Summer 2016

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.  Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.              Jesus from John 4:34-36

To participate in the sowing and the reaping of a harvest for eternal life is incredible!  Incredibly challenging, demanding, rewarding and good.  I am grateful that God has put me in such a place where I can share Christ with those who do not yet know His love, power and purposes for their lives as well as equipping disciples so they too can be in this ministry!

After the hike . . . marvelous, but exhausting!

Precious children, made in God's image

In March, I took 11 students from Virginia Wesleyan College (VWC) and a staff person to Nicaragua.  This was my sixth trip with VWC!  As always the cross cultural service has a transforming effect!  Our dear Nicaraguan friends Gioconda and Wilfredo took us to the Jinotega District to San Jose de Bocay in the interior.  We partnered with a number of churches in building a sidewalk at a main ‘feeding center’.  This is a place where food is served to children in need as well as a location for other feeding centers to come and pick up their supplies for distribution.  I preached at three churches during evening services, the students shared testimonies and we sang a couple songs in Spanish together.  One afternoon while we were working on the long sidewalk with concrete and large stones, the Pastor asked if I would like to preach on the radio.  This central ministry had a new radio tower and had been broadcasting only for 1 month.  I agreed and the Pastor said, “Ok, five minutes.”  I questioned, “You want me to preach for five minutes?”  He replied, “No, you will preach for forty minutes.  You start preaching in five minutes!”  So with some quick prayer, laughter and confidence in our great LORD and Savior, I ventured in!  I do love the spontaneity and the unpolished ways in which the church in Latin America operates. 

It was the first time out of the United States for many of the students and the small group times of Bible study, worship, prayer and sharing were deep and moving.  One of the students recommitted their life to Christ shortly after returning and is eager to be a part of a new ministry to athletes at VWC that I’m working on!  Your financial gifts to ‘Life in His Name’ help to make this trip successful, thank you!

It was a tremendous year for ‘Marlin Ministries’, as God turned dozens of hearts around on our campus!  ‘Marlin Ministries’ is the banner name over all of the individual ministries at VWC. 

Student Leaders at our Home in Virginia Beach

Here are some happenings from this year:

Ø  Our overall participation was at an all-time high with twenty different ‘Marlin Ministry’ gatherings each week! 

Ø  The students started a second weekly worship time on Monday nights that grew into times of profound ministry in prayer, evangelism and deliverance!

Ø  We had a dozen students recommit their lives to Christ or receive Christ as Lord and Savior!  We celebrated this one evening knowing that the angels in heaven were rejoicing with us!  These conversions are deep and the students are actively growing in faith!

Ø  Two student interns served with me as a part of a new course entitled, “Servant Leadership” co-taught by Dr. Craig Wansink and me.  Both of these students, Luke Wentling and Ryan Fitzgibbon sense God’s call to serve in the future as Pastors in the United Methodist Church.

George Scott, top right & worship team

We have many students who have a real passion for Christ and his Gospel.  Our Sunday afternoon worship has a vibrancy and joy present that are having a great effect.  It is certainly the Presence of the Holy Spirit among us!  For years I had dreamed of having student testimonies at each worship service.  This year it happened!  The students were glad to share how God was at work and the redemption that they were experiencing!  One of my favorite testimony quotes from a freshman is this: “I’ve been playing this Christianity game my whole life, but now for the first time I’m on fire for the Lord!”  This is from a student who experienced God’s deliverance from some dark things going on in his life a few days before!  We heard from a number of students who are finding healing from past abuse and emotional trauma.  Our God heals and it is often through a community of disciples who love with Jesus’ love that it happens.  We are very excited about how God will work among us this fall.  We’ll have about 400 freshmen joining us at VWC.  Please pray for them and pray for us that we would be ready for the harvest and found faith in reaching out with love and truth.  It is powerful to see God using ‘Marlin Ministries’ to form us all as more faithful disciples of Jesus.  Please know my profound gratitude for your generosity and support!  You can track Marlin Ministries on Facebook.  Just ask to join.

