Pastor Brian – Bible Reading
1. You can be seated for a moment. I know that song is probably new for most of us. It’s actually quite old. And it’s a song that, back in the 90s, early 2000s, we used to do a lot around here. It’s been a minute. But as I was thinking about the service this morning, and in a little bit we’re going to be hearing from Cecilia. A little bit about the ministry that she’s involved in. But I thought it was a very appropriate theme. And, of course, it took my mind to that it’s a very popular famous scripture.
2. So go ahead and pull out your Bible or grab the one at the end of your seats there. Isaiah 6, which is really the… Thank you, thank you, Angelo. Isaiah 6:1-8. It’s really the foundation of the song that we just sang. We all know this as the Scripture in which Isaiah answers the call of God. Beginning at verse 1, it says, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two wings they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory’. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ‘Woe to me’, I cried, ‘I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’ Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I, send me.’”
3. I like the fact that when Isaiah heard the call of God, he didn’t think about the destination. He didn’t think about details or dangers. He really only thought about one thing, and that was, ‘What is the condition of my heart?’ And when the Lord announced to him, You’re good, he was then able to say, Well then here I am, send me.
4. That kind of trust comes from knowing who is sending you. The one who calls is faithful, and the one who sends you equips you. And sometimes God sending you, it might mean things like it did for Cecilia or Henneke or some of the rest of us, means moving to a new place and doing something new.
5. Maybe it’s starting a new ministry. Maybe it’s having a hard conversation with somebody. But at other times, it’s just as simple as walking across the street to show somebody kindness, or offering an encouragement to somebody who is hurting, and this is important. The key to this is not where you go, but it’s who you go with. Where you go, I go what you say, I say. What you pray, I pray.
6. When we make ourselves available, we become a part of God’s work in ways that we could never imagine. In sports, we often have this saying, the best ability is availability. God doesn’t really need our ability. He can provide for anything. But what he asks for is our availability. And when we step out in faith, that’s when we find out that God has already gone ahead of us. And so, throughout this morning, we want you to hold to this theme. Lord, make me available, help me to be available. Lord, make me an offering for you.
7. So, I wonder if you would just bow your heads with me this morning, and in your heart, if you would, pray this prayer. Lord, my life is yours today. Wherever you send me. Whether it’s across the street, or to a new city, or to a whole new land, give me the courage to obey. And the faith to trust that you are with me. Here I am Lord, send me, amen? In Jesus’ name, Amen.
8. Would you stand with me again and let’s prepare our hearts. Lord as we present ourselves to you today, we present also our offerings to you. And with this Lord we declare that you are first in our life. Lord, we come to you with joy today, and with thanksgiving, declaring our love. So, Lord, receive these gifts today. We ask that you receive them joyously. And that you multiply it all for the goodness that you want to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
9. Just bless the Lord in your heart. Sometimes we feel like we have to fill all of the space. I just feel like resting in the Lord here for a moment. We’ve declared the goodness of God. We told him that we’ll say You are good. And that all the things You’ve done Lord have brought us joy. Just let the joy of the Holy Spirit enter your heart today. The Lord is good. And His mercy is everlasting.
Pastor Brian – Honoring Cecilia
10. Cecilia, go ahead and come ahead. We’re going to hear from Cecilia today. For those of you who don’t know, I think pretty much everybody knows. But Cecilia does not exactly live nearby. She lives down the coast in Lavrio. She’ll tell you about the ministry that she does there and the things that she has going on. But before she starts to share, I just want to honor her in front of you today.
11. I’m usually one of the first very few people at church in the morning on Sunday. But it is pretty much guaranteed that if she’s in the country, Cecilia is here well ahead of me. And the reason that you get to walk into the church without a whole bunch of leaves out in the front. Or a whole bunch of garbage laying around. Or handprints all over the windows. Or stains all over the floors. It’s because Cecilia has been here ahead of all of us.
12. The flags are outside so people can find the church. There’s usually a pot of coffee made, that either she or maybe Evy has come in to make. And we all have our water bottles in place. And that’s because Cecilia has the heart of the servant. And she serves this house well. She drives probably what, about 45-50 minutes to get here on Sunday? Usually picking up people along the way. And then once all of us have gone later this afternoon, she’ll go home taking people along the way. It will probably be a little slower going home because of everybody going to the beach. But I think it’s worth honoring somebody who gives that much time and effort.
13. And so, if she has her chance to share, this will be wonderful. But I suggest today, upstairs at the coffee, just stop by and give her a handshake or a hug or whatever she’ll let you do. And give her a thank you. Does that sound good? Amen. Alright.

