Rough with the smooth...

Driving from A to B on any road nearly always ends up with an encounter of both the rough and the smooth. There is the momentary bliss of a newly surfaced road, yet it is not long before the cracks begin to appear, and you find yourself navigating your way through potholes, road-works and bumps galore. This is the reality of any journey and as it happens, is the reality I am coming to experience in Greece. Thankfully, there have been many moments where I have enjoyed the 'smooth', and I trust there will be more to come. It is true however that there have been moments where the 'rough' has made the journey ahead seem hard and exhausting. To continue with the road analogy, perhaps being from a different culture, means I am more quick to notice the potholes, road-works and bumps. It may even be true that what to me is a pothole, to a Greek is well, just a hole. Maybe this is where the analogy breaks down! I do remember however on my CMS training a very useful quote about entering a new culture (I paraphrase):

When entering someone else's garden, what to you might be a weed, to them might be a beautiful flower.

Although I might not agree or understand how something is being done, I am not in England and so it is right for me to be tolerant and recognise that this is the way it is. Yes there may be times when it is right to challenge something, (today felt like one of those days) but there will also be times when I simply have to press on and steer my way around the bumps and potholes.

Waiting...

As you may have guessed, there is a story behind the above ramblings. I arrived at immigration (not quite at 6:30am) but nonetheless this was my third attempt and I was determined to leave with my residents permit. Already feeling somewhat frustrated, I eventually arrived at the building only to be told by the security guard that I couldn't enter for another 30mins (why? I don't know). Doing my best to be polite and accepting of this rejection I turned around to greet a man who had witnessed my dilemma. After my 30mins I had met three men and one women all from Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Somalia). I had exchanged phone numbers with two of them (one of the men is a Muslim and after talking a bit about my faith said he may like to meet to talk more), and I had invited one man to church on Sunday (he showed an interest). Praise God for his providence!

If I had arrived earlier maybe I wouldn't have met these people, if the security guard had been welcoming and let me in straight away, these conversations would never have happened. Please pray for these people and that I might be able to see them again. You'll be pleased to hear that after 4 hours of waiting I eventually got my residents permit! If I were to write about the whole story then there wouldn't be much to talk about so I'll save the finer details for another time.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support! If you can spare time to pray for the following it would be of great value:

1. a restful weekend - it has been a long and tiring week.
2. the people I met today - that God would work in their hearts and bring them to Christ.
3. preparation for next Wednesday - when my school term begins.