10 Years And Counting…

This week marks an anniversary of sorts. It was 10 years ago this week that God touched my heart with a burden so great that it compelled me to surrender my life to the work of making disciples and planting churches in Greece. It was during my freshman year in college that I was initially introduced to the spiritual need of this country. This had a profound impact on me. A week or so before Christmas, after much prayer and soul searching, I surrendered my life to work in Greece full time. At the time, I was working at the Boys & Girls club. Late one Thursday night, right before closing, I got down on my hands and knees in the locker room that I was cleaning and said, “God, if you want me to go to Greece, then open the doors and I’ll go.” During the invitation time on the Sunday night before Christmas I made my decision public to the church. This all happened in December 1997. Upon returning to school from Christmas break, I purchased a big (4x6) Greek flag to hang in my dorm room to continually remind myself of my calling. Ten years later, I’m setting in my home (in Greece) with my wife of 8 years, my 3 year old daughter, and twins on the way, sent by a great church…doing some last minute preparations for the Bible study that we have started! God is truly good in that He has clearly lead us here by opening many doors…to develop devoted followers of Christ for both local and global impact. Honestly, I cannot see myself doing anything else with my life…PERIOD.

Christmas Program and 3rd Birthday Party!

Yesterday was a first for our ministry here. Brandie's children's class performed a Christmas program for us! The girls were so cute dressed up in their red dresses and nice shoes. Brandie and the girls worked very hard over the past few weeks learning their lines and new songs. They sang “Away In The Manger” and “Joy To The World” and Brandie read Luke 2. They also had a line a piece to say. They didn’t freeze up…but performed like Brandie had envisioned. I then delivered a special Christmas message from Matthew 1:18-25 entitled “The Baby In Mary’s Womb.” It was a great time for us to reflect and respond to the challenge to rest in Christ Jesus during the busy Christmas season!

Immediately following our “Reflection & Response Time,” we switched from Christmas Program mode to Birthday Party mode to celebrate Emilys 3rd birthday. She’s been SO excited about her “birthday party, birthday hat, birthday candle, birthday song, birthday presents, birthday dress…” Anybody who’s spoken to her the past couple of weeks knows how excited she was as that is all she's talked about. She had a "Princess Party." Emily is facinated with the Disney princesses. So, it was pink and girly. We had a great time as Brandie made soup then we ate cake and ice-cream. She then opened all her presents from her friends & family! There were so many!!! We are so blessed to have friends & family that care for us so much!!! I want to say a special “THANK YOU” to everybody that helped make this a special day for Emily.

Emily's Christmas Program Dress

Emily and Melanie singing "Away In The Mananger"

Emily's Birthday Dress

Soup, Cake, & Ice-cream For All!!!

Katarina

On Tuesday night, we received a phone call from a Greek lady named Katarina. She lives on the Greek island of Samos. Two months ago, she had a miscarry (she and her husband have two boys aged 5 & 3). The doctors on Samos do not know exactly how to help her. She pulled some strings with a friend of the family to be seen by a doctor at the university hospital here in Athens. She called the other night to see if she could stay with us for half a day. The boat from Samos arrives in Piraeus at 6:00 am. She just needed a place for her and her sons to stay until after lunch yesterday. We had a great day fellowshipping together. She is saved and was raised going to an evangelical church in Kavala, Greece. She’s married to an unbeliever and is a constant witness to her husband and his family. She is literally alone on the island of Samos as there are no Baptist churches or any other kind of churches (except Orthodox). So, please pray for her and the situation with her baby. She will see the doctor on Friday and she promised to update us after the appointment. Also, pray that she will be a great tool in the Father’s hand to reach people with the gospel on Samos!

Email Updates!?!

We want to keep all of our ministry partners updated with the latest news. If you would like to receive our email updates, please email us at thecrabtrees@thecrabtree.org. Have a great weekend!!

