Janet Handy

Sincere Praise Mission Trip to Athens & Thessaloni…22/05/25 – 29/05/25.

Day One // Thursday 22nd May

Rucksacks firmly on our backs we were on the move again. Luton Airport was becoming familiar territory to us. Two weeks ago we had left for Kosovo, today we were preparing to take an early morning flight to Athens. We were excited about what God was going to do. Trying not to look sleepy but with our best alert expressions on our faces we resolutely joined the long queue to check in.

We arrived in Athens to temperatures of 30 degrees. Our luggage was loaded onto the transport that was waiting for us and we begun the one hour journey to our accommodation in Kipseli Athens.

During the drive we were able to take in the scenery which was breathtakingly beautiful with mountain ranges in the distance and in front of them hills and land covered in lush green vegetation. Athens is nestled in a valley surrounded by several mountain ranges and hills.

We arrived at our destination aptly named the Victory Inn. God is truly in the detail!

After settling in and giving God thanks we took an unplanned reconnoiter around the local area before our evening meal. God had graciously given us a Selah period in which to pause and prepare for the meetings ahead.

Day Three // 4th May 2025

We awoke on Sunday morning to crisp fresh weather with light sunshine. As we entered the small church there was a sense of immense gratitude for all God has done during the two days that we have been here. The choir came together and prayed committing everything into God’s hands. We sensed His presence and His peace in a very real and tangible way.

As the choir sang the awesome presence of God filled the atmosphere. People came with open hearts and expectancy, the Lord did not disappoint.

The flow of the Holy Spirit carried people to another dimension. Rev Taylor brought the message from John chapter 15, Jesus the vine, we are the branches. Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that no external qualifications can set a person right with God – only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can do that. As Revd Taylor shared the Word people opened their hearts to the message of hope and empowerment.

As Rev Taylor spoke under the anointing the spiritual atmosphere became charged, there was an evident change across the whole congregation. It was difficult to sit still and it was as if the wind of the Holy Spirit swept across the whole place and the entire congregation spontaneously stood to their feet., hands in the air proclaiming hallelujah! and clapping. It was as if a spirit of heaviness and all that is associated with it was broken. There was a real sense of freedom, joy and jubilation!

People who were previously reserved were smiling, hugging Revd Taylor, Sister Jenny and the choir members as if they did not want to let go.

Something tremendous had taken place, only eternity will be able to reveal it all. All the glory goes to God.

Our final concert was at the Evangelical Church in Slovenia. We had visited this church last year for the first time, and what a warm welcome we received from Bishop Leon and Pastor Judit.

The atmosphere was electrifying as people came with anticipation and expectation.

As the choir began to sing, stoic faces softened into warm smiles, and hearts melted as they received the gospel in song.

The children’s faces lit up as they heard the music, and their bodies moved to the rhythm of the beat. People were led into exuberant worship!

The large church doors were flung wide open, and passersby stopped in their tracks as they heard the singing.

A lady from Zimbabwe who had been living in Slovenia for 15 years said, “Thank you! I so miss this type of singing.” She had just heard about the event and decided to attend. She said, “The people of Slovenia need this.” Throughout the concert, her face expressed the joy she was experiencing.

There was a family of five who attended the local Catholic Church. They were so excited about sharing what they had experienced from the concert. The eldest child, a 14-year-old boy, couldn’t stop talking about what he had experienced, and this led to us giving him details of the resources available on our website. They were so grateful for the information they received.

The concert was organized to raise funds for treatment for a young boy who has kidney tumors. His name is Jan, and he is a relative of the church organist. They requested that we continue to remember him in prayer. We know that our God is a miracle worker, and we pray for total healing.

It was apt that Reverend Taylor’s message was from John chapter 5, where Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda by simply asking him, “Do you want to be made well?” This was a message of hope and encouragement to all.

We want to thank everyone for your support in prayer; the Lord certainly answered superabundantly above all that we could have asked or thought. We are so grateful that we could be a part of His end-time plan.

Special thanks to Pastor Ivan and Brother Andreas for organizing the venues and to our drivers, Leonid and John, for their servant hearts.

After a refreshing night’s sleep, we were ready to face a new day!

Our first service was held at the Calvary Chapel Evangelical Church in Čakovec, a town that has a number of free churches.

As people entered the building, you could see the joy and excitement on their faces. It was the first time a gospel choir from abroad had ever visited their church. It was so wonderful to be with another part of the body of Christ and to share the Lord’s Supper with them.

The singing of the choir moved people to tears, and the Holy Spirit ministered to lives in a very special way. Many felt that the message Rev. Taylor delivered was directly for them. The message was entitled “Allowing Christ to Change Us,” based on Luke 19:1-10.

Armando is 14 years old, and he told us that he has given his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, he is having difficulties at school, being teased by his peers. He said that it was wonderful for him to hear the message and the singing and asked if we could come again.

Elikica was in tears and could hardly speak. She tried to explain in her limited English how blessed she was by the message. Nova shared that she had a spinal injury some years ago, and her friend Elikica invited her to the service this morning. She expressed that it was as if the message was directly for her.

Tony, who was a visitor to the church, said he couldn’t keep still when the choir was singing. He was jumping up and down at the back of the church. He said, “This is just what we need!”

Gloria attended the festival and concert yesterday evening and, as a result, came to the church this morning. She asked for prayer for her daughter and her friends to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone asked us to return, as what they had received was inspiring and life-transforming, and they wanted others in Croatia to experience the uniqueness of this life-giving ministry.

Isaiah 55:12-13 (NKJV): “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

We awoke to glorious sunshine after a night where we witnessed God move in an awesome way. Our driver told us that he was so blessed by being with the group, hearing the message by Rev. Taylor and the singing. All glory to God!

We left mid-morning for Čakovec and two hours later arrived at our destination. We were warmly greeted by our hosts in preparation for the evening’s event, which was the final day of a five-day festival. The festival, we were told, stems from a traditional Franciscan feast and has become the main summer attraction in Čakovec, which is predominantly Catholic. The festival is made up of different events and is attended by hundreds of people.

There was a hive of activity as we arrived. The stage and sound equipment had been set up, and after a sound check, Minister Jenny led the choir in prayer. We prayed for a move of the ‘Holy Spirit’ over the entire event and for souls to be won into the Kingdom of God.

The organizer informed us that they had never had a gospel choir sing there before, and we were aware that God had miraculously opened a door of divine opportunity for the Gospel message to go out in song. As if to confirm this, the local priest came to check on things but stayed on.

We were told by the sound man that they had never had such a large crowd of people attending the festival. More people attended in that one evening than the full five days. When they were told that a gospel choir would be singing, this drew people, and because the organizers knew this, they kept the choir as the last group. This, we believe, was by God’s design so that the message of the Gospel could be heard.

As far as the eye could see, there were hundreds of people standing, sitting, and milling around. People came up and inquired if we were a gospel choir and were excited when we confirmed that we were.

As the choir sang, the crowd responded positively—some by waving hands, standing, filming, dancing, singing along, and applauding enthusiastically. As people had to leave, they were quickly replaced by others. As the announcer attempted to bring the evening to an end, the audience kept asking for more, and the choir had to sing further songs.

Some used their phones to display thank you messages to the choir; another placed bottles of water for the choir.

After the choir finished ministering, many people came forward and shared their experience of how the songs had impacted them.