Greg & Betsy Aikins

Iceland

You can contact the Aikins at gregaikins(at)gmail.com (please note that in order to avoid email being added to spam lists, we've listed the Aikins email addresses above with the spelling of the @ sign; therefore when you email them, replace (at) with @). or you can reach them by mail at 665 Harleysville Pike, Telford, PA 18969, (215)723-1100. You can find more information about the organization the Aikins are ministering through by visiting http://www.lifequalityintl.com/.

Link to the Archive page

June 4 2010

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Dear Friends, It has been a while since my last update and I have been wanting to connect with you again for several days now. As I picture a number of you and see your faces, I can’t help but thank the Lord for your love and genuine concern for our welfare. Thanks again so much for taking time to bring us before the Lord in prayer. Family concerns do impact all of us, don’t they? Thank you for your prayers for the ones we have shared with you for your intercession. Betsy’s brother Stephen continues to make a slow recovery after his recent heart attack. Our Katie is here in Iceland right now doing some work with two different YMCA youth camps and we’re enjoying having her around for awhile. Betsy just returned from a week with our kids in Greece and both she and they appreciated her visit. Erika is still job searching, but at the moment is in the process of a serious interview process with a child care center in Norristown, PA for which we are thankful. Please lift her up in prayer will you? We continue to serve the Lord at the Ekron rehabilitation center. I’m coming more and more to realize how important this service is for me personally. The clients are not easy people to work with and so the teaching we do there is not always enjoyable. However, something else is happening within us: Holy-Spirit-produced humility which is so important in being a follower of Jesus and allowing others to see him in us. And there are signs of life. Yesterday, a young man in Betsy’s class began to talk about his spiritual journey and how he felt drawn especially to Buddhism. As Betsy was trying to come up with an appropriate response, another young man in the class who is a believer said most naturally and sincerely, “But if you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything!” This led to a lively discussion between the two of them and ended with Betsy suggesting that the first young man read one of the gospels. We don’t know what all is going on in clients’ hearts, but we do believe that God is using us both to share Christ and to create a safe space for God’s word to be heard. Please contiinue to pray for Ekron, their financial needs and the clients with whom we interact every day. I have always wanted to be a pastor and missionary, probably from the time I was 12 years old. I’m so thankful and want to share my thanksgiving with you for the fact that God is allowing me to do both at Kefas free church. Our ministry among the church has been warmly received. We continue to teach on the mission of God from both Luke’s gospel and the book of Nehemiah and are working with the leadership team to find the Lord’s direction for the church in that mission. Please continue to pray for us and Kefas that we would be equpped and prepared to impact our neighborhood for Christ. The meeting with Christian leaders around discipleship in the 21st century has not happened yet and the Lord has indicated to me that some one-on-one or small group meetings between me and some of the Christian leaders needs to take place first before we can launch our think tank. We’ll appreciate your continued prayer for this. People we’ve asked you to pray for: Droplaug – She continues to struggle physically and is in constant pain. Pray that she will be healed and will receive the medical attention she needs. One of the men I have asked you to pray for – F. – is involved in the Free Masons. He seems difficult to reach with the gospel because of his pride in the religious roots of this society. F. often brings up religious topics when we’re together – sometimes to have a bit of “fun” with “reverend Greg” which I don’t mind - but he will then typically turn the conversation when we start to talk about Jesus. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work in his heart! Thank you again, so much, for your prayerful part! Warmly yours in Christ, Greg and Betsy

W. Gregory Aikins

GEM Iceland field leader

Vindakór 1, Nr. 102

203 Kópavogur

ICELAND

(IS home) +354-551-9908

(From N. America) +1-215-723-1100

gregaikins@gmail.com

P.S. If you are like me, you don’t read every email that comes your way nor do you read the ones you do as soon as they first arrive. Bets and I want you to know that we understand that and we also understand that you may pray for us, even if you don’t let us know that you do. What is most important to us is that you want to continue to receive news from us so that you can pray as you are able or have covenanted with God to do. So if for any reason you don’t want to continue to receive these updates, please let us know and we’ll be happy to take you off the list. Otherwise we’ll assume that you want to continue to receive them. G & B