To update you a bit...I'm taking a theology class right now and then next week, I'll be starting a Hermenuetics class. On Monday night, I helped out with Love Meals and I was able to speak english with some refugee guys so that was cool and a lot of them are starting to recognize me because they come out on Thursday night when I help out in Omonia Square with the drug addicts. If they can at least start to recognize me and see that all of us are there pouring out love and serving them then that would make all the difference and hopefully bring them one step closer to the Lord. On Tuesday, I helped out at Mercy Center and played with all the little kids. There were soooo many kids and we had them all in this little room and there were not very many of us leaders so they probably could have easily taken us down...haha! It was really sweet though...This one young girl was trying to speak the few words she knew in english to me...So she comes up to me and says, "I love you!" It was the sweetest little thing and I told her that I loved her, too. It's really awesome, we just get to play and love on these kids! After the refugee families left, they bring in the homeless men and drug addicts and have a service for them. I sat in the seats next to some guys and tried to talk to them. It's definietly a sight to see...Here are all these people usally high, drunk, smelly, etc but we try to show them that they are loved and cared about and that most of all the Lord loves them! It was really crazy, when I was sitting with these guys back there and they were doing some worship, I could literally feel the oppresion and heaviness in the room...Then, one of my guy friends, who is blessed with being able to lead worship, got up and sang, and it was like this peace and quiteness came over the room. It almost brought me to tears because I could feel the difference in the room right away! The Lord works in crazy and mysterious ways and He can change the hardest of hearts and He is fully capable of bringing these men and women that are in bondage to Him...and I pray that He does!
On a lighter note, last night all of us girls all went out to this really cute restaurant and had hot chocolate...and then, another girl and I went to Mercy Center to help ot with drug addict ministry and I was pretty proud of myself because I remembered how to get there all by myself on the train and stuff! I also ate at McDonalds last night, which if you know me then you know that it is a rarity for me to eat there, but I was desperate and really hungry and it's what I saw. Well, might I just say that it was the best darn chicken sandwich I had ever eaten in my life...I don't know if I was just hungry or it was a taste of American home but I thought it was really funny! :) Alright, I'll keep you guys posted!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Fun Facts You Probably Did Not Know About Greece!
1) Most of the time you can't put the toilet paper in the toilet! You have to put it in the garbage can next to the toilet.
2) They serve Greek Salads at McDonalds
3) Lunch is at 2pm and Dinner is around 8pm
4) Nap time is from 3-5pm...It's great!
5) There is grafitti everywhere.
6) There is very little processed food at the grocery store. Just about everything is made fresh.
7) It's 50 degrees here and they think that's cold!
8) You can't drive until you're 18 here but you can drink at 16.
9) They have an abundant amount of chocolate croissants here...My fave!
10) Gyros are only eaten with chicken or pork on them not lamb.
11) There are 5 million people in Athens.
12) When you see people, you give them a kiss on both cheeks.
13) There are ancient ruins everywhere and they are always finding new stuff.
14) There are little kiosks which sell food, drinks, and your bus tickets
15) The train is called "The Metro"
16) Things are either really cheap or really expensive...Take for example, a small bottle of maple syrup..It costs like 10 euro!
17) There are a lot of little "orange" trees but you can only use them to cook not eat.
18) Greeks wake up early and go to bed really really late.
19) You can usally tell where a Greek person is originally from by their last name.
20) It's an amazingly beautiful country that is rich in culture and tradition...So you should probably come here once in your life!
2) They serve Greek Salads at McDonalds
3) Lunch is at 2pm and Dinner is around 8pm
4) Nap time is from 3-5pm...It's great!
5) There is grafitti everywhere.
6) There is very little processed food at the grocery store. Just about everything is made fresh.
7) It's 50 degrees here and they think that's cold!
8) You can't drive until you're 18 here but you can drink at 16.
9) They have an abundant amount of chocolate croissants here...My fave!
10) Gyros are only eaten with chicken or pork on them not lamb.
11) There are 5 million people in Athens.
12) When you see people, you give them a kiss on both cheeks.
13) There are ancient ruins everywhere and they are always finding new stuff.
14) There are little kiosks which sell food, drinks, and your bus tickets
15) The train is called "The Metro"
16) Things are either really cheap or really expensive...Take for example, a small bottle of maple syrup..It costs like 10 euro!
17) There are a lot of little "orange" trees but you can only use them to cook not eat.