We are working towards having a part-time ministry intern working with me this fall.  This would be a graduate of VWC, who has a passion for campus ministry.  I’m currently working with two May graduates, Forrest Teague and Gabe Higgins, who are exploring licensing and ordination in the United Methodist Church.  They are both currently serving in part-time ministry settings nearby. 

Mom and Dad at Oxford University, Magdalen College

In May I traveled to England and Scotland on a ‘Wesleyan Revival and Scottish Reformation’ trip with VWC.   We had 17 students, Dr. Terry Lindvall, Dr. Craig Wansink (both Religious Studies Professors at VWC) and other guests, including my parents!  It was a tremendous time of fellowship, learning and spiritual growth!  We helped the students to understand the theology, methods and power of the early Methodist movement, before it became a church.  The Wesley brothers, George Whitfield and other leaders were determined to take up their cross and follow Christ “spreading Scriptural holiness across the land.”  It started as a renewal movement on a college campus (Oxford U.) requiring weekly small group accountability, “How is it with your soul?”  Their field preaching with bold appeals to turn from sin to Christ and life combined with the small group shepherding and discipleship with active service to the poor, prisoners, needy and sick created a mighty movement.  I say . . . “Do it again, LORD!  And use me.”

In front of Wesley's Chapel, London England

May the Risen Christ make Himself known more and more in each of your lives so that you become like Him, a servant of all, the light of the world and a seeker of the lost!

Greg West

My Calling and Conversion

It was 1990 and I was seeking God.  I knew there had to be more to life than the empty pursuit of drinking as many beers as I could in a night.  There had been a change in my Mom – not priority shifts, but a deep inner peace shining through.  I believed it was God.  Deep down, I wanted to follow Jesus, not 90% but all the way.  So at an Inner Varsity gathering at Old Dominion University, the speaker told us if we wanted to follow Christ we had to share our faith and the reality of Jesus with others.  Too much for me.  See, my self-esteem was so tied up in what my friends thought of me that evangelism was terrifying.  I left early, tears in my eyes, convicted.  I called out from deep within, “God I want to follow, but I can’t do that, but if you can change me, please do.”  I think God likes that kind of prayer. 

A week later a friend asked me about my faith, so we talked for hours that evening about Jesus and the Scriptures.  I was amazed that God answered my prayer – I was able to share and I even enjoyed it!  I went to my room knelt and thanked God from my heart.  Then it was as if somebody entered into the room, yet the door was closed.  I felt wrapped in the Presence of Love.  Awe, delight, wonder and love.  I don’t know if my eyes were open or closed, but I saw myself speaking at my home church in Vienna, Virginia and a message came to me about: ‘The supreme importance of seeking God.’  I scribbled down the thoughts as they came.  I knew that the wisdom which I wrote down was beyond me.  I was an infant in the things of God.  I lost track of time, but remember crawling into bed exhausted yet filled with joy. 

I shared the experience with my pastor, Al Honaker.  He smiled while telling me that a group from Virginia Wesleyan, including my brother, were going to lead worship at Epiphany UMC, but they didn’t have a speaker.  Al said, “That’s where you fit in.”  I preached over that Christmas and the same peace that I had seen in my Mom was now in me.  Jesus seeking me, hearing my cry, filling me with his love and sending me to tell others; I’ve never been the same.

Greg & Eileen dating around 1990

A Short Biography

Greg was given grace to believe in and receive Jesus the Christ while he was a student at Old Dominion University in 1990.  After graduation from ODU in 1992, he completed a Discipleship Training School in Richmond, VA and the Dominican Republic with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) an international missions organization. Greg & Eileen married shortly afterwards and thought God was calling them to be missionaries.  During a summer away from Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS) they served as missionaries in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.  However, God guided in a different way and after graduation from ATS, Greg served as pastor Stokesland Church on the Danville District for three years.  After that Greg was appointed to start a new church in Suffolk.  He served Grace Harbor for eight years, finishing last June.  During the eleven years of pastoral ministry Greg & Eileen hosted small groups in their homes, believing that Jesus’ model of small group ministry was the most effective way to make disciples.  In the Fall of 2010, Greg became an Evangelist within the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church.  The role is becoming that of ‘Missionary-Evangelist’ as he works frequently with the Church in Latin America.  In June of 2010, he was appointed as Chaplain to Virginia Wesleyan College, where he served two years in a part time role, but went full time in July of 2012.   God is doing wonderful things among the college students at VWC!  We are seeing the beginnings of an awakening!  Greg and Eileen have been married for 22 years.  They are blessed with three children Josiah 16, Evie 13 and Luke 13.  