Our Doctor Visit

This morning we went to IASO for a regular check-up. We've been dying to know the gender of the twins since we first learned that Brandie was pregnant with two babies. The past few times, the babies have not cooperated with us....today, they finally did. After a very clear ultrasound, we learned that Brandie is carrying identical twin GIRLS!!!! I couldn't believe it when we saw the evidence on the screen...but it was very clear. Both of us thought that there was at least one boy in the bunch. The doctor is also pleased that the placenta has moved up and the babies have moved down. According to what they were able to see, the placenta has re-attached itself. God is awesome!!!

Computer Crash, Thanksgiving, & Family Day

Last Monday (Nov. 19) our laptop finally gave up and died. It was on its way out for several months though. So, last week, we had no compter for a couple of days until we were able to purchase a new one. We would like to take this opportunity to say "thank you" to all the churches that sent extra Christmas support this year...it will be used to pay for most of the computer!!! Greeks do not celebrate American Thanksgiving...but that did not prevent us from preparing our own and over enjoying it! The day after Thanksgiving has become a family day for the Crabtree's. We wake up and go shopping for a new Christmas ornament. This year, we had to buy a new tree (and we found one that is 7 1/2 feet tall!). We then worked on decorating it and the house for Christmas. It's a little early for the Greeks to think about Christmas...but we do it this early anyway as it's one of our favorite holidays! We still do not know the gender of the babies yet. We will see the doctor in the next week to 10 days to do another untrasound. We're so excited about these new little ones. Brandie is doing good right now. She's still taking it easy...though she is doing more than she has the past few weeks. We'll let you know as soon as we know the gender(s). On Sunday, Brandie's Sunday School class finished their fall promotion. They were learning how to obey. Every time they demonstrated obdience, they could put another piece of their flower together. Sunday we presented them with their completed flowers. With the promotion, they were challenged to memorize two verses of Scripture (a good accomplishment for a 2 and 4 year old): Psalm 54:4 and Ephesians 6:1. Please pray that their little hearts will stay soft and that they will determine to live for God for the rest of their lives.

Our Christmas Tree This Year

Our New Laptop

Melanie & Emily Being Recognized For Learning About Obedience

The Right To Protest

The Greek people have a right to protest. It is actually written in the Greek constitution that all Greek citizens have the right to prtoest (as opposed to something that is only assumed). Last night, Brandie and I had a date--she is actually allowed to leave the house now!!! We got a baby sitter for Emily and we went out. As we drive past the Parliment building, Brandie noticed several news cameras set up. As we drove on down the road, we noticed that there were no cars driving in the other lane. This part of town has cars on it 24 hours a day...so we knew something was up. A few minutes later, the traffic came to a "stand-still" as a group of high school and college students were marching in protest. What were they protesting? Private colleges and universities. Right now, the government does not officially recognize foreign or private colleges/universities. To teach in the school system here or to perform any job for the government that requires a degree, that degree must be obtained from a Greek public university. The government here has been put under a lot of pressure to recoginze the foreign unversities (including several unversities from the U.S.). But the students and teachers do not want this recoginition to happen. Why? One theory is that by accrediting the private universities, the average Greek couldn't afford to attend the private universities where the better professors teach. They would have to "settle" for the State college and for an inferior education. Will the government eventually cave into the pressure and accredit these private universities? Who knows. Until a final decision is made, many more protests like the one pictured here will take place and disrupt the daily lives of the rest of us.

We were not moving when I took either picture.

These protests are not violent...just marches and chants demading a change of policy or chants protesting a change of policy.

Update On Brandie

I know it's been a few days since my last post. Life has kind of slowed down (one one sense) and sped up (in another). Brandie has continued my cooking education and I've been busy around the house with the ordinary, everyday stuff. We went back to the doctor yesterday because of a few more complications. We had another ultrasound and the babies look healthy!! They are very active right now. We tried to see the gender of the babies, but they didn't cooperate. "Next time," said Dr. Dion...a favorite expression of Greek :) Furhtermore, the plasinta has reattached and moved up enough that it no longer poses any threat to the babies. We are eternally grateful to God for answering this prayer. Thank you for praying for us during this difficult time. The doctor asked Brandie to not to move around alot for the next month to 6 weeks. So, the next prayer request we have is for God's grace on Brandie's life...that she will be ABLE to stay put for that long. It is her desire to participate in the Christmas holiday season around Athens...and if she's still on the form of "bedrest," then she cannot participate. We're excited about the prospects of the ministry here in Piraeus and we look forward to a GREAT Christmas season.