18) Greeks wake up early and go to bed really really late.
19) You can usally tell where a Greek person is originally from by their last name.
20) It's an amazingly beautiful country that is rich in culture and tradition...So you should probably come here once in your life!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
It's not all about me!
Did you ever think you would hear that come from my mouth?!? This seems to be something that the Lord and others are trying to teach me...Which I am quite glad about but at the same time it is not the easiest thing to learn especially for someone that chokes on their pride. Here's bits and pieces of how I am learning to realize that, "It's not all about me!"
1. Just being in another country period. America is not the best place in the world and we don't know it all. Not mentioning how America does something everytime a Greek person shows or tells me something about their country.
2. Going to the house of a missionary family and seeing how they have to raise money for them and their kids to live on and hearing that the girl has only had hand-me-down clothes.
3. Seeing the old men and young kids walk up to you asking for money as you sit at a nice street corner cafe.
All these things clicked and hit me at one moment on Thursday night when I was out at Omonia Square doing the drug addict minitsry and getting a bit of a bad attitude. I got kind of mad because I was a girl! I know, I am weird! But, some of the guys from the organization made me and another girl stay by the table where the food was being served to be on the safe side but I got really mad because I wanted to go out and talk to people and it wasn't fair in my eyes that because I was a girl, they were making me stay back a bit. Then, I got more frustrated because I felt like I couldn't even speak the language and talk to these refugess out there. I could literally feel myself getting a really bad attitude and upset. They ended up letting me out from behind the table, which was good but by that point I had already let myself get worked up about this whole thing.
Later that night, I realized how selfish I had been and that it's not all about me! I just rambled on in my head and complained while being very blessed and having no reason at all to complain while others around me are sitting here very troubled and lost with no jobs, money, family, etc. Who cares if I am a girl and they don't let me because of safety reasons come out from behind the table of food?!? Who cares if I can't speak the language with only being here for two weeks...at least I am trying! Who cares if I get new clothes?!? Who cares that I come from America?!?
What matters in life is that I have a relationship and that I find my identity with someone that is far greater than anything in this world whether that be material things, other people, or anything else that we cling to and there are people dying in this world that don't know Him. I pray that I can get over myself and my problems and that God would open my eyes to the things that He sees. As the lovely singer Brooke Fraser sings: "Lead me to the cross, where your love poured out/ Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down/ Rid me of myself, I belong to you/ Lead me to the cross."
I am sure this journey of "It's not all about me!" is not over and it probably will be a life-long one but I am ready to take it on! I enjoy being open and honest with people(some people could be turned off by what I wrote..who knows?!?) but I want them to know that no one is perfect including me and that it's ok to share our thoughts, feelings, and struggles with each other because that's what we are here for! Anyways, it's late and I need sleep so until I write again...καληνύχτα (good night)!
1. Just being in another country period. America is not the best place in the world and we don't know it all. Not mentioning how America does something everytime a Greek person shows or tells me something about their country.
2. Going to the house of a missionary family and seeing how they have to raise money for them and their kids to live on and hearing that the girl has only had hand-me-down clothes.
3. Seeing the old men and young kids walk up to you asking for money as you sit at a nice street corner cafe.
All these things clicked and hit me at one moment on Thursday night when I was out at Omonia Square doing the drug addict minitsry and getting a bit of a bad attitude. I got kind of mad because I was a girl! I know, I am weird! But, some of the guys from the organization made me and another girl stay by the table where the food was being served to be on the safe side but I got really mad because I wanted to go out and talk to people and it wasn't fair in my eyes that because I was a girl, they were making me stay back a bit. Then, I got more frustrated because I felt like I couldn't even speak the language and talk to these refugess out there. I could literally feel myself getting a really bad attitude and upset. They ended up letting me out from behind the table, which was good but by that point I had already let myself get worked up about this whole thing.
Later that night, I realized how selfish I had been and that it's not all about me! I just rambled on in my head and complained while being very blessed and having no reason at all to complain while others around me are sitting here very troubled and lost with no jobs, money, family, etc. Who cares if I am a girl and they don't let me because of safety reasons come out from behind the table of food?!? Who cares if I can't speak the language with only being here for two weeks...at least I am trying! Who cares if I get new clothes?!? Who cares that I come from America?!?