“There and Back Again”  August 2014

To England: London, Bristol and Oxford

Dr. Terry Lindvall invited me to England with the Virginia Wesleyan travel course on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.  How could I say “No”?  In addition, he requested that I research a future travel course on the Methodist Revival while on the trip!  At the time he and I were co-teaching the Spring course on Methodism at the College. 

My wife, Eileen questioned: “Why do you get to go to England when I’m the Downton Abbey fan?”  Little did she know I already had plans.  It was our 20^th anniversary and so I bought her a ticket after the grandparents agreed to care for our children!  Eileen and I had 6 days in London and Oxford together, then she flew out on the day the students arrived.  Eileen and I visited John Wesley’s home and Chapel in London as well as having high tea at Kensington Palace!

I drove to Bristol to see ‘the New Room’ when Eileen flew out.  This was the headquarters for John and Charles Wesley for their Christ centered renewal movement.  I spent the day with David Worthington, the Director, touring the site and talking about how God used this movement in the 1700s to bring tens of thousands to saving faith in Christ!

You can check out the New Room online at:     www.newroombristol.org.uk 

This is no mere history lesson: an understanding of how God worked, how the people responded and the Biblical principles applied can help us in awakening the church today and leading the lost to new life in Jesus!

Nicaragua ~ Trip # 4 with the College

We had another tremendous mission trip to Nicaragua this Spring, with a vibrant team of 14.

Again our time at the House of Hope was a great blessing.  It is painful to hear the stories of the women and children’s lives who have been damaged by prostitution, abuse and neglect.  However, it is always a story of redemption at the House of Hope.  “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5), is still true today!

On the left are Samantha, Mindy, Taylor and Gabriella working hard.  Gabriella is the daughter of Gioconda and Wilfredo, dear friends of our who always serve with us while we visit their country. 

We spent 2 days serving with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) outside of Managua.  They taught us about sacrificial living – laying down our lives for the Gospel.  The YWAM base is in the moutains in the town of Diriamba.  They have a vision to launch another base on the east coast of Nicaragua where centuries ago the Moravian missionaries from Europe came to share Christ with the those who had been enslaved by the Spanish.  The goal is to help the church recover the passion for the Great Commission that the Moravian Church had in the 18^th century.  LORD, let it be! 

Thank you!   What your giving makes possible . . .

Wayne Credle Jr. on the far left  received a scholarship last this year for his 2^nd year at Duke Divinity School.  The Board of Life in His Name decided to support students who have a heart for evangelism and building the Kingdom of God.  Also in the picture are two other Virginia Wesleyan College graduates, Brandon Nichols who is also at Duke Divinity and Devon Blair who is pursuing Chaplaincy in the military.

The LIHN Board is meeting at the beginning of September and will consider a second scholarship candidate who is a part of Rev. Brian Sixby’s congregation, First Fox Hill in Hampton, VA.  The student is currently attending Asbury Theological Seminary and has a desire to serve as an Evangelist.

In 2013 our YWAM partners introduced us to Lillian and her family who were living in a shack that barely gave them shelter.  Life in His Name and the team from Virginia Wesleyan made it possible for Lillian and her family to have a new home.  The picture above is from this year in front of the new home.  Actually 2 homes were built because of the partnership between LIHN, VWC and YWAM.  The cost of each home is a mere $3,000.  They are simple, but sturdy, dry and a vast improvement from what they were living in! 

Lillian cried when she saw us this year.  She shared the story of the new home being built with so much gratitude.  She and her family are involved in ministry in Diriamba with YWAM.  Tears of joy.  Thank you!

