I'm going to Spain!!

At exactly 6:40am tomorrow morning I am going to our Mid-Year conference in Nerja, Spain! This is a conference for all the STINTers in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. I will be there for one week attending talks, sharing stories of what God is doing in this area of the world, and enjoying sunshine and the beach!

Please pray for safe and uncomplicated travel, for encouragement and relaxation for everyone attending, and that we will receive new ideas to better our ministry in Athens!

In other news...

We had another party at our Steki on Friday night and had 17 students attend! An all-time record! We played games, ate snacks, enjoyed each other's company, and tried to talk about God whenever possible, if the time arose. It is fun to see the students we have met meet and talk with one another. They are starting their own friendships that we pray will grow into a ministry of Christian believers in God's timing. Please pray for continued fellowship!

Also, last week our team took a trip up to Kalavrata, a city rumored to have snow AND skiing. We all had our doubts. Snow in Greece?? Really? Well, we were gladly proved very wrong and spent a day enjoying the beauty of snow-covered mountains. Here are some pics to distort any preconceived notions you might have had about sunny, sandy Greece...

This one I just added to comemorate the first visit to my favorite store and home-away-from-from for three years of my life. I went shopping with Paul and Catherine on the first day of "Sale Season" and this was our first stop...I just had to take a picture :)

answered prayers!

This is our first week back after the holidays and I was surprised how much I missed my Greek friends and how ready I was to get back on campus. We have been praying that our friends would be available to meet this week and that they would initiate with us. This week both those prayers have been beyond answered!

Friday night I invited Carolina to watch a movie at my apartment. We watched "Get Smart"...really funny actually...and then talked a little afterward. She took a "More Than a Carpenter" book to read last month and I asked her if it had been read. She said it hadn't, but that she hadn't forgotten. She is reading a philosophy book right now and said "While I'm reading philosophy, might as well read religion too." Hopefully we will get to discuss the book soon!

Then Sunday I got a text message FROM Eleni. She just arrived back in Athens and asked ME to get coffee with her that day. We walked to a little cafe in the neighborhood and talked for a little over an hour. She is so interested in our "program" and asked me what website to go to so she could register and join...haha. She is such a blessing to me right now and I think is the most like me. She reminds me of a friend I would have in the States...another provision from the Lord.

Today I went to lunch with Ioanna. She is super intelligent and motivated to do something with her life. She wants to study abroad, travel, and one day work for the UN. I have never had a spiritual conversation with her, but today God directed our conversation perfectly. She believes in God and thinks it's important to believe in a higher power. She also said, "No one has ever told me what it means to be Christian" I was SO excited!! I was able to share the Gospel with her (although sadly not very well I think), but we are going to meet up again and go through a "Knowing God Personally" book in Greek to help with the language barrier.

Both Eleni and Ioanna want to get together to read and discuss the Bible! Yet another answer to our prayers.

Pray for:
-A game night we are having on Friday for all our friends-all three girls said they want to come!
-That God would protect the interest all these girls have in Him.
-For open schedules and opportunities for follow-up meetings.
-That God would continue to open opportunities to share the Gospel and meet with ALL our friends.

Thanks so much for your prayers...I am seeing their effects first hand!

hello. goodbye.

These two words have been the essence of the past month of my life. While so fun, this time has been the busiest of the entire year (as you have probably noticed from lack of blog updates) Just to give you an idea, here is an outline of events during this time:

Dec. 12: Hello to the GBC Vision Trip
Dec. 21: Goodbye GBC Vision Trip
Dec. 22: Hello family!
Dec. 30: Goodbye family L
Dec. 31: Goodbye 2008
Jan. 1: Hello 2009
Jan. 1: Hello Nottingham, England
Jan. 5: Goodbye Nottingham, England

I would love to update in detail of every event, but will just give you some highlights and pictures of each one. So this might be a little long, but you can now get caught up on my life if you so desire. It’s been fun, crazy, new, emotional, exhausting, and exciting!

Vision Trip

As mentioned in my last post, a group from Grace Bible Church joined our ministry here for 10 days. These people could not have been more of a blessing to me during that time. They were all so eager to share the Gospel and equally as eager to prayer walk the campus when students shut down the schools. Although they did not get to meet as many students as they were probably expecting, they had the best attitudes and saw Christ in every situation. I loved their company, their genuine desire to follow the Lord, their passion for the Gospel, and their fun personalities. I seriously cried when they left. It was such a fun, joyful week!

Merry Family Christmas

I was so blessed to have my entire family come and visit me in Athens for Christmas! They arrived 3 days before Christmas and stayed for 8 days. We stayed in a wonderful little flat in the center of the city, close to all the Christmas festivities. We enjoyed the Christmas tree, a carousal ride, Santas smoking cigarettes, miniature ponies, and clowns…kind of a weird mix between Christmas and a crazy carnival. We did have an enjoyable Chistmas meal, brunch at the Apel’s house, a trip to the Acropolis, and plenty of Greek food! It was so wonderful to show them my world and enjoy the holidays as a family. I already miss them so much!!

New Years

New Years day was spent at the McGuffy’s house and was a bittersweet celebration. While we had a great time, it was also the last time our entire team was together in one place (the Huddleston’s are moving to Russia in a couple weeks). We at wonderful food, played games, and did a gift exchange! The Greeks open their gifts on New Years day, so we followed the tradition. I received a wonderful icing spreader and cake decorator from Paul...so I can perfect my cake making skills!!

I still cannot believe it is 2009!! I feel like the years have gone by so fast. Was I not just graduating high school in 2004?? I think God has been showing me how fleeting our lives truly are and how little time we have to do His work here on Earth. I am so blessed to be doing it though!

Fireseeds Conference

Three weeks ago Andrew and I found out we would be attending the “Fireseeds” conference in Nottingham, England! This was a conference put on by Agape (the European Campus Crusade) and held for college students and recent graduates. We attended the conference with 2 Greek students from Thessaloniki, Sophia and Kimon. The conference centered around encouraging students to bring the Gospel to the nations. The best part was hearing of Sophia and Kimon’s desires to go on mission trip and share God’s world with others. This is exactly what we are praying for in the lives of Greek students. One day we hope to be sending groups of Greeks to the world with the Gospel of Christ!

There was also a GREAT band that played called “Bluetree.” Definitely worth checking out if you’re interested!

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So there it is! My past 3 weeks in a nutshell. My New Years resolution is to update my blog more often…so get ready! Talk to you again soon!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3)