Honey and Lemon...

With plenty of honey and lemon, paracetemol and rest, I'm thankful that I am feeling much better after last week. It's been a tricky week having to teach when not feeling 100%, but praise God that Friday arrived, and so far the weekend has been a restful one. I've decided to make a few changes to my weekly schedule, namely - the (almost) daily afternoon Greek coffee. Could this be the culprit to my not very good sleep? We shall see. I can say that since cutting the afternoon coffee, I've been waking up with a bit more energy. Anyway, why am I telling you this? I don't know, but it fills in a bit of the blog doesn't it?

Today, I met with a friend to explore some of the area surrounding the Acropolis. It is a very beautiful part of Athens. We climbed Filopappou hill, which offers one of the best views of the Acropolis.

In fact, there are spectacular views all over the whole city and it also provides the perfect place to get away from all the noise of the centre. 

After wandering around, we decided to go for a drink, and as you can see from the picture above, the Acropolis looks even better lit up at night.

Over the week, there were encouraging times both at the 'helping hands' ministry on Tuesday, and the 2nd Church on Thursday. Please pray for both teams, and in general for those hoping to reach out to refugees and the homeless. It can be an emotionally demanding ministry as there is only so much you can do. The good news is God can do immeasurably more than we can ever do or ask!

I want to end this blog post with an unsettling thought, but one I lay before the Sovereign God. I've become increasingly aware of the number of people begging on the streets, or in the metro. I counted 5 people on my short walk to the supermarket this morning. However, what was deeply saddening today, was a man I saw begging on the metro. He had no arms and was very disfigured from what looked like an acid attack. I will spare you the details but it reminded me how much suffering there is in our broken world. There I was face to face with a man who in worldly terms had nothing, physically and materially broke. Yet as I looked at him, and I couldn't help but think he did have something, a God who loved him, regardless of what he looked like, regardless of what little he had. And then I thought, does he know? I confess I didn't say anything, but I will pray that he might come to know something of the hope found in this verse from 2 Corinthians 8:9:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.   

The prison of Socrates