September 2009 Update

Our most recent update letter has been added to our website. Please keep us in prayer as we are getting our entire life organized right now in order to move to Queens in December! It is a VERY exciting time for us!!!!

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Not Much Going On :)

Hey, just to check in right now….we’re in East Tennessee.  The past couple of months have gone in a whirlwind.  We’ve spent time in several places visiting old friends and picking up some new support! 

 

We’ve are in the process of making plans to visit NYC again in the next 6 weeks.  The purpose of this trip is to find housing and make the proper arrangements for us to move!  We ask you to pray that God will direct us to the right home in the right neighborhood so that we can reach Greek people!

Survey Trip Final Day

Today, as with all other days here, has been great. We borrowed a vehicle from another church planter here to drive around Queens and explore. We have driven through several different neighborhoods just looking at what they have to offer. This has truly given us a sense of the city and we can't wait to relocate here and begin our work!
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Survey Trip Day 6

This morning, we got up and went back to Manhattan to just poke around one last time. We took the Ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty and then to Ellis Island. We have paid for unlimited transportation with a double decker bus that has no roof on the upper section. As we were trying to make it back to Midtown Manhattan, it started to rain...so we got out the ponchos and tried to stay as dry as we could. The rain was making us very nervous because we had tickets to the Texas Rangers v NY Yankees game tonight. The rain was hard but did not last long and it did not affect game time.

As we arrived from Grand Central Station to the Bronx and Yankee Stadium, our excitement was brewing. You see, these tickets were a gift from Brandie and the girls for my birthday this past march. I will not recount all the details of the game...but I will say that it was an awesome experience. Every sports fan should make the trip here to watch the Yankees play in the new stadium.

I want to take time right here to say "thank you" to my wonderful, beautiful wife, Brandie. She has stood right beside me (not behind or in front of) in our ministry. The game tickets were a perfect gift for my birthday. "Thank you baby"!!!

We will post pics of the game and other stuff we have seen the last couple of days soon. I am updating the blog from the 4 train that goes from the stadium through the South Bronx to Manhattan. Yikes!!! Then we switch to the "F" train to our hotel in Jamaica.

Tomorrow, we will view a couple of homes for rent so that we have a better idea of what to expect when we move up here. Please pray that we will get to see these apartments (we had some trouble the other day when we tried to look at a couple).

Adam
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Yankee's Game Tomorrow

Just a quick note to let you know that we will be in attendance at the Texas Rangers vs New York Yankees game tomorrow!!! This is my birthday present from Brandie this year. We will blog about the game tomorrow.
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Survey Day 5

We started out our day downtown at F.A.O. Schwarz, the huge toy store. We had about an hour to kill, so we went there to look for some things for our girls. We both felt like little kids again in the amazing toy store! We can't wait to take our girls there to see the amazing things! From there, we jumped on the subway and headed into Brooklyn to meet with Pastor Jim Bickel. We enjoyed some great Italian subs and were able to pick his brain for a little while. I has been so nice to be able to get the advice from these men of God that we have been able to meet while we were here. They have all been such a tremendous help to us.

After our lunch meeting, we jumped back on the Subway and headed back downtown to take a tour of up town Manhattan and Harlem. We were able to see Central Park, The Upper East and West Sides, Harlem, as well as many of the wonderful museums here in NY! It was a beautiful tour! From there we went to "Juniors" restaurant for burgers and dessert. This place is know for their cheesecake, and of course I had to have a piece. Adam enjoyed a piece of Apple Pie with Ice Cream. It was Wonderful! After our dinner, we hopped back on the bus for our last bus tour, which was a night tour of downtown and Brooklyn. We were able to see a more quaint view of the residential areas of Manhattan. Again, we were amazed at how beautiful everything was! We will get some pictures on for you a bit later. We are completely worn out tonight and are headed to bed. Goodnight everyone!

Survey Day 4

Sunday started with attending services at a new church plant in the Kew Gardens/Forrest Hills area of Queens. The church plant is lead by Pastor Tim Richmond. We took the subway from our hotel to the service and met the multi-ethnic congregation. Brandie sang a special during the worship service and we had lunch with the church afterwards. The church shares lunch together every Sunday afternoon as a time of fellowship.

After church, we went to Manhattan to spend some time together and see some sights (the church plant does not have an evening worship service). We visited Times Square again, Broadway and the theatre district, the garment district, the Empire State Building, Chelsea, West Village, Greenwhich Village, SoHo, Tribeca, Ground Zero, the Financial Disctrict, China Town, Little Italy, the Lower East Side, Stuyyesant Town, the U.N. building, Trump Tower, and back to Midtown East. This was a guided bus tour and it allowed us to see a lot of sights without spending a bunch of time running around in circles. This is a tour that we recommend if you ever come to the city.

