From the October-December 2007 Issue
Thoughts from a Pastor's wife
John and Sophie Manousarides
Evangelical Church PiraeusFirst of all, we would like to thank all of you, dear readers of the Vision of Europe, who during all these past years have faithfully followed us spiritually with your consistent and faithful prayers. We count it a great privilege to belong to the wider missionary family of the EMF, and to have contact with many godly people who are interested in the work of God and support it both financially and prayerfully. Both John and I are really grateful to the Lord for that.
Usually it is John, my dear husband, who writes these articles about the work that God has entrusted to us here in Greece. However, the Lord put it in my heart to share a few of my own thoughts this time, from my own experiences, both past and present, as a pastor’s wife. I hope and pray that these few thoughts, written with much weakness, may be a means through which God can be glorified and perhaps some people (especially ladies like me), can be helped and encouraged along their spiritual path in the Lord’s service.
Busy with many things
Looking back over the many years of my husband’s work as pastor of the Greek Evangelical Church of Piraeus (a port of Athens), I remember at a certain point in my life, almost twenty years ago, feeling so overwhelmed by the amount of work in which I was involved, that I wondered if all these labours and my busy life were really pleasing to the Lord, and whether this was His will for me at that time. I was a wife, a mother of four little children and a pastor’s wife with several responsibilities in the church where we were ministering. These thoughts were continually occupying my mind and I was seeking the Lord’s guidance about it for a long time. Very often I used to talk to God, asking Him: “Lord, do you want me to do all these things that I am doing? Is my life pleasing to you? Please show me your will so that it may guide me”.
After a while, I attended a big mission conference in Holland, where around 7,500 young people were gathered together for five days with the sole purpose of hearing about world missions and responding to God’s call. I went as an interpreter for our Greek group of about 100 young people. The Bible readings each morning were given by the well-known missionary and preacher, Rev. Michael Griffiths. He spoke on the second epistle to Timothy, chapter two. While the apostle Paul is counselling Timothy in this chapter, we see that he is comparing the life of a Christian with the lives of a soldier, an athlete and a farmer. Three different kinds of lives, yet each one is a life that is characterised by much work, great effort, toil, and a lot of discipline. “A good soldier endures hardness… that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier”. An athlete should strive hard and live a life of discipline in order to win the prize. “The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops” (2 Timothy 2:3-6).
The preacher then challenged all of us to a life that would be neither easy nor convenient, but exactly the opposite. The Christian life, he said, that is pleasing to God is a hard and disciplined one. Nevertheless, the Lord promises that His presence will go with us and He will empower us with the strength of His Holy Spirit.
After listening to this message, I felt so glad and grateful to the Lord for answering my question and reassuring me that I shouldn’t expect an easy and comfortable life on this earth. On the contrary, my life as a pastor’s wife would not be an easy and restful one, but a hard life like the soldier’s, the athlete’s and the farmer’s. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”!
Since then, many years have passed by, and I can testify for the glory of God, that our life has not been an easy and comfortable one. However, I wouldn’t exchange it for anything else. God was so faithful in our lives and ministry and His promises so true! We are very grateful to Him and we praise His name.
Continuing to serve together
After 32 years of ministry at the Greek Evangelical Church of Piraeus, the Lord called us to serve Him for almost two and a half years at the Greek Evangelical Church of Los Angeles, California. On our return to Greece at the end of 2004, we thought that since we were pensioners now, the pace of our life would be easier and slower. However, things didn’t change from how they were before. John was called to undertake the leadership of a church in Chalkida (the capital of the island of Evoia, about 80 kilometres away from Athens) that had been without a pastor since 2003, when its young pastor passed away from cancer.
Starting our ministry at the beginning of 2005, the Lord gave us His grace to be there almost every Wednesday evening during the year (where John led the Bible study) and one or two Sunday mornings every month. It was not easy for us to undertake this long journey by train every Wednesday (leaving early in the afternoon and coming back late at night), but I shall never forget the gladness and joy I felt at the end of the day, after visiting and studying the Bible with our dear and needy brethren in this isolated church!
Just a couple of months ago, we had good news concerning a new, full-time pastor coming to this church to undertake the ministry. During these past years, we were earnestly praying to God for a permanent pastor and the Lord answered our prayers in the best way, by providing a godly and experienced man, accompanied by his dear wife for this ministry. He is going to start his ministry there from 1st October 2007, and although we rejoice in that prospect and will be relieved from our work in Chalkida, we will miss the sweet fellowship with our beloved brethren there.
Now, dear readers, I would like to ask you to pray with us for God’s provision of a new pastor for our home church in Piraeus. There is a great need for a godly man who will come and undertake the leadership and the spiritual ministry of this church. We would value very much your faithful prayers for this matter. Please, continue to pray for us as well, as we are seeking to please the Lord and be faithful to Him until the end!
As I look back and consider my life over all these past years, I cannot help but praise the Lord with all my heart for His loving kindness and His mercy to me. My life, as a pastor’s wife, has not been an easy and a comfortable one, but as I mentioned before, I would never exchange it for anything else in the world and I have never regretted the fact that God, in His great mercy, has given me the privilege to serve together with my husband in the great cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.