The "Sweet" Spirit Of A Greek Believer

In the summer of 2005, we received an email from a Greek lady who lives in the States named Roula. She heard of us via a ministry partner in Orlando. She was interested in our ministry to Greeks here (since she herself is a Greek believer). We corresponded a few time via email and a couple of phone calls. In the summer of 2006, Roula and her sister visited Greece to care for their parents. On their way to Samos, their home island, they stopped by our house for some fellowship. They later returned to their lives back in the States. This past summer, their father passed away. Just this past week, their mother passed away. Please pray for them during this rough time. They lost both parents in the span of only four months.

Roula traveled to Greece last month to care for her mother before she passed away. She had planned on leaving for the U.S. this coming Monday. After finishing her business in Samos, she rearranged her plans to visit us longer than originally planned to help out around the house--she wouldn't come if we wouldn't put her to work. Awesome, huh?!?

Before she left Samos, she shared our situation with a new found friend that she made. This new friend is also a believer in Christ!!! They were put together by the grace of God. Katarina (from Kavala, Greece--a wonderful city) wanted to minister to us in a special way, but she was on the island of Samos and could not come to Athens. So, she did so by making some cookies for us to enjoy!!! How humbling it was for us that a total stranger, although a sister in Christ, was willing to minister to us in such a great way!!!

Oh, by-the-way, the cookies are DELICIOUS!!!! Take a look at them.

Koulourakia (Traditional Greek Cookies)

Prayer Request

As you know, a pregnancy that involves twins has a higher risk for complications. We just got back home from the doctor's office...a change of plans (as the original appointment was for tomorrow night) because Brandie spotted a little last night and today. When we arrived at the hospital, Dr. Dion had an ultrasound done immediately. It revealed that the placenta is low in the uterus and has detached a little bit. I'm a missionary, not a medical doctor (like Colby will be some day!!!)...so when the doctor was explaining all of this, I had more questions than answers. After speaking with my Aunt Kathy, who is an R.N. in my hometown, she explained the seriousness of this condition. To prevent the placenta from detaching any more than it already has, Brandie has been put on a form of "bed-rest." That leaves all the cooking, cleaning, caring for Emily, shopping, and ministering on my shoulders!!! I will take this challenge if it means that Brandie's body can rest and her placenta can potentially reattach. What we can ask from you is for prayer. Please pray that God will, by His grace, allow the placenta to reattach without scarring and that the placenta will then move up so the babies can move down into a more natural position. Thank you for your prayers!!!

Dr. Dion & Emily (December 18, 2004)

IASO Hospital

Cold, Sinus, & Misery

So, it's been a couple of days since we've posted anything. The main reason...we've been slightly under-the-weather. We are still alive!!! Now, we are getting better. Tomorrow (Sunday) our Bible study will meet and we look forward to have a good crowd. We will let you know.

Lost & Found

When I found out that Brandie was pregnant, I purchased a set of earrings and necklace to give to her while she was in the hospital after the baby was born. You know what I'm talking about...a gift of appreciation and to show her how much I love her. After we found that she's expecting TWINS, I went ahead and gave her the set. The news hit us kind of hard at first and I thought it would boost her spirits. She wore them proudly to the final few churches that we visited. On the way home from the missions conference at Central Baptist Church in Greeneville, TN (a faithful partner since 2001), Brandie realized that she had lost one of her earrings. She did a lot of hugging that night and we figured that it just came out and was somewhere on the premises of the church.


We called the associate pastor of Central Baptist....David Scott (we stayed with he and his wife during the conference...http://davidandrebekah.blogspot.com/) and asked him to just look around for it. His initial search was fruitless; however, later that week, as he was walking in the parking lot next to the fellowship hall, something caught his eye. It was something shiny! Sure enough, it was Brandie's lost earring. He called us while we were our way to the airport on the 28th of September...the day we left for Greece. He asked us how he could get it to us and we told him to just put it in an envelope and mail it to us. The earring arrived in an envelope today with a very encouraging card from the Scotts!!! Brandie was extremely upset about losing this piece of jewelry that meant a lot to her, even though she'd only had it a few weeks! She prayed and begged God to allow someone to find it; and by His grace, it was found!!!