Tomorrow, we will meet another area pastor and continue our bus tours. Later this week we be shown some possible apartments/houses to rent by a realtor that goes to one of the Fundamental churches in Queens. We are very excited about looking at these living spaces so we can better plan our move later this year. God is showing us some great things here in the city and we praise His name!!!






Unfortunately, our computer is acting up and we cannot upload any more pictures. We will try again tomorrow.

Survey Day 3

Today was a day that was focused on our long term survival here in New York City....apartment/house hunting. We spent the morning in Astoria with a real estate agent talking about different apartments and the amenities that we want (washer/dryer hookup, parking, etc). The pictures below are from our lunch....Uncle George's Greek Restaurant. A true taste from Greece on Broadway (not THE Broadway) in Astoria, Queens. The owner is from Thessaloniki, Greece (a northern city of about 1 million people or so) and has lived here for many years. The restaurant is a nice little space with traditional Greek music and Greek television in the background. It was a good day today.

Survey Day 2

Day 2 started with a rush. The only appointment we had was supper with the Richmond family. Pastor Tim is in the process of starting the Grace Baptist Church of Forrest Hills, Queens. We had nothing much to do, so we decided to go to Manhattan and just poke around there and then end up in Astoria. We took the "7" train to Times Square. At the station, we met a group with a tract table set up. They set at the table and hand out literature to anybody with an interest. I talked with them for a minute and found that they hand out Chick Tracts, tracts from the Fellowship Tract League, and Bibles from Bearing Precious Seed.



After arriving above ground, we immediately walked to Broadway to just look around. The following pictures are from our sightseeing day today. We ate a hot dog from a street vendor, sat in the middle of Broadway and ate our lunch, and saw some famous buildings (Rockefeller Center, the Empire State building, Radio City Music Hall etc).

After leaving Manhattan, we took the "N" train to Astoria to walk around again and scope things out. We bought some Greek cookies from an Italian bakery (I love this part of the city), at some Italian food at a Greek restaurant, and drank some more Greek coffee. After not speaking Greek consistently for several months, we have surprised ourselves at how our language is coming back to us when we are in the middle of a conversation.

The evening was spent with the Richmond family. Before we met them tonight, we contacted a couple of real estate agents and prayerfully, we will see a couple of apartments or houses tomorrow.

Survey Day 1

The day started with an appointment at Faith Baptist Church, Corona, Queens and Pastor Vincent Sawyer (the church is pictured below).


His church is on 37th Ave. and 105th St. Sounds easy enough to find, huh? Well, Brandie and I left the subway station and walked until we found 37th Dr. Not Ave. Dr. and we proceeded to walk all over 37th Dr. looking for 105th St. and the church. After some time and mounting frustration, I looked at the street sign again and saw that it read "Dr." We walked down to the next street which was 37th Rd. We started thinking, here is a drive and road....the avenue must be next! It was and we finally arrived just a couple of minutes late. We felt like we were navigating Athens again.

He invited us to the church for a q & a session. He has a wealth of information about ministry here in Queens. We ate Chinese delivered by a motorbike (like in Greece). He gave us the number of a real estate agent that is familiar with where we are wanting to live. We gave her a call and are waiting for her to call back...hopefully, we will look at a couple of apartments in the next couple of days.

After our meeting with Pastor Sawyer, we took the "F" train to Astoria. This is where the majority of the Greeks live and will probably be the focus of our ministry. Walking the streets here was like walking the streets in Athens. We were drank a frappe', Greek coffee, and a plate of assorted Greek cheeses and fruit. We also got to speak some Greek!!! This is what we've been looking forward to for several weeks!

We walked the streets and visited shops and started building some relationships (even though they are in the infantile stage). Today, we were able to answer many questions about living and ministering here. We look forward to another great day tomorrow. Please enjoy the pictures below.

Greek Pastries

Greek Newspaper

Christos made us Frappe's (Greek Iced Coffee)!

Brandie with Manhattan in the background from Astoria park.

Adam with Manhattan in the background from Astoria Park


The Queensboro Bridge

A Greek Sidewalk Cafe in Astoria, Queens

Traditional Greek Coffee, Cheese, & Fruit

A Greek Orthodox Church

Here is the inscription on this Orthodox Church: "The metamorphosis (change) of salvation." Salvation does change us (2 Corinthians 5:17) and we praise the Lord for His grace! This grace is not found in a church or anchored to a church, but in His Word. The fact that Orthodox Christians look for God's grace through their church membership motivates us to relocate here as soon as possible and reach them with the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!!!

Arrival In New York

When we arrived at the airport in Indianapolis, we learned that our flight was delayed 2 hours. This allowed us to meander around the airport through the restaurants and shops. This worked out in our favor! I wanted to watch the Champions League Finals from Rome (Man U vs. Barca)...Europe's premier football tournament. Because of our delay, I was able to find a television in the airport and I watched the first half.

