Hello all! This is the evening of my fourth full day in Greece! WOW! Time has flown by "getting to know the culture," as Jaimeson puts it. I arrived at about 11 PM Sunday night (Greece time), just in time for the teams' day off the next day. On the way home from the airport, Jaimeson told me about the full, emotional day that the women on our team had. The women on our team had gone into the red light district to meet with a few madams and prostitutes there. Many women that they met there were there by choice because the women forced into the profession were very much kept behind closed doors. From what I was told about our teams' experiences, it was a time of both hope and sadness. Many of the conversations were of introductory nature but the opportunity to join the women's center, learn a trade and begin to provide for themselves in a way that would make themselves proud was offered again and again. This ministry has been in operation for about eight years and these women have begun to trust in the New Zoi (New Life) ministry. There have been a few women who have been able to remove themselves from a life that they claim brings them much shame and greatly hinder their ability to join society again with respect. I truly hope that I will get the opportunity to visit with some of these women to hear their stories and share with them the hope that the wonderful women of the New Zoi ministry have been sharing with them for the past eight years.
I have been very spoiled in that I arrived in Greece at a sort of lull in the workload. The rest of the team has spent the past couple of weeks picking up LARGE amounts of trash in Volos. Littering is a huge problem because there are no laws regulating the disposal of trash. In addition, it is seen as shameful to pick up trash, especially as a volunteer. When I arrived, however, I was informed that the next day was our day off and everyone would be going to the Acropolis! We all woke up, bought our bus/metro tickets and headed downtown. I looked like a typical American tourist taking pictures everywhere, including on the bus and the metro. I think that I sufficiently embarrased everyone around me! When we finally got to downtown Athens, ate together like a big, happy, Greek family and I loved it! We ended up getting gelato twice that day. Oops. I am coming to find out that food is something that our days revolve around. We eat, talk about food and worry about when and what our next meals and snacks will be. I LOVE IT! Finally people that appreciate food as much as me. It soon began to pour, veryunusual for this time of year, and so we took at look at the museum and then began exploring. The Acropolis is literally the center of the city. It is raised far above everything else and is the most important spot in the city. It was amazing to learn about the history of Greek good worship, especially Athena, and to be able to stand a few feet away from the Parthenon, built 448 BC! Today we were able to visit Corith where Paul lived, preached, and was tried. I was struck but the fact that there were still things standing. The Romans knew how to build their cities! Everything was marble and, I imagine, stunning to see. There were still marble slabs strewn across the area that was once the marketplace. It is easy to take allof this for granted but Jaimeson's excitement began to rub off on all of us. Paul, the Apostle, actually walked the same ground that we were walking two thousand years earlier! That just blows my mind! We also stood over the Corinth Canal which was eventually carved after transporting boats over land became too tiring and time-consuming. We ended our trip in Corinth with lunch and swimming in the Ionian Sea which was pristine. The sea was clear blue, with big stones in place of sand. The beach looked like a postcard and I had to keep reminding myself that I WAS actually swimming in the sea in Greece! I am still finding it hard to beleive that God has called me here, provided for me and is allowing me to do His work.
Our plans for the second day were thwarted because of th ehuge strikes taking place outside of the Parlament building. The Greeks were striking about the increase in food and gas taxes for the purpose of trying to repay loans so not to default. The political scientist in me wanted to hop on a bus to witness these strikes but it was a good thing I didn't. They got pretty violent and soon tear gas a a thick police line was being showed all over the news. Instead we stayed at the Bible College and cooked together. These small things are what is helping our team become so close and so much more loving. Our love for each other and for God is what will allow us to pour love onto the Greeks during our times here. Our plan for the day was for us to go downtown to meet with a woamn who helps run the community center in a more impoverished part of Athens where the primary population is Albanian immigrants. We ended up meeting with her the next day and she told us a little bit about what we would be doing as we worked with her for the next feew weeks. We will be assisting in putting on these annual tournaments and festivals which include sporting competitions, mainly soccer, as well as face pianting, crafts and games. The community center is the sort of central location and resource for these events to happen. This community center includes a game room, study room and computer room and has blessed many of these kids in a very large way. These festivals and competitions are something that not only the kids look forward to every year, but the whole families too. These events are what brings the community together and allows them to simply have fun. Because many of these ministries are nonprofit, they are run entirely by the church and voulteers.Our team is going to help run these programs in the comming weeks! I am so excited! I almost got a little choked up hearing about the amazing things that have resulted from somthing as simple as workig with these kids on the computer and giving them a plastic trophy for winning a soccer game. These programs have given these families, who are mainly refugees, the tolls to succeed in a society in which Greek is not their first language and culture is completely foreign. The same group also hosts a few week long camp in Calamos at the end of July so we will be preparing for that by cleaning, starting tomorrow, setting up and then as councilors the last week. I am so excited to learn more about this ministry. I know that God has been doing some amazing things here is Greece and I am just exstatic that I get to be a part of it.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 3-4
* Written by Paul!!!!! So exciting!
Sorry this post is so long. I will try to keep them shorter; I just had a lot to write!
If you would like to write to me, I would love it!
My email is: ebadraun@msn.com
Address: Greek Bible Institute
Adamopoulou 8
Pikermi, GR 190 09 GREECE
(write my name on the lower left hand corner away from the address area)
Of course you can always talk to me on facebook!
I love you all so much and thank you for all of your support!
Love,
Emily
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