The Earring, Envelope, & Card From The Scotts

The Lord Takes & The Lord Gives?!?

Okay...I'm talking about a chair. A friend of ours called us the other day and asked us if we wanted their old recliner (they were buying a new one). We talked about it and decided to accept this gift. We went to their house last night for dinner. After eating and some time "chewing the fat," we loaded up the chair in our Hyundai Atos (a very small car) and drove home late last night. After getting home, I sat in my old chair and heard a cracking sound. It broke ("The Lord Takes")!!! Um...no comments from the peanut gallery please. This would have been a problem, if we didn't have another chair in my car waiting to be unloaded ("The Lord Gives"). Unloading the chair was a two man job...so, we called Theresa and Makis to help. The three of us unloaded the chair and positioned it in its new home.

My Old Chair

My New Chair

A small reminder how God cares about the little things in life!!!

Digging My Own Grave With A Fork?

Tonight was a first for me (Adam). Because Brandie is pregnant and I need to learn anyway, she is teaching me how to cook. I understand the basic principles of grilling...but every day cooking is something that has not come easy to me. So, I've been cooking every meal for the family this past week and a half.

Tonight, we had Theresa and Makis over for supper. It was another time for us to get to know them. Brandie wanted to cook, but I stepped in and said, "If I'm going to learn, you are going to have to let me cook." So, I made tetziki (Greek cucumber sauce), Greek Salad, a Greek Chicken & Potatoes dish, the olive oil dip, & the coffee for dessert (I actually ground the beans for it too).

Adam, Brandie, Emily, Makis, & Theresa

It went well. We were able to just sit around and talk about what's going on in the ministry and how life is treating us here in Greece. Theresa is an American from West Virgina and her husband is from here in Piraeus. They are a very sweet couple and it has been a joy getting to know them. We are thankful that God put them into our lives!!!

Gasp! Two posts in two days!?!

I know...I know...we've not been the most faithful bloggers up to this point; however, this is going to change. We made a commitment to keep our friends and family updated with the happenings here in Piraeus..."From The Crabtree."

We had our first new visitors come to the Bible study this morning. Calvin, Lynnette, and Issac (all from Singapore) visited us. Calvin works in the Athens office of Singapore Airlines. The entire family is interested in attending again next Sunday!!!

Calvin, Lynnette, Issac (age 3), Brandie, & Emily

Please pray for our ministry. We really feel that God is about to do a great work through us here in Piraeus!


Adam

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation!!!

Ok…I understand that it’s now autumn and it has been too long since our last post. We have been back in Greece for one week now. Here is how our first furlough went.

We flew to the U.S. on June 4th. We arrived at the Eleftheros Venezelou International Airport in Athens about 3 hours early. After a smooth check-in, we were on the airplane. The aircraft had 3 seats in the middle section, with a 2-seat section on each side. We had the middle 3 seats only 2 rows from the middle bathrooms…a nice location. Emily did pretty well. She began to get restless about 10 hours into our flight (an 11 hour flight from Athens to Philadelphia, PA). She kept kicking the seat in front of her and this did not “fly” with the lady that was sitting in that seat. She eventually changed her seat to get away from this disruptive kid! We arrived in Philadelphia on time. Our tickets had us flying from Philadelphia to NY LaGuardia and then from NY LaGuardia to Charlotte, NC. We still don’t understand how they pick our flights. Because of the air traffic at LaGuardia, we left Philadelphia late and this made us miss our last flight to Charlotte. Upon landing at LaGuardia, we found a U.S. Airways ticket agent and explained our situation. He initially said, “I’m sorry, but the next flight for Charlotte leaves tomorrow at 6:30 am. You will have to retrieve your bags and set here in the airport all night.” This did not set well with us after traveling all day already. He did some finagling and changed our tickets to flying into Greensboro, NC. We contacted Brandie’s mom and dad and they left Charlotte and drove to Greensboro and arrived in time to meet us as we landed. It was a VERY late day and our luggage did not make the trip…but it was delivered the next day to my in-law’s house.