Cecilia Sakatira – Creative Hands
1. Amen. Thank you very much, Pastor Brian. A very good morning to you all. Like you heard, I’m Cecilia. I’m originally from Zimbabwe. I’ve been in Greece, next month it will be 16 years that I’ve been in Greece. This is only by God’s grace. And I’m going to share a little bit about the ministry that is represented by these things in front of us here. It’s called Creative Hands. It’s a hand weaving ministry. I love the song that we sang, you know, make me a vessel.
2. When I was looking through the pictures, I almost cried because I was looking at myself in that picture. I had no idea about weaving on that loom there. It was my very first time and that was May of 2018. It was a season where I was just dealing with a lot of things. I had no idea what was going on. In the midst of my confusion and trying to figure out things, I just heard God saying, learn how to weave.
3. I’d never seen anyone weaving in my life before. But do you know when God speaks something and you know that is the one we speak and you just have to do it? So, what did I do? I went on YouTube. Thank God for YouTube. I just typed in how to weave by hand. I found that you could weave on a frame like this. So, I just followed what I saw on YouTube. And I asked the Lord, ‘What do You want me to do with this?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Learn, so that you may teach the refugees hoe to weave. You know, I just did what the Lord told me to do.
4. So, I just started learning. And I began to pray. Because when I knew God wanted me to learn how to weave and He wanted me to teach refugees how to weave, I went on the Internet again to look for places where we can see looms here in Greece. I found a place where this guy in Kipseli sells looms and yarns and stuff.
5. God provided the money. I bought my first loom. It was small like this one. And fast forward to September, October 2018. I got to visit Finland, got some looms. I had no idea how those looms worked. They were very different to the looms here in Greece. This was one of the first looms that came from Finland.
6. It was not like this. It was pieces, one by one. I had no idea how to put those pieces together. But thank God, for the people in Finland, they are very intelligent and they put numbers on each piece. So, you knew number one and number two, number three, number four, they go together. But there was a lot of prayer and a lot of tears in that. At the same time, I was working in a refugee camp, I would get the women out of the camp, come and learn how to weave. And I had no idea what I was doing.
7. So, I would take them and sometimes I’d get stuck and I’d be like, okay, the lesson is over, I’ll see you tomorrow. But also, I was teaching them sewing, so sometimes I would just say, okay, today, instead of going on this mission, we’re going to do some sewing.
8. 2018 went like that after 2019. But God is faithful. God can be trusted. He did come through. By the end of 2019, I knew how to weave a little bit. And I was starting to teach the women, I had such confidence that we were going somewhere, although I didn’t know where we were going.
9. The women were excited because they had an opportunity to learn sewing and now weaving. We made things like this, things like this, all on a small loom. But we also started using some of our looms. This was our second space that we moved into. The first one was very small; we moved into a slightly bigger space.
10. Then COVID came 2020. You know, for some it was time to rest. For me it was time to really pray and say, God, where are we going and what are we doing in this? I knew I didn’t want just to have a space where the women can just come and hang out. These women, I realized that they needed a reason to wake up every morning and face the day.
11. So, as I prayed, I felt the Lord saying, ‘Get it set up as a business.’ The Bible says, “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.” That’s in John 10:27. I’ve learned that when God speaks, we just follow, sometimes we don’t even know where we are going. So, during COVID, I was able to just think through the name and all that, and then we came out of COVID, I knew we needed to set it up as a business. I started to talk to friends, I said, I know I’m going to register this, they said you’re crazy. How could you set a business during a pandemic?
12. There we are. Those were some of my first women. Sometimes I think they had more faith than I had. We would pray together. April 2021, we got registered as a business, as an NGO, as Creative Hands. This woman here on the front, she’s from Syria, the next one’s from Syria, actually all three of them are from Syria. They were my first students; they were also the first employees at Creative Hands.
13. God just has been at work at Creative Hands; this was our first space. I’m grateful for the body of Christ. Because it’s not about me what I’ve done, but it’s about what God is doing among his people. This was our official opening in 2021. People came to bless, to sing, to worship. We moved to another space and God has just been doing only what God can do. I always say Creative Hands has a revolving door. Because if I think of 2018 to where we are today, I have seen a lot of women come and go. These are the current women at Creative Hands; maybe one is not in the picture. We have seen women from Afghanistan, from Iran, from Ethiopia, from Somalia. We have done work with women from the Roma community where we have helped.
