First Week of Classes

We’re all ramping up for the beginning of the school year. Living within a block or two of the two largest universities in Greece, the neighborhood is buzzing with excitement. Students arrive daily. Bookstores stay open through the usual siesta hours. On campus, outside of the auditorium where freshmen register for classes, the social political groups clamor to help them find classes and cafeterias (almost like fraternity and sorority rush).

Our short-term staff (one-year stinters) arrived last week. Fighting jet lag, they joined the long-term campus team for orientation and planning for this school year. It’s been fun to watch them navigate the streets in the neighborhood and the cultural nuances of daily life like ordering food and saying thank you to people who help us.

I’ve loved getting a little bit of time on campus—eating a meal in the cafeteria, spending a morning at a café in the philosophy school, prayer walking around the University of Athens and the National Technical University. I can’t wait for classes to start on October 6!

You can pray with us

· that we’d be able to easily connect with over 70 Greek students who were friends with our summer project students and/or last year’s campus team.

· that God would go before us, leading students through His Spirit to seek Him.

· that by Christmas we’d have five students who are following Christ and gathering friends to learn more about Him.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words. . .

September 16, the short term staff (stinters) arrived for their year with us. They've been a great addition to our team! This picture of the team that serves in Athens is taken from the top of the dorm across the street from my apartment. Paige, my roommate, is on the left.


The next picture was taken when friends from Greeley stopped by Athens on a Mediterranean cruise. I so enjoyed having lunch with them!


One day our team worked at a local camp, helping lay astroturf for a soccer field. We had to pile into a little motorboat to get there. We enjoyed serving with people from Albania, Canada, Australia, Iran, Brazil, Greece, and the U.S.

a little home make-over

i remember the apartment being dark. i'd stopped in during my visit in the spring, not thinking that i'd live in the apartment even if i returned. it WAS dark. the living room has no windows and the room was painted a dark hue of teal. 

although i wondered if it was worth the trouble, i knew i wouldn't want to spend time in a dark room, so my friends jumped in(actually, they took over. if i hadn't jumped in, they would have done it without me.)  to help and we painted the dark room an off-white color. 

the light makes all the difference. the room actually welcomes me when i walk through the front door. i had a meal with some friends around the table last week and enjoyed our time there. i'm hoping for many more memories like this in my newly-brightened living room.

not to overspiritualize, but i just read one of my favorite passages in isaiah the other day: "the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. for those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine."  i pray that Jesus' light makes all the difference in Greek students' lives and that they find their homes in Him.