We’ve made it to GREECE! Thessaloniki, specifically. The beginning of this month is a little bit different than all the rest. We had all of our “Adventure/Off” days in a row before we started ministry! That means we will have 6 days a week of ministry and 1 sabbath/rest day off. So with that being the case we took full advantage.
The first day we went to the “three finger” beaches of Halkidiki which are basically peninsulas. We spent the day on the white beaches jumping off docks and tubing! And then the two days following that eight fearless squadmates and I hiked the infamous Mount Olympus. It took us 6 1/2 hours the first day to reach the Refuge where we spent the night. The second day when I woke up it was my birthday! What better way to spend a day than hiking to the highest point in Greece (2,918 m). We planned to summit to the highest peak of Mytikas, however when we reached the top we realized we had really summited the SECOND highest peak and we peered across the huge crevice to the actual top that held the greek flag. We had met a group of Greek guys at the refuge who left a few minutes before us to summit, and to our dismay, they stood on the Mytikas peak and shouted across, “You’re on the wrong mountain!”
Yes, yes. We clearly could tell. After shaking off a spirit of defeat we descended to ascend the right peak in record time. What should have only taken us an hour and half there and back to the refuge turned in to three and a half. However, now we can say we’ve summited two out of the three peaks. On top of the peak we had a small communion session amongst ourselves proclaiming God’s name over the country of Greece and the work that he has begun there.
Our last day off I spent walking around the city getting familiar. There is a beautiful board walk on the Aegean sea. They have tons of restaurants, cafes and clothes shops. There are also a lot of uncovered ruins below the streets that pop out here and there. Apparently there are at least three layers of historical civilizations below the streets. My friends and I got to stop and chat with a lot of people who shared a lot about Greece’s history and culture. It was a great way to meet and greet and start building relationships.
Ministry this month is split up into 4 groups: one team will be working with refugees at camps passing out meals, another at a help center sorting clothes and interacting with female refugees, another at the church teaching English classes, and the fourth at a soup kitchen! In between or down time will look like meet and greet with people in the community, building relationships and interacting with refugees living on the streets.
Prayers this month for refugees who are still looking for housing, needing financial support and most importantly to come to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