Dr. Terry Lindvall and Dejha Crudup on the path where  C. S. Lewis came to faith in Jesus.  Dejha was the recipient of the Marlin Ministries Servant Leader Award this year.  Life in His Name gives $100 each year to a student whose life models the life of our LORD.

A walking tour of Oxford with the students and Terry.  Tolkien and the others that befriended Lewis and gently led him to Christ is a great model of evangelism for us all.

We’ve Moved!  The West family has moved to the King’s Forrest neighborhood of Virginia Beach this summer.  I’ve wanted Eileen and the children to be involved in the ministry to College Students at VWC.  This enables us to have a much closer reach. The new students arrive next week!  We welcome your prayers as we make disciples of Jesus this fall.   

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning    sacrifice for our sins.”                     

1 John 4:8-10

Scholarship and Partnership in the Gospel ~ December 2013

                   “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is                         Christ the LORD.”    Luke 2:11  

May the LORD show Himself powerfully in your lives this Christmas season and into the New Year.                               

In the love of our Savior and LORD,

                 Greg West

Our longing is for the Kingdom of GOD to come here on earth as it is in heaven!  O that the values of heaven would be embraced by people on our planet.  This is GOD’s plan, this is what we work towards and pray for, just as Jesus taught us.  With this in mind the Board of LIHN recently voted to provide a $3,000 scholarship for someone who embodies this vision.   Wayne Credle Jr. is a second year student at Duke Divinity School.  Before Duke, he was a student at Virginia Wesleyan   College (VWC).  Wayne started a ministry in 2009 called Under Construction for Christ (UCC)  that expanded to VWC in 2010. 

Wayne in the Marlin
Ministries Lounge at VWC

When Wayne was a Senior, we talked about handing off this ministry to other student leaders.  Not only did Wayne successfully do that, he also continues to  shepherd the leaders from Durham.  When he is back in Hampton Roads, he meets with them to listen, encourage and disciple them.  It is a beautiful model of Biblical discipleship happening on the VWC campus!  Wayne’s call to ministry was revealed to him in 2004 at his mother’s funeral and through the grieving process,  Wayne joined his father in raising his four nephews and niece in that same year.   His short term goal is to become a federal prison chaplain and his long term goals are to become a local pastor and to create a fellowship that serves to mentor and encourage other pastors and ministry leaders.  Wayne was a part of the 2011 Mission trip to Nicaragua with me and this past summer he served as an interim pastor for 5 Methodist Churches in the Bahamas!  Somebody has to do it!  Thanks Wayne!

Wayne, 2nd from the left, and the Under Construction for Christ ministry at VWC

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this,   that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   

                      Philippians 1:4-6

Pete Kovalcik’s Departure from the Board                       

Pete loves both to play all types of
guitars and to build them!

Pete has been with us from the very beginning, helping us get established as a 501-c3.   Pete served as the President of LIHN for 3 years.  We are super thankful for his leadership and service.  He is leading two YMCA branches and simply has too full a plate!  Laura Houck, who has been serving as the Vice President is now in the role of President.  Laura teaches at a new Seminary in Hampton Roads.  Brian Sixby is the Pastor of  First Fox Hill UMC in Hampton and serves as our secretary.  Mike Senecal serves as our Treasurer; he is on staff at Redeemer Church in Chesapeake as the Pastoral Administrator.  In Pete’s letter to the Board he shared the following:

“It has been a pleasure and a blessing to work with each of you as we provided guidance and support to Greg and LIHN from the very beginning.  I’m going to miss our meetings as they were always a wonderful time for sharing, reflection and prayer.”  

We will also miss Pete’s presence and leadership, but know that GOD has different      seasons of ministry for each of us. 

New Home Built in Nicaragua ~ thank you for your support!

