SUMMARY REPORT FROM THE BALKANS
October 2017
Dear saints,
During the Balkan blending tours and regional conference in Thessaloniki, we were blessed to have around 200 saints from at least 12 different countries join us for a rich time of blending and fellowship. Here are a few details from these times:
Blending Trips
Number of saints who joined each trip:
Athens—84 Sofia—6 Split—18
Tirana—6 Zagreb—4
The overall impression from the saints who attended the blending tours was how connected they now feel they are with the saints in these smaller situations. There is a stronger burden to pray for and revisit the places they were in. Many testified how sweet the meetings were and how living the saints are in these small localities. They were also impressed by the saints’ willingness to pay the price to attend the regional conference. For example, the saints in Croatia traveled 18 hours by car in order to participate in the conference.
Regional Conference
Number of saints who joined the conference:
Total number—209 Under 12 years—9
12-18 years—8 First time—11
Concerning the regional conference, we really felt that the Lord was taking several important first steps. It was the first conference, or large setting that many of the newer saints had ever attended. It was the first time many of the saints throughout the Balkans have been with each other. On Saturday evening there was a meeting of the brothers from the Balkans in which most of them met each other face to face for the first time. Our prayer is that the Lord would continue this among us in the region after such a glorious beginning.
We were very impressed with the overwhelming response of the saints when our registration was opened. In fact, our numbers quickly reached our original capacity. Due to this, we felt that we needed to increase the number we could accommodate. In order to facilitate this, the Lord provided us with an overflow room in a nearby hotel. We were a little concerned about the logistics of carrying this out and what the response of our guests would be. However, the Lord did superabundantly above what we could ask or think and the saints in the overflow room experienced double grace! Many testified later how uplifted the prophesying was in the overflow room after the messages.
The conference consisted of four messages from the recent ITERO that were given by two regional brothers and two co-workers from America. The messages were translated into Greek, Croatian/Serbian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Russian, and Korean. For many of the local new ones, this was the largest gathering they have attended, and they testified how much they enjoyed the rich flow of life and the display of oneness among all those who came, especially when we could not speak each other’s language. It was also the first time for them to hear speaking concerning the Lord’s recovery and several of them testified how deeply impressed they were from the sharing and the blending with the saints.
Regarding the distribution and participation in the gospel, we prepared gospel tracts and bookmarks advertising the Rhema books for the saints to hand out when the opportunity arose. Many saints reported that some of the ones they spoke to were happy to read the tracts and even prayed the prayer and called on the Lord with them. Approximately 3,000 tracts and 4,000 bookmarks were distributed in Athens and Thessaloniki.
Our realization was that the whole time, from the blending tours through the conference, was characterized with an atmosphere of prayer. All the saints, whether visiting or local, maintained an attitude of prayer for the entire time. The Lord really honored this with His poured-out blessing in the Balkans! May the Lord continue His spread throughout Europe and the Balkans as a result of this unprecedented infusion!
