Read about our first woman of peace here: http://nataliegale.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-women-of-peace-part-i
The second woman of peace met us outside a Starbucks on the Thessaloniki seafront at about 10pm on a Saturday night. I say “she met us” because there was simply no effort put in by us; the Lord brought a divine encounter that we walked into. She and her friend were early twenties and dressed beautifully. Much time had passed between the last meeting of these friends, and they were overjoyed to spend time together. They were out for a night on the town, and asked us if we’d take a picture.
We did, commenting on their beauty and excitement. This quick transaction between strangers transformed into a forty-five minute conversation: about family, about culture, about school, and about travel. At one point in the conversation, I mentioned that I’d only known my travel companions for a few days before our departure. She was amazed, and asked me how I decided to go on this trip. I laughed and said something like, “Well, I don’t really trust myself to make my own large life decisions, so I prayed and asked God, and he made it clear that this is what I needed to do”. She was shocked. Excited. Elated! “I’ve never thought about doing that!”, she exclaimed to me. I told her some of the fun ways God speaks to me, and encouraged her to just start inviting God into her day-to-day life. The version of “God” she has been taught is the God of Greek Orthodoxy. This God demands frequent religious duties, somber worship, and that you not cross your legs during worship. To hear that God could answer such a simple prayer and be spoken to as a friend was new. We continued talking, mostly about funny things we’d seen in travel.
It was getting late, and so we expressed that we needed to go—we had church in the morning. “Why don’t you come? There will be lots of Americans, so you can practice your English!” Our new friend was interested and thought it sounded neat. We gave her directions and talked for a few minutes. Right before we left, I piped up: “Hey! I have an idea. Why don’t you ask God for a dream tonight, and we can interpret it for you tomorrow at church?!” We were all hopeful to see how God wanted to speak to her. We said we’d ask God for dreams about her that night, too, and said our good-byes. As we walked home, we prayed for dreams, for good sleep, and that we’d see our friend in the morning.
It was Sunday morning. Church started and Ereni was not there. We began worshipping, and I was enjoying getting worship in Greek. When we took our seats again, my teammate Jenna nudged me; Ereni was sitting in the back! I grabbed my stuff and moved to go sit with Ereni. She is loads of fun, so we had a blast sitting together during church. A world-racer was preaching that morning, and she was so impressed that people her age were living with such purpose. It is exciting! At the end of the service, we all sang the song “You Raise Me Up”, from Isaiah 40. As I looked over, Ereni had tears in her eyes. She explained to me that this song was very precious to her heart. She had sung this song in South Africa as a little girl many, many years previous. God was speaking to our friend. He was reminding her of his presence and his love for her that she had experienced so many years ago.
When the service ended, we gave big hugs and sat down. God gave Jenna a dream for Ereni the night before, and we were so excited to share! Before we began, though, she told us that she knew God had brought her there that morning. She had not gotten home until 4:30 that morning. Going to sleep she prayed that God, if he didn’t give her a dream, that he’d at least wake her up in time to go to church. (She said she never wakes up early). That morning, she woke up 2 minutes before her alarm; God wanted her to go. Furthermore, one of her best friends had only months ago had been encouraging her to seek out Jesus. She hadn’t been sure if God was real, but knew now that He saw her. But God still had more for our friend Ereni that morning. As Jenna shared and interpreted her dream, Ereni began crying. Jenna had been able to describe deep desires of Ereni’s heart that Jenna simply had no way of knowing. God had shown me a vision for our new friend that morning, and I shared it with her too. God was welcoming her home.
Before leaving that day, we prayed with Ereni. She wanted so much to live this out. She knew, that day, that God was real and that he loves her. “I want to really do this thing!”, she said. We introduced her to the pastor’s wife and encouraged her. She has been getting involved with the Greek church, and is learning more about who God really is. That God loves…because God. Is. Love.
Because God is great, he gave Ereni as our second “woman of peace”. Guess what Ereni means in Greek….Peace.
