The commissioning of Jesus in Matthew 28: 19-20, to ‘go to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples’, has been a challenge to me and Judy over the years. This year we made a return visit to the Greek island of Corfu as ICS Resort Chaplain. Corfu is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, off the coast of mainland Greece, with a rich and varied history. During the three weeks, we were given the task to work in the three charming places of Gouvia, Messonghi and Kassiopi.

ICS Resort Mission is done in partnership with Holy Trinity Corfu. Members of the congregation are friendly and welcoming and, on both Sundays, when we attended the services at the church, we spoke about ICS, ourselves, life in general, and the Christian faith. We were able to encourage and pray with people.

Ever since my conversion, preaching the Word of God has been close to my heart, and even more so when I reflect on the Apostle Paul’s charge to Timothy: ‘preach the word of God in and out of season’ (2 Timothy: 4). I spoke at the Roman Catholic Chapel in Messonghi. Then also at ‘the Lighthouse’ when invited by Pastor Miltiades from the Greek Evangelical church (pictured below with Herrick and Judy and Jim Perryman). I took the opportunity to pray and minister to people from the UK, America, France, and to people from Corfu itself. Pastor Miltiades warned me before the service that some were away on holiday, yet the church was almost full, with some holiday makers travelling from Kassiopi.

Having been inspired by the success of the Sunday service, Pastor Miltiades asked me to do a teaching in the Greek Evangelical Church. I accepted and I gave an exposition on 1 Corinthians: 13. There were fifteen people present and pastor Miltiades interpreted from English to Greek for me. After the talk several people came to thank me and said that the message had touched their hearts.

Over three consecutive Fridays we went to ‘the Lighthouse’. As usual, we received a warm welcome from pastor Miltiades, who introduced us to the English-speaking people who meet to socialise there. Table tennis seems to be the main pastime on the Friday get-togethers. I was delighted to join in with them and managed to win the games I played with my partner in doubles! We had friendly conversations and explained our role, the work of ICS and Holy Trinity Church.

The pastoral epistles of the New Testament give some sound advice in caring and sharing with people, which Judy and I took to heart in reaching out to meet people’s needs. We visited the Lekkas Taverna, where we both received a very warm welcome. The owner of the Taverna announced to customers that the chaplain is here to meet spiritual needs. We arrived just in time to hear the announcement of George, who was one of the customers’ seventieth birthday. Rachel, the bar assistant, encouraged me to go over to George and his companions to wish him happy birthday. I happily did this and met him, his wife Jeana, and other customers. Jeana was very interested to know about the work of ICS. We received a very warm welcome at the Taverna and were even given a round of applause when we left.

Because of our experience using a car last year, we decided to use the bus this year. We discovered that travelling on the bus gave us tremendous opportunities to talk to people and evangelise, both at bus stops and during journeys. Our ID badges helped greatly in these conversations, showing that we were linked with ICS and the Church of England.

Finally, we wish to thank all the people who prayed for us. The success of our mission depends very much on prayer. The Apostle Paul made this very clear when he said, ‘always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel.’ (Ephesians 6: 18-19)

Herrick and Judy Daniel

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