14. But it’s all because of what God is doing in the lives of these women and more so in my life. Creative Hands is not really just a business, it’s not about making money, and I promise you we don’t really make a lot of money. Our desire is really to help women be empowered, restore their sense of dignity, value and worth. Because that is what it is all about.
15. We make products, we do sell those products, the women get paid, we pay our bills, and we are grateful to God for that. These are some of our beautiful products. It’s hand woven. It takes time. It takes effort. But I love what God does in the process of making a beautiful product like that. Because God is busy at work in my life and in the lives of the women.
16. This is Creative Hands. We have a few things upstairs that you can take a look at. You can visit us on the internet, www.creativehands.gr. You will find products; you will read stories about our lives and the lives of the women who have come through. So, you know, sometimes life happens. And when I look at Creative Hands and where we started and where we are today, I’m reminded of what Jesus says in John 10. We will read John 10:1-5; 25-27, it will be on the screen there.
17. I’m not going to read all of it. But I’m just going to read the last part. He said, “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice….” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
18. We follow Him because He calls each one of us by name. And I love that God is looking to us, because He wants to use each one of us. And it takes faith and trust in God to walk in obedience. I’m just going to share on a few things that I’ve learned about God and the work at Creative Hands. I’ve learned that following Jesus requires faith and trust, and without those two, we can’t really say we believe in him. The two cannot be separated.
19. We believe that God is who He says He is, and that He does what He alone can do, and we cannot stop at that. We have to follow our faith with obedience. The song that we sang, ‘Where you go, I’ll go, what you say, I’ll say, what you pray, I’ll pray.’ He speaks to me of faith. He speaks to me of trust and of obedience.
20. One of my favorite characters in the Bible is Abraham. According to the Bible, he’s one of the very few people that is known as a friend of God. I love Abraham’s faith. Because the Bible says his body was as good as dead, and Sarah’ womb. But he believed God because he knew that God was faithful.
21. In Romans 4, I’ll read a bit of Romans 4:13-23. Towards the end of that, it says, “So shall your descendants be, and not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’ womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised was also able to perform, and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
22. The journey of Creative Hands has been and will always be a journey of trusting God, believing Him, obeying with courage because sometimes we need courage to stand against the giants of confusion, chaos. We need courage to be able to block out voices that can tell us, ‘You’ll never make it, it cannot be done.’ When I think of Creative Hands, I have had to choose who I listen to. Some people see impossible at every turn, without even trying. I see possible, because God is the God of the impossible. He says, “If you have faith like a little mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move and it will be moved.”
23. I have worked with God for a number of years, not many, but a few years. One thing that I know without any shadow of doubt is that God can be trusted. He can be trusted no matter where you are, no matter where I am, no matter what is going on, God can be trusted.
24. I love what James said in James 1:22; I read from the Passion Translation, “Don’t just listen to the Word of truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let His Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life.”
25. Running Creative Hands is meant obeying God even when I didn’t feel like it. It is meant helping even when you know that the people that you are helping sometimes, they don’t appreciate. Or sometimes you can’t give as much as you would like to give. And sometimes you pour yourself into a woman’s life and then they just walk away without saying goodbye.
26. It is meant obeying God’s voice and showing compassion and just loving even when you know people are lying to you. Running Creative Hands has been a call to embracing God’s sustaining grace; showing up even when you’d rather not; staying the course even when it hurts. And when I’ve thought of all those things, I think one of the things that I’ve learned through the women in the work is that no matter the negative things that happen with us, there are so many blessings.
27. When you see a woman looking at her piece for the first time, a fabric that she has woven for the first time, a woman who at first said, I can’t do that, it’s too difficult. A woman who maybe two months ago told you, I can never do anything, Cecilia. I don’t know how to do anything.
28. But six months down the road, they are smiling and they are so happy because they’ve produced something that is beautiful. It’s not only about weaving textiles, like I mentioned, Creative Hands started when I was in a very difficult situation of my life. We have moments with the women where we can just sit and talk about life, where they can share about the difficulties, about their journeys.
29. When a woman tells you, Cecilia, I’m so afraid that something is going to happen to my child because of what happened to me when I was young, and you are able to look in the eye and say, you know what, we can pray that nothing like what you went through when you were young would happen to your daughter. When a woman tells you, Cecilia, this happened to me but I’ve never shared it with anybody. And you realize this woman has been carrying a lot of shame and a weight on your shoulders.
