Tom’s flagship store & coffee shop in Thessaloniki…
Our squadmate Becca sees us & stops to ask us about beaches nearby. A free-spirited woman sitting close by speaks up & explains she’s from America originally but has been living in Greece for 30 years. She lives near the beach & offers her expertise.
15-20 minutes pass & she tells us her twin daughters are leaving soon to live in Savannah, GA so she’ll be an empty nester. As she enters a new season, she is purging a lot of things from her life (e.g. Social media, clothes, books, etc.).
Then she asks us, “Well, girls, why are you in Thessaloniki? I see this (she points to my Bible on the table), and I am fascinated! I’ve never really understood organized religion, but I would love for you to tell me more about it. I’m very curious.”
So we invited her to sit down. We explained we were in Thessaloniki because we felt God calling us there for the month to get to know people & build relationships with them so they would know Jesus wants a relationship with them too.
She tells us she is a spiritual person, and, as she understands it, anything for the Light or moving away from Darkness toward Light is truth & good.
[WOW, God swung that door WIDE open!!]
We got to explain the Gospel to her & why we believe what we believe. She was SOOO incredibly open to it all & understood everything we were saying. At one point she pointed to my Bible again and said “Look at that thing, I mean you write in it & take notes while reading. Every time I’ve tried to read it I dont understand & walk away more confused. And the only Bible we have at our house is in Greek which I dont know how to read.”
[Side note: I felt the Lord telling me earlier in the conversation to give my Bible to her, but I was like “Wait, I dont know if that’s you God or me, so Im gonna need some more confirmation.” Welp when she said that I took it as my confirmation.]
I looked down, and said, “Here. Take mine.”
Vida’s mouth dropped a little, and she explained that she doesn’t want to be so stereotypical Greek (or be skeptical of something free..) but “are you sure? That’s your personal book! You’ve taken notes and written in it and…. Wow!..” She starts to cry. “I want you to know that I have never received a gift this special.”
We got to pray with her & gave her our emails for her to contact us if she has any questions as she reads.
CRAZY THING IS…
Abby ran into her again a couple days later at Tom’s. Vida told Abby how she purposely came out of her way to go to Toms in hopes that she would run into us again!!! She said she was so excited the other day that she forgot to tell us that about 10 days ago, she sat down to meditate, and said, “Jesus, if you’re out there, show me.” She asked him to give her a sign, a big one. Then she met us.
She went on to tell Abby she has been reading her Bible 2x a day & had some questions but “It has been beautiful! I have been overwhelmed. I don’t feel like I’ll become a Christian or really belong to anything at this point in my life, but I do feel I’m about to enter into a very special relationship… I do feel something big, something changing. As I left Toms the other day with the Bible, I felt like there was something alive behind me, in my bag.. I felt like I had wings & I wasn’t a lone!”
This whole thing, ALL OF IT, had NOTHING to do with us!
Jesus is so CLEARLY pursuing Vida. I mean for beginners, she was within earshot of our conversation at the exact time when Becca came up to talk to us. Second, Abby & I dont normally go to Tom’s together but went that day ironically to spend some time with the Lord alone & avoid people from our squad that were in town. HAHA God does have a sense of humor.
We have FULL confidence that Vida will have a relationship with JESUS CHRIST as her Lord and Savior one day!
Vida is SEARCHING.
She is curious.
She is open.
We were blown away by her receptive heart to hear what we believe and to seek it out for herself!
Our faith has been SO increased through these almost unbelievable events. This is only a taste of what went on that day. We got to talk to Vida for an hour & a half. It is SOOOOO clear that God is actively pursuing this woman.
What an AWESOME encouragement that people ARE hungry for truth.
People ARE hungry for JESUS, even if they don’t understand a relationship with Him is what they are seeking.