We should have known from this that the summer wasn’t going to be a “vacation.” By definition, a vacation is, “…A period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation.” We flew back to the U.S. on Monday and by Thursday; we loaded the car that we were to drive (more on this latter) and drove to Indiana for a family reunion and our first meeting at Bethel Baptist Church in Greenwood, IN. The family reunion went well until my daughter made the decision to push her younger cousin down the steps…something that still haunts Elena to this day. J

The purpose of our trip this summer was to officiate the wedding of my brother Jared to his new wife, Elizabeth. It was on July 7, 2007 (07/07/07…Jared, you better not ever forget your anniversary). Emily was the flower girl (the most beautiful flower girl every…sorry everybody else L)! It was my first wedding and we made it through without any major problems.

The summer saw us driving about 12,000 miles and through 10 different States (in a car that we put a lot of money into to keep it on the road…and we suffered a car accident and a flat tire—two things we never had to face during our initial deputation). We were able to raise much needed financial support for the ministry and we were able to report to several faithful supporting churches. We also had some fun this summer as we visited King’s Island in Cincinnati, OH and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN. I rode all the roller coaster and thrill rides we could, as there is not a lot of those kind of things here in Greece.

In July, we found out that Brandie was carrying our 2nd child!!! She has had a good pregnancy thus far…then, in September; we went to the doctor in Indiana to hear the heartbeat before we left for Greece. Brandie went into the office by herself for some testing and measurements. My mom, Emily, and myself were in the waiting room. The nurse came out and called us to see the ultrasound. Upon entering the room, I asked Brandie, “How does everything look?” Brandie responded by telling me to look at the monitor. I did and saw the little baby just lying there…then I saw something else. I’m not good at reading ultrasounds…but there was definitely something else on the screen. Then, I saw the SECOND child!!! I about fell over and the reality sat in that we have TWINS on the way. The due date is sometime in March and we do not know the gender of the babies yet; however, we were able to see that the twins are not identical.

In September, we took a couple of weeks to say goodbye to our friends and family, and then on September 28th, we boarded a plane back to Greece. We flew from Charlotte, NC. It was a 3-hour drive from East Tennessee and Emily puked on herself on the way to the airport. Our itinerary was to fly from Charlotte to Philadelphia and from Philadelphia straight to Athens. We left Charlotte late and landed in Philly 15 minutes before our flight to Athens. We had to transfer two different concourses, but we ran and made it…even though they were paging us over the intercom! We didn’t think our bags would make it because of the close connection…but they were the first on the belt at baggage claim in Athens!

We’re very grateful for all those who helped us this past summer. It was full of great memories and we’re looking forward to our next furlough!!!

Our Italian Experience!

Where to begin.....Where to begin? I guess I will begin with why we went to Italy in the first place. Back in January, I turned 30 and Adam decided to take me somewhere that I had always wanted to go. Switzerland was the place, but because of expenses, he decided to take me to Milan, Italy and then to Switzerland for a day by train. (Wasn't that the sweetest thing in the world?) Also because of expense, we waited until now to take the trip.

Adam, Emily, and I left on Tuesday afternoon on a plane from Athens headed for Milan, Italy. We arrived in Milan as it was starting to get dark, so we grabbed a taxi to our Hotel. As we drove along we, our hopes began to sink lower and lower as the cab fare rose higher and higher. When we pulled into our hotel, the fare peaked at 88 euros (which is over $100). This was not a great beginning to our trip and on top of that, it was starting to rain. We talked to the hotel guy and he assured us that that was normal fare from the airport, and we realized very quickly that if we didn't find another way back to the airport, that we were going to be out of money before we got started.

The next morning we awoke to rain, rain, and more rain!!! We got up and decided to go down town anyway. We went down to breakfast and our spirits rose a bit. They had a cappuccino machine!!!!! After we had feasted on croissants and cappuccino, we got our coats and umbrellas and headed out to the metro that took us downtown. Emily thought this was great fun and she even held her own umbrella.