We received word from Youth with a    Mission in Diriamba, Nicaragua that the new house has been built for Lillian and her family!  Migdalia, the YWAM base director shared that after everything was moved into her home, it started to rain.  This brought tears of joy and gratitude to Lillian as she said, “None of my belonging will get wet in our new house.”  One more house is being built with funds from those who support Life in His Name.  Thank you!  Just $3,000 for a new home.  Pictures to come as we will visit this Spring!

                             Greg Co-Teaching Course on Methodism with Dr. Terry Lindvall              

“It’s way more exciting than it sounds!”  This is my opening line in trying to convince students to sign up for the class and then I share: “Methodism is the only denomination that started on a College Campus as a renewal movement requiring weekly small group participation!” 

I came across this from the Methodist
archives.  The Methodist Colleges were
seen as the 'chief source' of raising up
new proclaimers of Jesus & the Kingdom!

In the class, we will certainly focus on the marvelous understanding of God’s grace revealed in Jesus and poured out upon us by the Holy Spirit.  Grace that pursues us before we’re even aware of the good news of   Jesus.  We will look at the goal of this movement: Holiness of Heart and Life.  We  will look at Wesley’s genius in organizing the movement so that the masses were awakened in the field preaching, experienced the new birth in the class meetings and became disciples as they lived out the teachings of Jesus together!  This is no mere academic exercise.  We will be seeking ways to reapply today the principles that made this movement so vital and widespread. 

We will also spend some time looking at some very interesting passages from John Wesley’s journals about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, miraculous healings and instances of deliverance from evil spirits.                   

The class will not be boring!

L.I.F.E. Groups at VWC—Living in Faith Everyday

 I lead 4 LIFE Groups each semester as I believe this small group method is so effective in leading people to Christ and making faithful disciples.  In one of the groups a side conversation started with some two Biology majors.  They were interested in understanding the convergence of science and the Bible especially on the topics of creation and evolution.  Pastor Bill Powell passed me a DVD: “Unlocking the Mystery of Life: The Scientific Case for Intelligent Design.”  It is a marvelous video that the average person can understand.  

It’s conclusion is in the title and I will simply say this is a phenomenal resource.  I took 3 pages of notes while watching and learning about bacterial flagellum and irreducible complexity.  The scientists in the video say science points to a Great Designer of all things.  One of the Biology students shared with the LIFE Group about another student mocking the world view of    Creation, she engaged the student in dialogue and stumped him with reasoned arguments for Intelligent Design!  I thank GOD for my own learning and growth and the equipping that is happening on campus.  A fantastic online resource that I use with students is: ww.veritas.org—whose purpose is “to engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions and the modern relevance of Jesus Christ.”

The Redistribution of Wealth?  A Different View . . . 

This topic has been in the news a lot lately.  I thought it was both relevant and stunning to consider how John Wesley used and distributed money.

While at Oxford, an incident changed his perspective on money. He had just finished paying for some pictures for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a cold winter day, and he noticed that she had nothing to protect her except a thin linen gown. He reached into his pocket to give her some money to buy a coat but found he had too little left. Immediately the thought struck him that the Lord was not pleased with the way he had spent his money. He asked himself, Will thy Master say, “Well done, good and faithful steward”? Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy!--Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?

Perhaps as a result of this incident, in 1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28 pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds.

Instead of letting his expenses rise with his income, he kept them to 28 pounds and gave away 62 pounds. In the fourth year, he received 120 pounds. As before, his expenses were 28 pounds, so his giving rose to 92 pounds.

Wesley felt that the Christian should not merely tithe but give away all extra income once the family and creditors were taken care of. He believed that with increasing income, what should rise is not the Christian’s standard of living but the standard of giving.

This practice, begun at Oxford, continued throughout his life. Even when his income rose into the thousands of pounds sterling, he lived simply, and he quickly gave away his surplus money.

One year his income was a little over 1400 pounds. He lived on 30 pounds and gave away nearly 1400 pounds. Because he had no family to care for, he had no need for savings. He was afraid of laying up treasures on earth, so the money went out in charity as quickly as it came in. He reports that he never had 100 pounds at any one time.  ~ from Dr. Charles White's article entitled "What Wesley Practiced and Preached About Money"