30. And I look at you and I say, listen, I’ve gone through what you went through. I know. I may not know exactly the depth, but I went through exactly the same thing that you went through. But you see where I am today? I entrusted the pain and those experiences to the One who takes the brokenness of our lives and builds into something beautiful. Sometimes we have to be vulnerable with each other, with the women. You know, vulnerability can be challenging. Because you’re working with women who look to you and think you have had it all together all your life.
31. But when you look at them and say, ‘No, I have failed so many times. Some people gave up on me, but there are others who haven’t given up, so, I’m not going to give up on you.’ You know, when I think of that kind of conversation, with the women, whether it is in my house or in a coffee place, or anywhere, I’m reminded of something that I read in a book that I’m reading and listening at the same time.
32. It’s a book called, ‘Daring Greatly,’ by Brené Brown. She writes a quotation of a speech that was given by President Theodore Roosevelt. And I love that quotation and I’m going to read it. ‘It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how strong the man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who actually is in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives violently, who is, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. The credit belongs to the man who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a way because, who at the best knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.’
33. Today, we see the beautiful products that are made at Creative Hands. We tell stories of women who have come to know the Lord through Creative Hands. We talk of children who have been able to go to school because we have been able to help them into a local school. People love the story of Creative Hands.
34. But it is not about Cecilia. It has never been, and it will never be. It’s really about the body of Christ coming together. Many have come alongside to hold my hands, when I felt like giving up. Many have poured out their prayers, their resources, and encouragement to get us to where we are today. And I’m forever grateful.
35. The Glyfada Christian Center has been home to me for almost 16 years. I have known the support of the family here. It has been a place of growth, chipping away at some old, rough places in my life. This has been a place where I have grown in my faith. I’ve grown to trust God through this church. Obedience has been encouraged by the leadership. I have been able to have the courage to stand and sometimes to be very raw with my struggles. But it has also been a place where I have experienced some difficulties.
36. But that’s what a family is all about, isn’t it? A family is where we experience the good, the not so good, and the great. As I look at each one of us in my closing today, we are all pieces of tapestry, being woven together by God. Each one of us has known pain, sorrow, joy, victory, triumph, disappointment, sorrow.
37. But all of this has contributed to who we are and who we are becoming. One of the things I love to say to my friends is, when I look at the road that I’ve walked on with regards to Creative Hands, the experiences I have had, I will never exchange them for anything. Because I have learned that whatever experience I go through in my life, when we give it to God as an offering, He uses it for His glory.
38. As I close today, the life of Creative Hands, my life, and our lives can be summed up in this poem that I’m going to read. It’s called, ‘The Master Weaver’. ‘My life is but a weaving between the Lord and me. I may not choose the colors, He knows what they should be, for He can view the pattern upon the upper side, while I can see it only on this, the underside. Sometimes He weaves sorrow, which seems strange to me, but I would trust His judgment and work on faithfully. It is you who fills the shuttle, and He knows what is best. So, I shall weave in earnest, leaving to Him the rest, not till the loom is silent, and the shuttle cease to fly, shall God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why the dark threads are is needed in the weaver’s skillful hands as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned. Our lives are a piece of tapestry. Creative Hands is a work in progress.’ O, is our lives. Amen. Thank you.

Pastor Brian – Close
1. Thank you, Cecilia. As you go out today on the back table, you can remember to pick up, there’s little flyers for Cecilia’s, oh, they’re upstairs? Yes, they’re upstairs. Cecilia’s opened a new shop, and there’s going to be a grand opening. And of course, you will all be invited. It will be a lovely little trip down the coast to Lavrio. We can join in celebrating with Cecilia this new endeavor.
2. So good to be a church with servants. I look around the room and I see so many people that I know are busy, either in ministries around the city. Others I see who are constantly helping others. It’s good for the heart. We started with a song that says, we’re not going to sing this one, but it said, “where you go, I’ll go. What you say, I’ll say, and what you pray, I’ll pray.”
3. Ask the Lord. How would you want me to pray? And let that be the foundation for where would you like me to go? And what do you want me to do? Because in that obedience, we will find the blessings of the Lord in our own lives, and we will be the blessing of the Lord in the lives of other people. Amen?
4. Just bow your heads. I’m going to pray that as a prayer over us today. Lord, as we respond to you in our hearts, I pray Holy Spirit that You would just speak to each of us uniquely, individually. Help us to know who we are in You. How we have been gifted by You. And what is the purpose of that? Because in You, we will find the best purpose. And we will live the best life. Help us to follow after You. Where you go, we will go. Here we are, Lord. Here we are. Send us.
5. In Jesus’ name.