Time to move

Hello!

(Pictured above: a bunch of turtles)

The Greece Gang is celebrating and mourning our last day in Athens. It’s amazing how the last three weeks have flown by, yet also taken their time. Tomorrow morning at a bright and early 5:15 am we leave for the airport to head to Thessaloniki for two days.

Over the last few days we have had our share of adventures in Athens. With many miles of walking we have managed to cover almost all of Athens via train and bus, some of it not on purpose.

On Saturday we got to experience the Sea and took a day trip to the beach. It was hot, humid, and overall a good experience. Also, McDonald’s in Athens tastes pretty much the same as Pratt. Just no sweet tea.

On a more sad note we had our last day of service at Helping Hands. With a lunch day, we helped serve the meal and then had time to do dishes, help in the kids and baby room, and overall have a good time of fellowship.

As we continue our journey in Greece, it’s sad to say that it is coming to an end. Yet we constantly have to rejoice in the fact that we are coming home to share the news of these People to others. And through that, we find comfort in our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Look at all those chickens!

Yesterday was an eventful day for us! We started with devotional time at our ministry-of-the-week, Samaria. We met with the German team to find out how we would be serving this week. After a lunch of gyros, we headed to Helping Hands to help gather things for our park day. We made the metro trek to the National Gardens where we met with several refugee families. A few games of ultimate frisbee (which I heard was pretty brutal, but the best), some “cake” making in the sandbox, Uno rounds, some people getting soaked with water balloons, and plenty of fellowship rounded off our second to last time working with the people from Helping Hands.

We ended our day with crossing all of Athens to have dinner at Ken and Lisa’s house, (our leader here in Greece). Their porch has a breathtaking view of the Sea and mountains. After eating our #1 meal so far, we watched the sunset and videos about Helping Hands.

Today was another ministry day, but our first day at Samaria. Sarah was worried she was going to trip and have to buy us gelato so she “conveniently was sick” and chose to rest today. (Pray for her stomach though and that she feels better for the days to come).

We helped make Greek salad and Ryan and Brad chopped up many Greek chickens, all the while a German class was taking place in the same room.

Brad and Marissa quoted the famous vine as the cooked chickens came out of their final resting place, “Look at all those Chickens.” And I will agree, there were a lot of chickens.

We served lunch, cleaned up, ate lunch ourselves, and then headed back for the evening. With plans to go see the Olympic stadium and eat crepes tonight, we look forward to our last week and a half here in Greece.

*Gelato updates to come*

Women’s Ministry and Bakeries

Hello from Greece! Marissa, Sarah, and I had the opportunity to go to Helping Hands today for Women’s ministry. After setting up for the day we had the opportunity to wrangle the baby room. Today was much more laid back as only 30ish people (including volunteers) enjoyed the time of fellowship. After games of tug of war, and Sarah getting wrapped up in jump ropes by small children, there was a small devotions time with the woman and the children. It was amazing to watch some of the children’s excitement as they flipped through the pages of their picture Bibles. A meal followed of delicious rice and chicken and fellowship time after, our afternoon concluded with chasing more small children around. I love the fact that we can be there to offer our support to the missionaries so that they can have time to do the things we are not equipped for, basically anything that involves speaking. We treated ourselves to pastries from a local bakery and then coffee which I discovered I ordered straight espresso with sugar. More energy for walking I guess! Now we wait in anticipation for some gyros after a long yet fulfilling day. Until next time! Anteeō!