In the Center we just spent some time walking around and getting our bearings. We found our way to the Duomo, which is the second largest cathedral in the world. It was really neat to see. We were also able to see the home stores of Prada, Louis Vitton, and Gucci. It was pretty interesting. Emily was getting mad with the rain and she kept seeing us pass "golden arches" and all that she was interested in was "Fry fries". We got her some of course and then walked around some more and then went back to the room to dry out. We rested and then ended our evening by going to a restaurant by the hotel for pizza and spaghetti. It was WONDERFUL. We ended up eating there every day.

The next morning we woke up to beautiful weather and we went back downtown and toured the DaVinci museum. We were able to see some of his sketch books which was really neat. After lunch, we went to visit DaVinci's "The Last Supper." That was really cool. We really enjoyed that. They only allow 25 people every hour and we had made reservations in advance online. We were in a group of Japanese tourist. It was pretty funny. They liked making faces at Emily, and she liked laughing at them.

On Friday we boarded a train and went to Lugano, Switzerland. The weather was beautiful and so was the scenery. Lugano is situated on a beautiful lake and we spent the day walking the streets, feeding the ducks on the lake, and playing in the parks. We all decided that this was the best day of the whole trip.

Now we are back at home and getting things ready for a group of pastors that are coming to visit us next week. We are excited about it, but we still have so much to do before they come, so I better get to work. Thank you all for sharing our adventures with us. Hope you enjoy!

Brandie

A Balloon from Heaven? By Brandie Crabtree

Since we last wrote, we have finally moved into our new apartment. It took us over a month because of the way that things work here, but those stories will wait for another day. Today I want to tell you about an outing that I had with my daughter.

Adam had several things that he needed to get finished at home, so I took Emily out for a little walk and we ended up at McDonald's. Emily loves her "fry fries"! We had finished our food and I let Emily go and play in the little play room that they have set up there. (It is honestly just a room with a mat on the floor and kids just go and run around and play with one another. Nothing like the play places in the States!) The lady at the front counter had given Emily a balloon. Another little girl was playing with her balloon, so Emily wanted hers to play with as well. She was having a wonderful time batting it around and minding her own business, when a little boy came and smacked it out of her hand. He then took the balloon and ran before I could stop him. He then turned and looked at Emily, put the balloon on the ground, stomped, and popped it. Emily got this look of utter horror on her face and then the tears began to flow. I have never wanted to beat a kid more in my life than I did that little mean boy. Emily was so upset and just kept crying and saying "Mama, Balloono" . The people at the front counter did not have any more balloons available, so I couldn't get her another one. I finally decided just to take her home.

We put our coats on and left for the walk home and she was starting to calm down some. I, on the other hand, was still fuming! We walked around the corner and the wind was blowing quiet hard. All of the sudden, Emily started yelling "Balloono mama, Balloono!" I looked up and sure enough, coming right toward us was a big blue balloon. I managed to catch it and tied it onto Emily's balloon stick from McDonald's. Emily was so excited and held on to it all the way home. I was amazed! Who knows where that "balloono" came from, but I believe it was a balloon straight form God for my little girl. Isn't it just like God to care about the little things! Keep this little story in mind when you feel like God just doesn't care anymore. If he cares enough to send a little girl a new balloon on the wind, just imagine what he would like to do for you!

Dedication...or Stupidity!?!

Well, the past few weeks have been busy. Our landlord has remodeled another apartment in a building in our neighborhood. He told us about it and after looking at it, we've decided to rent it. We're excited about it, but a little nervous too. Here's why: The Indianapolis Colts are in the Super Bowl!!! Yes, it's hard to believe. The team that's been so close so many times has finally made it (without Edge too!!). We are hoping to have our new phone line hooked up by the night of the big game so we can listen to it over the internet. If it's not ready, we'll do something else (like maybe crash at another missionary's house and use their computer to listen to the game). It will start at 1:30 am local time. Dedication...or stupidity? You make the call.

Adam