr.
Suite 307
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
george.brown@ecmi.org
www.ecmi-usa.org