Lykavittos retreat...

It has been another sunny day in Athens. I was expecting more clouds after the recent spell of good weather, but it has turned out to be another day that seems alien to what February should be like in my mind. After working at the school this morning due to an upcoming 4 day weekend (yay!), I decided to make the most of the weather and wonder up Lykavittos. In search of a place to sit that was a bit more secluded, eventually I found an amazing spot to sit, read and pray. One of the hardest things about living in a big and noisy city is there are very few spaces you can escape to when you're in need of peace and quiet. I confess growing up in a field (not literally of course) has meant that any more than three houses seems like a small town. Obviously I joke.

Although retreating from the city is a good thing and something I try to do when I can, the Bible reminds me that the new creation, the place where God's people will live forever is not a field. On the day Jesus returns, we will not be taken to a field but a city.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God...

                                                                                                         Revelation 21:10

 

Sometimes you hear people speak of places where there are no people and spectacular views as 'paradise on earth'. I am probably one of those people. However, the paradise of the new heaven and new earth will be a place full of people praising God for all eternity. As I sat on my secluded spot on the mountain Lykavittos, this thought did not occur to me. Perhaps next time I will thank God that the noise and the size of the city to come will be something to celebrate, rather than something to escape.

 

  

Keep calm and eat a souvlaki...

An important piece of advice and one that made my class smile as they entered the classroom this week. Overall, I am thankful that most of the lessons have gone well this week. It is a busy time for the students with lots of tests both at their 'normal' school, and also at the language school. This often means that tactical motivation techniques are required, although I was quite clear in stating that I am not buying souvlaki for everyone. I've also discovered that I need to tighten up security on my 'homework chocolate box' as the number of contents appears to have suspiciously decreased.

Mobile hospital outside church

There is much to be thankful for both at 'helping hands' and the 2nd Church feeding ministry. Over this week, there has been a mobile hospital which has offered its services to anyone who needs medical attention or a check up of some kind. This is a welcome provision for many as medical work can be very expensive. I personally did not witness this service taking place but hear that it has been a success and was really appreciated by those in the community. Please continue to pray above all that all the services we provide would point people to Christ. He is the reason we love and serve because He first loved and served  us!

I am excited to be able to welcome some friends to Greece over the next 6 days. It will be fun to show them around Athens and introduce them to a few Greeky things. I have of course been sampling the best food in the best Tavernas to ensure they have the best experience.

I feel very blessed with the friendships I have made over the years, and I have made many new friends over the last 6ish months. God is good. He places us in just the right place at just the right time with just the right people. All so that we might be blessed but above all be a blessing to others. I'm also seeing how He uses (in a positive sense) people as instruments to not only show us where we need to change, but step by step make that change a reality.        

This is our time...

I know - another picture of the Acropolis and Lykavittos! However, I think you'll agree this a stunning view. Sunday is probably my favourite day of the week, not only because of church in the morning, but also because the afternoons are always unexpected. This Sunday was special as all the ex-pats in the congregation gathered after the morning meeting for lunch (lots of amazing food) and an encouraging time as we reflected on how we could best belong and bless the church we have found ourselves to be in. During my short time in Greece the 2nd Church has certainly been a blessing to me. I have been made to feel very welcome and thank God for the teaching of his word that is helping me grow in my love for the One who so loves me.

One of the things that was said which has stayed with me over the day is the thought that - this is our time. What I mean by that, is that the 2nd Greek Evangelical Church has reached its 90th anniversary. We have the privilege of being able to look back over those 90 years and see how God has blessed the church and made his light shine more brightly from it.

For most of those who are involved in the church, there have been many many years of faithful service and only now are sprouts starting to appear. With this in mind, who knows God-willing where the church will be in another 90 years time. All we do know is that - this is our time.

If there is one prayer that I have been praying it is that God would help me to be faithful and obedient to the place he has called me to be now. To make the most of the moment and do everything not so I would be made known but that he would be made known.

Go on - another picture!

Some interesting artwork

  

After 9pm...