What matters in life is that I have a relationship and that I find my identity with someone that is far greater than anything in this world whether that be material things, other people, or anything else that we cling to and there are people dying in this world that don't know Him. I pray that I can get over myself and my problems and that God would open my eyes to the things that He sees. As the lovely singer Brooke Fraser sings: "Lead me to the cross, where your love poured out/ Bring me to my knees, Lord, I lay me down/ Rid me of myself, I belong to you/ Lead me to the cross."
I am sure this journey of "It's not all about me!" is not over and it probably will be a life-long one but I am ready to take it on! I enjoy being open and honest with people(some people could be turned off by what I wrote..who knows?!?) but I want them to know that no one is perfect including me and that it's ok to share our thoughts, feelings, and struggles with each other because that's what we are here for! Anyways, it's late and I need sleep so until I write again...καληνύχτα (good night)!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Because even if He doesn't...
supply the money, give you the job you want or answer your prayer the way you want Him to...Our God is still faithful and good! He has a reason for everything and He has got the WHOLE WIDE WORLD in His hands. He always remains faithful to us even we are faithless.
I have been praying for the country of Greece and I would ask you to do the same if you're reading this! I walked around The Plaka the other day because I had an hour to waste and the sun was starting to set and it was a beautiful view. I found this awesome spot to sit at where I could look forward and see The Acropolis and then if I looked to my right, I could see the rollings hills (well more like mountains to a Chicagoian) and the city of Athens. I was listening to a song and I made it my prayer that night for this country and for those of you that have not had the awesome privledge of being able to call Jesus, Lord of yourt life. The song says..."Chains be broken, Lives be healed, Eyes be opened, Christ is revealed!"
I hope that we all want this for our life so that we can become more and more like Jesus everyday because He is so worth it!
Over the weekend, I got to go to a Sunday school class and I got to say the bible verse in Greek to the kids, they were trying to help me! :) I also got to see Port Piraeus, which is realy beautiful and has a lot of history to it and I went to a Greek woman's house for lunch after church which was really great and the food was awesome! We also played some games, which is really funny when there are major language barriers! Last night, I went and played with the refugee kids and got to draw flowers and suns on their faces and just got to love on them. It was fabulous! I also went to a Persian restaurant afterwards which had amazing food! Can you tell I love to eat?!? haha...Anyways, here is a word for you guys to learn...Plaka mou kaneis (I spelled it phonetically)...It means, "You gotta be kidding me!" :)
I have been praying for the country of Greece and I would ask you to do the same if you're reading this! I walked around The Plaka the other day because I had an hour to waste and the sun was starting to set and it was a beautiful view. I found this awesome spot to sit at where I could look forward and see The Acropolis and then if I looked to my right, I could see the rollings hills (well more like mountains to a Chicagoian) and the city of Athens. I was listening to a song and I made it my prayer that night for this country and for those of you that have not had the awesome privledge of being able to call Jesus, Lord of yourt life. The song says..."Chains be broken, Lives be healed, Eyes be opened, Christ is revealed!"
I hope that we all want this for our life so that we can become more and more like Jesus everyday because He is so worth it!
Over the weekend, I got to go to a Sunday school class and I got to say the bible verse in Greek to the kids, they were trying to help me! :) I also got to see Port Piraeus, which is realy beautiful and has a lot of history to it and I went to a Greek woman's house for lunch after church which was really great and the food was awesome! We also played some games, which is really funny when there are major language barriers! Last night, I went and played with the refugee kids and got to draw flowers and suns on their faces and just got to love on them. It was fabulous! I also went to a Persian restaurant afterwards which had amazing food! Can you tell I love to eat?!? haha...Anyways, here is a word for you guys to learn...Plaka mou kaneis (I spelled it phonetically)...It means, "You gotta be kidding me!" :)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
God is the ultimate long-time thinker...
My teacher had said that God was the ultimate long-time thinker and I loved that! How often do we get all worried and upset beacuse we don't understand why something is happening or going in our lives but if we really think about it then we will remember that God has everything in control and He sees the big picture while we only see what's happening right in front of us. I pray that I can trust the Lord all the time and pray that I can see just a smidge of that bigger picture!
