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Greg & Betsy Aikins
United States
The Aikins will Join us in April from the 4 th to the 6, if you would like to get to know them better.
You can contact the Aikins at gregaikins(at)comcast.net (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 www.lifequalityintl.com.
With the family raised we are now in transition for a move back to Iceland with a target date of August this year, some of our goals are as follows.
1. Continuing to direct the ministry of LifeQuality International from there, including helping to mobilize Europeans for involvement with us reaching businesspeople and professionals throughout greater Europe.
2. Betsy's using her training in cognitive therapy to help families in Iceland with members who have learning disabilities as a means of sharing Christ with them.
3. Helping envision Icelanders for church planting and healthy church development in the country.
4. Working with the start up of a Christian Family Life center, which will provide all kinds of training for family members, businesspeople, etc. as a means of outreach.
July 16 2008
Hello Dear Ones!
Once again, thank you for your prayers for us these past 6 weeks or so. We have certainly sensed them.
A few answers to prayer so you can rejoice with us…Travels and visits – Trips to speak in churches and meet with supporters in New York, Florida and Massachusetts went very well. What a blessing to be prayed for by the pastor and elders of Craigville Bible Church and to meet and connect with the new pastor of First Baptist of Pine Island, Florida.
Moving and Shipping – Your prayers were answered as we located a very helpful and trustworthy shipping company through our mission organization. God saved us from making a bad decision to go with another less reputable one. We are in the process of packing and moving our things to our LifeQuality office just down the street from our home. Our settlement date is on July 31. After some vacation, the three of us will return in time to load the container with both household and office things for shipment to Iceland on August 18th. If you’re around here that day and would like to help, we’d welcome that! : )
Residency permits - We’ve been working with our friend Ragnar to apply for residency permits since April. It appears as though we have submitted all the necessary paper work and that we will receive the permits. However we don’t have them in hand yet, so please continue to pray. And please say a big “thank you” to the Lord for our friend Ragnar who has helped us so much.
Cars and Floppsy – we just gave Erika’s pet rabbit, Floppsy, to a new family in our Souderton church. And a friend is interested in buying / using both of our cars. These were two hurdles which we needed the Lord’s help in getting over and – praise God! – he did!
Please keep us in your prayers for the following:Goodbyes – These never get any easier. Saying farewell to family, friends here in the area and our neighbors is a painful part of this process. During these next few weeks we’ll appreciate your prayers for us as we do so.
Erika’s relocation – Our “little girl” will be starting at Washington Bible College, Lanham, MD, on August 20th. This is a big step for her and for us! Please pray that God will help her to make the adjustment, that he will give her new friends and show her his love in ways unimaginable as she steps out in faith on this new adventure. Betsy will be hanging around for a couple of weeks after I leave just to be available in case Erika needs some extra help. But our prayer is that that help won’t be needed.
Financial support – While our outgoing funds are almost all in, we still are asking the Lord to supply additional monthly support pledges to help meet our living expenses. Greater Europe Mission is concerned that we have a solid base of regular supporters as we head back to Iceland. Pray that those whom God has touched will increase their current commitment or become a regular part of our support team.
We hope to have another update to you before I leave for Iceland on August 26th. Thank you so much for keeping us before the Lord!
Warmly yours in Christ,Greg and Betsy
UPDATE September 4 2008Dear friends, Wonderful news! The letter from the immigration office arrived today! Betsy and I have received our residency permits. We praise the Lord for this wonderful answer to prayer and are so thankful for: Our old friends in Iceland, Ragnar and Gunna, who have prayed, worked on our behalf and offered me and Betsy their wonderful hospitality! Our new friends in Iceland, Pastor Högni Valsson and the elders at Vegurinn for sponsoring us as volunteer workers with complete freedom to work for the Lord here as he leads us! The people at immigration and labor departments who worked to try and find the right way for us to enter the country! And YOU!! Our family, friends and supporters! I am now spending a lot of time combing the papers and the internet for places to live. Talking with real estate people, as well as Ragnar, I realize how perfect God´s timing is. The dollar is worth 25% more against the crown now than just a few months ago and housing prices are coming down. So we are blessed to have arrived with the advantages of a buyers’ market. Betsy is on her way to Atlanta to visit our daughter Katie as I write this and I know she’ll appreciate knowing you are praising the Lord with us! As I mentioned in our last update, I’m heading back to the U.S. on the 10th and our container is scheduled to be loaded then. We’ll appreciate your continued prayer as we seek to honor the Lord in the midst of our move. Just a side-note: I was really encouraged yesterday to talk to two young women, sisters, whom we’ve known since they were kids. We had a very insightful discussion about the church, the message of Christ and what it means to be one of his followers in this world. Their sincerity and keen interest in these things was a tremendous affirmation to me that the Holy Spirit is at work. I left their home thinking to myself, “I have just had a vision of the future of the church in this country”. May you be blessed today, dear friends! Warmly yours, Greg |