 

As I surfaced from the Syntagma metro station, I was met with this rather splendid view of the Hellenic parliament. It may be a poor quality photo (due to my poor quality camera phone) but as you can see, Athens really does come alive at night. In fact I shocked some of my students the other day when I revealed that people in England rarely (if ever) sit outside cafes at 9pm. They were truly amazed at this revelation.

Tonight was an evening of much fun as I joined some friends for dinner (or is that supper?) and drinks, yes all starting after 9pm. We had many discussions about the differences between the English and the Greeks, and strangely enough this all took place in an Australian themed restaurant. It was a really enjoyable time and the evening ended as we sat outside a taverna overlooking the Acropolis.

As the weekend approaches, I look back over a week where I have felt upheld by the Lord in so many ways. I continue to enjoy my job teaching at the school, however with the end of month tests, this week has been slightly more intense.

I am very thankful for both the ministry at 'helping hands' and the feeding programme at the 2nd Church. I am beginning to get to know both teams after many blessed months and also feel that I am starting to get to know those who attend each week. Please continue to pray for the work of these ministries and that people would above all meet and come to know Jesus Christ. It really is all about Him!  This is probably the biggest lesson I am learning as I continue to serve the Lord in Athens.

A French celebration! One of the French classes gave us some crepes and sweets. My class were in the middle of doing a test but if you're going to be interrupted I'm happy to get free sweets! 

A few pictures from the week...

Here are a few pictures taken over the week. From tasty gatherings in a traditional taverna to an evening of Will Shakespeare.

There are lots of great places to eat and so I was thankful for an invitation to a traditional Greek taverna one Sunday after church. Some friends of friends who are missionaries in Russia were staying in Athens for the week for a short break. It is around -20 at the moment where they live so I think escaping the snow was somewhat welcome.



A live performance of Coriolanus was broadcast in a theatre.

The sign of 2nd Church. 
Apparently entrance is free! 

An Englishman and two Americans getting lost.
We found our way to the museum in the end.

 

Living in community...

As another week passes by, I've been reflecting and reading about the importance and value of living in community. Although sometimes we might try to, in the end we cannot escape the invasiveness that comes with life in community. And that's how God intended it to be. Before enduring the agony of the cross, Jesus prayed to the Father:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

                                                                                                                                John 17:20-21

Jesus prayed that we might experience something of the intimate relationship he and the Father had known throughout eternity. That like Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we may be one. And how is this made possible? On the cross of Christ. On the cross, Jesus stood in the place of humanity and experienced the anger, separation and condemnation that we rightly deserve for our sin. He saved us not because we deserved to be saved, but because he loved us even when we were undeserving.

However, the wonderful news of the gospel is more than salvation from sin. God now invites all those who turn to him in repentance and faith to not only receive forgiveness of sins, but also to be united to the community of God. This is what it means to have eternal life says Jesus, '...that they (Christians) know you (the Father), the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent' (John 17:3).

In other words, the ultimate goal of the cross was not simply to get us to heaven. Jesus willingly said 'you deserve to experience God's anger, separation and condemnation for your sin, but because I love you, I will experience all this for you'. 'I have a perfect, joyful relationship with my Father' 'Here... you take what is mine and I'll take what is yours'. It all seems too good to be true, but this is what's on offer.

And now God calls his people to live in response to what he has done in Christ. To follow the example of Jesus. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians (chapter 2:1-4): 

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.       

Jesus was 0% selfish in his ambition thinking only of others. Jesus was 100% humble in his attitude towards others. Jesus was 100% looking not to his own interest but to the interest of those he would later die for. I don't know about you but I am deeply convicted by these verses as I look over the last week and ask - what motivated me as I lived in community with others?

I'm thankful to God for the community of people he has placed alongside me here in Athens. It may be uncomfortable, it may be lengthy, but I know that I am in need of invasive surgery, surgery of the heart that comes from living in close community with others. How mind-blowing and scary it is to think that God will use me and those around me to create in me the change that he so desires.    

To conclude this blog post, I discovered on Thursday at the feeding ministry, how easy it can be to think that you are the only one with something to offer. How wrong I was. As I talked to one refugee, a man who had become a believer a few years ago, I realised that he had much to offer me. He spoke so passionately of how God was working in his heart, all I could do was sit and listen.