So Thursday night was amazing! I went to do ministry with the Mercy Center. We went to Omonia Square which is a pretty shady area of town...lots of homeless people, refugess, drug addicts, cross-dressers, etc...You get the picture! Well, we went to this square and set up a table and put up some tea and croissants for these people to eat. We then set up some speakers and played some contemporary Christian music and then the founder of this organization got on the microphone and talked to these hopeless and lost men and told them that they can get help and get off the streets with the help of Jesus Christ. They can come as they are! Literally, when I started to see all of these people, who in the world's eyes, no one cares about but in the Lord's eyes are precious...I literally almost started to cry! It was beautiful! My job that night was to hand out these little cards to them as they walked by that had information on where they could go to get food during the week from this ministry. I could also try and talk to them if I had the chance. So I passed out these cards and tried to use the few words of Greek that I know but the even more difficult thing is that a lot of these people are refugees from Muslim countries so they speak Arabic or Farsi, which I do not know! I did get to speak to one Muslim man which was really awesome! He had very very broken english and began to tell me that he was from Iraq and had been in Greece for 10 years and that he has been on drugs for the last 4 years. He said his whole family was back in Iraq, that he believed in Allah, etc. I went on to try and tell him as simple as I could say it that he could get off the drugs if wanted to with the help and that Jesus was my friend. I then asked him if I could pray for him which he said that was fine. So as he sat there and stared at me, I layed my hand on him and said a quick prayer for him. He said thank you and then he left. I don't think I have ever been as excited as I was after that...It was the most amazing feeling to do that with someone! So hopefully this man and the many others that came over there that night could feel Christ's love through our actions and words...I will definitely be doing this ministry again!
Yesterday, a bunch of us watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" which is really fun to watch with Greek people..haha! I'm still trying to learn Greek as fast as possible because I really want to speak with people...The weather was realy nice and sunny today and we wnet up to Mars Hill again...I ate 2 gyros last night for dinner and then another one again for lunch today...I might be gyroed out! :) I also bought a cute scarf in the market! Also, I tried to post more pictures but I can't seem to do it right...So I'll keep trying! Ya sas...Love you all!
So Thursday night was amazing! I went to do ministry with the Mercy Center. We went to Omonia Square which is a pretty shady area of town...lots of homeless people, refugess, drug addicts, cross-dressers, etc...You get the picture! Well, we went to this square and set up a table and put up some tea and croissants for these people to eat. We then set up some speakers and played some contemporary Christian music and then the founder of this organization got on the microphone and talked to these hopeless and lost men and told them that they can get help and get off the streets with the help of Jesus Christ. They can come as they are! Literally, when I started to see all of these people, who in the world's eyes, no one cares about but in the Lord's eyes are precious...I literally almost started to cry! It was beautiful! My job that night was to hand out these little cards to them as they walked by that had information on where they could go to get food during the week from this ministry. I could also try and talk to them if I had the chance. So I passed out these cards and tried to use the few words of Greek that I know but the even more difficult thing is that a lot of these people are refugees from Muslim countries so they speak Arabic or Farsi, which I do not know! I did get to speak to one Muslim man which was really awesome! He had very very broken english and began to tell me that he was from Iraq and had been in Greece for 10 years and that he has been on drugs for the last 4 years. He said his whole family was back in Iraq, that he believed in Allah, etc. I went on to try and tell him as simple as I could say it that he could get off the drugs if wanted to with the help and that Jesus was my friend. I then asked him if I could pray for him which he said that was fine. So as he sat there and stared at me, I layed my hand on him and said a quick prayer for him. He said thank you and then he left. I don't think I have ever been as excited as I was after that...It was the most amazing feeling to do that with someone! So hopefully this man and the many others that came over there that night could feel Christ's love through our actions and words...I will definitely be doing this ministry again!
Yesterday, a bunch of us watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" which is really fun to watch with Greek people..haha! I'm still trying to learn Greek as fast as possible because I really want to speak with people...The weather was realy nice and sunny today and we wnet up to Mars Hill again...I ate 2 gyros last night for dinner and then another one again for lunch today...I might be gyroed out! :) I also bought a cute scarf in the market! Also, I tried to post more pictures but I can't seem to do it right...So I'll keep trying! Ya sas...Love you all!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ya sas...
