It is hard to believe we leave Athens in just a few days.  As we look back over our time here, we are so blessed by the opportunity to minister in this city.  More than anything, God has shown us how much He loves the people here --   the Greeks, the refugees, the Mormon missionaries, all the people we have met along the way.  It has been an amazing journey! 

Over the past month, in addition to our regularly scheduled ministry, we have had the opportunity to pray at the Acropolis, visit Corinth, and help Yong-Tai and Randal (the two missionaries we have worked most closely with) with some special projects.  We also had a visit from Markus, our base leader in Lausanne.  He was very encouraging about the work we are doing and gave us some words of wisdom as leaders of the team.

Our visit to Corinth was a lot of fun.  Yong-Tai took us in his van and was our tour guide, showing us around the ancient city where Paul lived for 18 months (Acts 18).  There are the ruins of a temple, as there are in most cities in Greece.  Seeing this temple to Apollo on a hill among the ruins reminded us very much of all the warnings against high places in the Bible.  The temples were built on the highest ground in the city, to be the focal point.  And yet, the temple is crumbling, and God remains the same.  He is the unchanging, eternal, One and Only God!

After leaving the historical site in Corinth, Yong-Tai took us to a beach at Cenchrea.  It was a perfect day and a beautiful beach!  We enjoyed the water and the view and were able to see what¡¯s left of the harbor where Paul set sail in Acts 18:16.  It was a great day!

Yong-Tai also took the Hodgsons and the boys to see the sunset at Cape Sounion.  We¡¯d been told it was the place to watch the sunset in Greece, and it didn¡¯t disappoint us! That same night, the girls decided to try and get tickets to the Eurovision Song Contest.  They had originally planned to watch it with some of their university friends, but they had to cancel.  So, the girls prayed before they went, and God provided cheap tickets for all three of them.  They had a great time!

We leave for Santorini Island on Thursday and are looking forward to a couple days of relaxation before taking the ferry to Rome.  We have been planning our itinerary in Rome and are going to be able to pray over a lot of the city during our time there.  We can¡¯t wait!

It is hard to believe we are halfway through our time in Athens.  We arrived here just a month ago, but the time has been so full.  We feel settled now, and can laugh about the uniqueness of our living situation.  Just to give you some examples, the washing machine drains into one of the bathtubs, so occasionally when one of the students is taking a shower, all of a sudden cold, gray water starts gushing in. For a couple weeks before Easter, there were lots of fireworks being shot off, which sounded like gunshots.  Also, the other night, quite unexpectedly five people showed up looking for a place to stay.  Our host, wasn’t even aware they were coming.  Never a dull moment here! 

The feeding ministry continues to be a great opportunity to practically serve people, as well as providing chances to sit down and talk one-on-one with these guys.  Teaching English has been challenging, but so rewarding.  Lesson preparation takes up a lot of time, but it is great to see the guys coming back each week and improving in their English skills.  The Bible study also has gone very well, with some good conversations about who God is and what His love means for us.  These guys are hungry!  We would appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we talk with them about our amazing Father. 

The university students have been on Easter break the past couple weeks (yes, they get a two week holiday for Easter!), but our students have kept in touch with the people they’ve met and a couple of them have met their new friends for coffee a couple times.  The conversations are still mostly casual, but we are praying for opportunities to take things deeper during the rest of our time here.

We also have been helping the pastor who owns the guest house where we’re staying.  His church runs a daycare center, and we have taken a couple days to paint a courtyard for the kids.  It has been fun to get outside and help Pastor Vincent in this small way.

Last weekend, we were privileged to attend an Easter service at the Greek Orthodox Church in our neighborhood.  Easter is a BIG deal here.  It is a long weekend, full of celebrations.  The main service is at 11 PM on Saturday night.  It is a very ceremonial service, concluding with the priest lighting a candle at midnight and announcing Christos Anestis (Christ is Risen).  Everyone brings candles to church to have them lighted from the priest’s candle.  After the candles are lit, everyone goes out into the square (which is filled with people with lit candles who couldn’t get inside the church) and the bells ring and bands play.  It was so amazing to be there and experience it as a team.  On Easter morning, we had a special breakfast, then went up to Mars Hill and took communion together overlooking the city.  It was a wonderful Easter!

This week, we took a fun day and went to the island of Hydra.  The weather was not what we hoped, kind of gray and a bit rainy, but the island was beautiful!  There are no cars allowed on the island, so people use donkeys to get around and carry their stuff around.  We saw donkeys carrying everything from suitcases to steel reinforcing rods!  We were able to wander around and see some of the island, and then just sit in a café by the water and hang out.  It was a nice, relaxing day!

So, we’ve been in Athens for almost 3 weeks now.  Hard to believe, as Lausanne and life on the base seems like months ago, but it’s really only been 3 weeks.  God has been so faithful to us!  Our ministry opportunities have been going so well.  We are really enjoying working with Young-Tai and his refugee ministry.  This guy does it all.  Twice a week, he and his wife feed at least 100 people, preach to them, and occasionally, Young-Tai even sings to top it all off.  They are such wonderful examples of truly being the hands and feet of Jesus.  We’re helping with set-up, preparing and serving the food, and clean up, plus teaching English twice a week.  We just decided to add another night of English classes and Bible study.  They recently started sanding and painting the main room where everyone eats each week, so we’ve been helping with that.  Lots of plaster dust all over our faces, clothes, and shoes, but it’s been great to do some practical stuff to help them out.  The university outreach also is going great.  The first week we visited 3 campuses, and the last one we visited, a liberal arts campus, was everyone’s favorite.  We’ve been going there twice a week the last couple weeks, and the students have met and are getting to know a few of the students.  The universities are closed the next 2 weeks for Easter, but our students are making plans to connect over the break with the people they’ve met.

We are so blessed by the doors God already has opened and look forward to what He has in store for the rest of our time in Athens.  He has been speaking to us about pressing into Him, loving each other, and being thankful and joyful.  We have been encouraged by so many people praying for us and standing with us.  Thank you!  We couldn’t be here without you!!

Sorry this took so long....a quick update.  Will try and write more later!

This is the site where we will post updates on our outreach.  Hope you enjoy reading about our adventures!