After boarding the airplane, we sat for about 30 minutes before we took off. I took the picture as we were landing at La Guardia. Pastor Tim Richmond, a church planter in Queens, picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hotel. After check-in, we walked the streets around the hotel and bought a couple of slices of cheese pizza. Wow! It was delicious. Now, we're beat and getting our plans together for tomorrow.

Survey Trip: May 27 - June 4, 2009

Tomorrow, we fly from Indianapolis, Indiana to New York for one week. The purpose of this trip is to locate housing and scout neighborhoods for the church plant. Please pray for our travels (from 3:00 pm to 5:15 pm EDT) and our children (they are staying with my parents here in Indiana).

We will blog daily during the trip...with pics!

The Twins Turn ONE!!!!

On Wed March 11, Adalyn and Abigail Crabtree turned one year old!!! I can not believe that they are already a year old. This past year has been so much fun seeing them grow and watching their personalities come forward! Adalyn has a very outgoing personality, while Abigail is more laid back but is very attentive to the things around her. They started walking about a month ago and are now into everything! They really do keep us all on our toes!

On Friday night they had a family birthday party in Indiana with Adam's family. It was fun watching them dive into their cupcakes! I have added a picture of the "Birthday Girls" for you to enjoy!

Happy Birthday Babies!

When Your Life Gets Rebooted

All Our Luggage The Morning We Left Athens

Has your computer ever rebooted? Ever done it on its own? We have a computer (a Toshiba) that we purchased in Greece that seems to reboot itself whenever IT feels the need to be rebooted. This can be frustrating, especially when I'm in the middle of something very important (which is usually the case).

I said that to say this....our life has been rebooted. I am posting our last ministry update letter. Please read it and pray for us.

As is often the case, when the computer reboots, it runs again...as opposed to just shutting down. When our family was faced with the option of rebooting our ministry or shutting it down completely (aka quitting), we chose, by the grace of God, to reboot and continue the ministry that God called us to many years ago.

______________________________
Dear Ministry Partner,

We would like to thank all of those who sent us Christmas cards and financial gifts at the end of last year. The financial gifts were much needed and we say “thank you” from the bottom of our hearts. We’d also like to express our appreciation to those who prayed for us during the riots in Athens. God protected us through some very difficult circumstances and we were able to make it back without a scratch! Since our arrival on December 12 we have driven over 5,000 miles reporting to some of our supporting churches.

The last quarter of 2008 was a very difficult period for the Crabtree family. Brandie and I have worked on obtaining some sort of residency since 2002 with no success. All of our children were born in Greece, but that did not grant us any favor in the application process and the girls were not given Greek citizenship upon their birth. During the fall of 2008, we made another application for residency, even making an additional appeal to the government and they denied us for the final time. We have exhausted all of our options. Without residency, it is impossible for us to stay and minister in Greece.

For the past four and a half years, we were required to leave Greece, a European Union country every 90 days. This was taxing on us both physically and financially. Another law change took effect January 1, 2009 that prevents us from spending more than 180 days (6 months) during any 365 day period inside Greece. This would prohibit us from leaving and re-entering Greece in order to stay legal.

This puts our family in a very difficult position. After much prayer and fasting, we have decided to continue ministering to Greek speaking people. After some research, we learned that there are more Greeks living outside Greece (12 million) than live inside Greece (10 million). The largest Greek community abroad is found in Astoria, Queens, New York (with over 65,000 Greeks). Not only do we see an entire immigrant community in need of Jesus Christ, we also see 65,000 potential missionaries that can live in Greece legally and not face the same residency restrictions that have plagued my family for the duration of our ministry (not to mention that they already know the language and culture). Our plan is relocate to Queens and start a Greek speaking Independent Baptist Church. We want to continue the ministry that God called to do many years ago. We go about this with the complete support and approval of Dr. Jerry Mullendore, Director of Beacon International Baptist Mission (formerly Evangelization in Eastern Europe) and Rev. Wayne Barron, the pastor of our sending church, South Side Baptist Church, Springfield, MO. Our goal will always remain the same: to plant self-supporting, self-governing Independent Baptist churches. One focus of our ministry will be equipping Greek families to do the work of the Lord with the intention of sending them back to Greece where we, as Americans, cannot live and minister (2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”). Our plan is to remain involved in church planting. When Greece opens her doors to allow us to stay and minister, we will be on the first plane.

If you have any questions, please contact us (telephone: (317) 222-1952 or by email: mail@thecrabtree.org), Dr. Mullendore (mailing address: P.O. Box 5907, Johnson City, TN 37602-5907 or by phone: (423) 426-1196), or Pastor Barron (address: 465 S. Grant Ave., Springfield, MO 65806 or by phone: (417) 869-5496). Thank you for your support and confidence in us over the years and please keep us in your prayers as we strive to follow God’s call in our lives in reaching Greeks for Christ!

Serving Him,

Adam, Brandie, Emily, Adalyn, & Abigail Crabtree