Athens was much on the contrary to what we were warned about: pick-pockets and trash, ugly urban is what I expected. We must have been walking in SO MUCH grace and protection from the Lord.
I did not see much trash, was never approached let alone robbed and we had a lovely time.
We were scheduled for about 5 days of ministry before our time for "debrief" began but it was really hard not to slink into a mode of vacation in our 5-star hotel with a roof-top pool and wrap-around balcony view of the Acropolis and Parthenon.
We read the entire New Testament through in a couple days, reading a few hours in the morning and a couple in the evening. I spent some time updating our team finances and making sure we were all balanced out before we shipped off a nice gift to the church back in Thessaloniki. That was fun!
The train ride was really fun although it took just as long as the non-express route was supposed to take. I had a good nap and an amazing conversation with one of my team leaders, just talking about life and stumbling upon revelations over our time of outreach. It is amazing the things that come to mind when I talk to this lady! We are so similar yet so different, but the similarities sure matter and bring us together!
Church the next morning was incredible! Just like going for coffee with a Greek is a 3 hour process, church was a 4 hour one I recall. The church was so diverse with a Greek pastor and who had an African wife. There were Asains, Africans, Greeks and some of us miscellaneous white folk all in one church. I really felt at home, like I was at church in Sacramento at BOSS. The message was wonderful- I wrote about 4 pages of notes because everything talked about was so such of cool revelation! I love when that happens.
The ladies of the church were a delight. We came to the church one day to help on their day of iCare which was a day of giving away free school supplies, children's clothes and haircuts. What a blessing to provide haircuts! That is such a personal delight to feel cared for enough for a fresh 'do. Some of the youngin's were not so keen on the loud and scary sounds of the electric clippers but then again they were not so keen on the crazy elongated sharp scissors either.
Finally, we made it to a GREEK ISLAND! The island of Aegina was gorgeous! It is no Santorini but being a Monday it was superbly quiet and going against the pattern of casual tourists, we asked if there was another beach within walking distance. Alas, a simple 10 minute walk to the other side of a hill opened up to a nearly private ocean front to a rocky-bottom shore line filled with turquoise water! it was immediately met by deep navy blue water and had I had goggles I could guarantee that it was the sea-floor dropping into the Mediterranean. Except for the one gal that treated our find as a nude beach, with her 5-yr-old son, we had the best near-private access to the Aegean Sea!
I did not see much trash, was never approached let alone robbed and we had a lovely time.
We were scheduled for about 5 days of ministry before our time for "debrief" began but it was really hard not to slink into a mode of vacation in our 5-star hotel with a roof-top pool and wrap-around balcony view of the Acropolis and Parthenon.
We read the entire New Testament through in a couple days, reading a few hours in the morning and a couple in the evening. I spent some time updating our team finances and making sure we were all balanced out before we shipped off a nice gift to the church back in Thessaloniki. That was fun!
The train ride was really fun although it took just as long as the non-express route was supposed to take. I had a good nap and an amazing conversation with one of my team leaders, just talking about life and stumbling upon revelations over our time of outreach. It is amazing the things that come to mind when I talk to this lady! We are so similar yet so different, but the similarities sure matter and bring us together!
Church the next morning was incredible! Just like going for coffee with a Greek is a 3 hour process, church was a 4 hour one I recall. The church was so diverse with a Greek pastor and who had an African wife. There were Asains, Africans, Greeks and some of us miscellaneous white folk all in one church. I really felt at home, like I was at church in Sacramento at BOSS. The message was wonderful- I wrote about 4 pages of notes because everything talked about was so such of cool revelation! I love when that happens.
The ladies of the church were a delight. We came to the church one day to help on their day of iCare which was a day of giving away free school supplies, children's clothes and haircuts. What a blessing to provide haircuts! That is such a personal delight to feel cared for enough for a fresh 'do. Some of the youngin's were not so keen on the loud and scary sounds of the electric clippers but then again they were not so keen on the crazy elongated sharp scissors either.
We also went to the church for a sort of work day where half of us re-labeled water bottles with the hotline information for reporting Human and Sex Trafficking in Athens. This is through the organization A21 that I have mentioned before (We interviewed them for a future video project on Thessaloniki and/or Greece). The other half of us emptied out a storage room that has a full wall of windows so we could cover them with paper so the outside world does not see their storeroom. It was sweaty and hot, a given in a Greek summer, but 11 additional women to the women of the church sure made the work a light load.
Friday evening we met up with members of the church and clad ourselves in lime-green shirts with a Greek phrase on it along the lines of, 'Be her friend..." and the hotline number on the back. We handed out at least 250 water bottles with the hotline information as well as countless info cards that have a second rip-off card on them to share along with bumper stickers and another informational sheet. Let's just say, that a good amount of folks were definitely informed that day.
Informing the general public about the existence and prevalence of Sex Trafficking, especially in Greece, is so important. I wish I was kicking the pimps in the you know where but that is unrealistic, dangerous and does not put a dent in the cycle. Stop watching porn, do not pay for a prostitute. This will change things. And many do not think it is a real problem or think it doesn't happen in their 'backyard.' America has outrageous rates and Sacramento, California is one of the biggest ports in America for Sex Tourism and Trafficking. (Google has MANY sources for this).
On a lighter note, we were so safe in Athen I almost wonder why we had so many cautious warnings: do not take a purse out with you, do not stay out later than sunset, do not show your money, there are professional pick-pockets who will slit the bottom of your purse...I know it was God's grace. We stayed in a nice area and had lots of favor wherever we went. I did not see one sketchy scene or once feel uncomfortable.
Finally, we made it to a GREEK ISLAND! The island of Aegina was gorgeous! It is no Santorini but being a Monday it was superbly quiet and going against the pattern of casual tourists, we asked if there was another beach within walking distance. Alas, a simple 10 minute walk to the other side of a hill opened up to a nearly private ocean front to a rocky-bottom shore line filled with turquoise water! it was immediately met by deep navy blue water and had I had goggles I could guarantee that it was the sea-floor dropping into the Mediterranean. Except for the one gal that treated our find as a nude beach, with her 5-yr-old son, we had the best near-private access to the Aegean Sea!
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