From living in a small village on the outskirts of Cambridge to the bustling city of Athens, Al and Rachel are using their experiences in church planting to build up the Greek church.
The couple, along with daughters Charis and Lois, have been serving in Athens since 2021. Having both been involved in previous mission work, they bring with them a range of different skills and experiences that’s benefiting the teams they lead and work alongside.
Al shares his time between leading the European Christian Mission (ECM) team in Greece, which aims to partner with the evangelical church to equip, connect and multiply churches across the country, and helping to lead a church plant, Kypseli Church, in the heart of Athens.
Rachel helps with the church’s outreach ministry with young families, particularly focusing on mums. She coordinates pastoral care for the ECM team and helps ECM International with orientation of new mission workers across Europe and with receiving workers from partner organisations.
When Al led a short-term mission trip to Greece in 2018 his eyes were opened to the needs of the Greek church. “I saw just how small and under-resourced it was compared to what we have in the UK,” he shares.
“We’d already been involved in a church plant in the UK, where in theory, secularism holds sway, but we’d seen many different ways in which the gospel could make an impact on a local community through church planting.”
After exploring Greece as a long-term placement, the opportunity for a team leader with ECM came up – the first piece of everything else falling into place.
As part of their work with Kypseli Church, Rachel is building relationships through the toddler group. With a similar structure to a toddler group here in the UK, it’s a chance for mums and dads to bring their children.
“They love it because it’s a place for their kids to socialise with others, and for themselves to talk about parenting and share tips,” says Rachel.
Toddler groups aren’t as common as they are in the UK, and although some Greek families come, many who attend have international backgrounds themselves. To help build community with local people, Rachel and the team run a monthly Saturday event for the whole family.
“It’s all relationship building, praying for conversations about faith, and they ask us: ‘What is this building? Who are you, or what’s an evangelical church? It’s a great way to talk about Jesus through natural conversations.”
Another activity Rachel helps run one Saturday a month is MomCo. MomCo exists in over 100 countries and describes itself as the ‘front porch’ of the Church – inviting mothers into a safe, supportive community where they can share the struggles and joys of motherhood, but are also gently introduced to the Lord Jesus.
Both the toddler group and MomCo meet-ups are opportunities to see God at work. “They’re ways of opening up spiritual conversations,” says Rachel. “People come along to the groups from a range of different backgrounds – different countries, faiths, people who have never had anything to do with church, and some people who would call themselves spiritual but don’t know Jesus.
“We recently had a lady from North Africa asking about prayer, and how to pray. She wants to understand more about Jesus, and it’s been lovely to have conversations with her.
“God is using something very ordinary – the experience I have from running a toddler group at our church on the outskirts of Cambridge ever since our eldest, Charis, was a baby,” adds Rachel.
Opportunities to serve
If you’re interested in serving in Greece and have a willingness to learn Greek, there’s opportunities to work with different age groups in local churches in Athens and beyond, including families, teenagers, and students.
“Ultimately, people who love the church and are committed to seeing it grow are gold dust in Greece,” shares Al.
Enquire with us if you’d like to explore serving in Greece.
Please pray
- For more Greek families to come along to the toddler group and Saturday events, and for fruitful conversations about the gospel;
- for opportunities for the MacInnes family to build friendships with those who don’t yet know Jesus;
- for more people to come to Greece willing to take the time to learn a difficult language and serve the Greek church.