I have had a busy couple of days so I'm excited that I can get on here and update you guys! I started my class on Genesis, which is an awesome class! We have the class for two weeks and then we're done and then we move onto another class. It has been amazing to see the Lord's hand in our lives from the beginning...How he created us, His original plan for us, and how He still loves us even though we deliberately made the choice to disobey Him...Our God is so great and when we look around us, we can see His creativity everywhere. "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). I also got to do some ministry! On Monday night, I worked with HM Love Meals. Homeless Greek people and refugees come to this building to get fed by this organization. It can be intimidating to some people especially women to help out there because most of the men are Muslim so it is very shocking to see women like me without a headscarf on so they will say a lot of comments and stare a lot. I really enojyed it though! There are also these bay windows in the room where we feed these men and when you look out them you can see the Acropolis all lit up on the hill...It's beautiful...I'll take some pictures of it next week! Last night, I went to another organization that helps out with refugees. I got to play with the children while some of the other people shared the Gospel with them. It was very difficult to talk with the children because not only do they not speak Greek, they speak usually Arabic or Farsi which I definitely do not know! But their smiles were enough to warm anyone's heart especially when we got to feed them and their parents! A prayer request I would have right now is that the Lord would just make it clear of where I am suppossed to serve and help out at. I want to do everything but I am going to have to make some decisions and invest my time into a couple of things! I am loving Greece though...just the slower paced culture, food, people...Everything is fantastic!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
To Greece or Bust!
I have finally arrived to the land of shall I say...lambs, people named Costas, and the Acropolis! If you hadn't heard, there was definitely some craziness before I got here! Here's how the story goes: The day before I was supposed to fly out, my airline emailed me and said there had been a change in my flight...So I called while starting to get a little worried...They informed me that my airline (Alitalia) decided to go on strike that day and had canceled all their flights...Now I am freaking out on the phone with the lady...So I started to pray! :) But it all ended well because she was able to find me another flight going out later on Friday night with Lufthansa. So I stopped over in Munich, Germany (which might I say has a really cool airport) and then flew from there to Athens. The guy next to me on my flight to Athens went on to tell me about the city he loves so that was cool. Once I got to the school, I was pretty exhausted and jet-lagged so I went to sleep like a log...
Today, my roommate, another girl, and I went into Athens which was amazing! It is everything I imagined it to be! We went into The Plaka, which is really popular because it's where all the shops and cobblestone streets are and no matter where you are walking around at overthere, you can always see the Acroplolis on the top of the hill...We also walked up to Mars Hill, which is where Paul preached to some of the Athenians (read Acts:22-34). When you get to the top of the hill or really more like a mini mountain, you are able to overlook the entire city of Athens. It is a breath-taking view and to know the history behind it makes it even more special! The funny thing was that it was unusually windy today in Greece, so much so that we literally almost blew off the cliff...I guess I brought the Chicago wind with me! haha! After that we went to an outdoor cafe and got to eat seriously the best gyro in my life! I will never eat one in America again! Another thing that surprised me was that they don't usally eat them with lamb (what everyone thinks), it's either chicken or pork..lamb is only for special occasions! But the rest of the day consisted of unpacking, meeting all the other students, and playing some card games! I start classes tomorrow and we get to start our ministry stuff this week and I cannot wait! I am excited for what the rest of this week holds and I'll be talking to you guys soon!
Today, my roommate, another girl, and I went into Athens which was amazing! It is everything I imagined it to be! We went into The Plaka, which is really popular because it's where all the shops and cobblestone streets are and no matter where you are walking around at overthere, you can always see the Acroplolis on the top of the hill...We also walked up to Mars Hill, which is where Paul preached to some of the Athenians (read Acts:22-34). When you get to the top of the hill or really more like a mini mountain, you are able to overlook the entire city of Athens. It is a breath-taking view and to know the history behind it makes it even more special! The funny thing was that it was unusually windy today in Greece, so much so that we literally almost blew off the cliff...I guess I brought the Chicago wind with me! haha! After that we went to an outdoor cafe and got to eat seriously the best gyro in my life! I will never eat one in America again! Another thing that surprised me was that they don't usally eat them with lamb (what everyone thinks), it's either chicken or pork..lamb is only for special occasions! But the rest of the day consisted of unpacking, meeting all the other students, and playing some card games! I start classes tomorrow and we get to start our ministry stuff this week and I cannot wait! I am excited for what the rest of this week holds and I'll be talking to you guys soon!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Almost there!
It's crazy to think that I am going to be in Greece in just a couple of days! There are so many emotions and so many things to do before I leave! It's so exciting and I cannot wait to get there...to experience another culture, meet new people, see how God is working over there, etc, etc...But it's also kind of scary since I have never done anything like this before and it's still a bit unreal to me. It probably won't hit me until I get off the plane and I'm there! Well, I probably won't be back on here until I arrive in Athens so until then....OPA!!! :)
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