Longhorns in Athens

This past week we had another Vision Trip come to Athens! This team was from UT in Austin and it was great to talk about my wonderful hometown with people who live there (even if they were longhorns...). God did so much here this week and I just wanted so share some of the stories and encouraging things that happened.

-One day on campus I met a group of 3 girls and 1 guy with another women on staff. We approached this group, asked about their finals, and began to tell them about our program. We asked them what they thought of God and what is was like living in a place with such a strong Orthodox culture. The guy spoke up saying he was not Orthodox, but Protestant, and attends an Evangelical church. All the girls looked at him like he was crazy saying "really? we had no idea." They have all been friends for a year and a half. I pray this will open the door for him to share about his belief in God with these non-believing girls and that they will have discussions of faith more often.

-This week the UT students said they were so encouraged by how easy it was to start conversations with Greeks. It gave them confidence to be more intentional on the UT campus and to have the boldness to approach non-believers and to share their faith more openly with their friends.

-We had the opportunity to meet lots of international students this week and volunteer with a ministry to serve food to refugees. It made me realize that our ministry here does not only affect Greeks, but people around the world. Greece is such an international city and I believe God is going to use these students to truly reach the world for Christ!

It was so great to have a new, fresh group of students in the city. Pray that we will be able to follow up with the Greek students that were met this week. Also, that the trip will have a lasting impact in the lives of every UT student that came...and that they will be more bold in sharing their faith on campus in Austin.

Thanks and Gig'em :)

(hook'em and gig'em in Corinth)

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations."
(Psalm 67:1-2)

Spring Fever!

Again, sorry for the lack of updates on my blog recently...I need to get better at this...

The past few weeks have been a little slow in our ministry because the students were in their final exams. They pretty much don't study EVER during the year and then read 2000 pages of material in the 2 weeks before and during their tests. Needless to say, its kinda hard to get in touch with them. Finally, however, they are done and things are starting to pick up!!

Some of the highlights of the past couple weeks were...

-Going to a "Carnival" party with my friend Eleni and sporting a fabulous green wig (top pic)
-Seeing "Slumdog Millionaire" with our team and 3 Greeks (LOVED it...except for the fact that the subtitles for the parts spoken in Hindi were in Greek...so that was a language lesson)
-Getting an 83 on my Intermediate Greek final exam
-Continuing to volunteer with a ministry that serves dinner to refugees on Monday nights
-Getting to tell friends I'm praying for their finals...it's amazing how much that means to them
-Watching the final of the "The Bachelor" and getting caught up in all the drama as usual :)
-Spending a day by the ocean with the Lord admiring His beautiful creation and the crystal clear waters off the coast.
-Picnicking and joining the Greeks in flying kites near the Acropolis for "Clean Monday"...the day before they fast for lent (pictured in the middle).
-Some of us going to coffee with 3 guys met during the summer project and having great conversations about the Lord. One is really searching and one is really interested in coming to our Bible study.
-Taking a day trip to the ancient Epidavros theatre (pictured at the bottom)
-Starting a Bible study in our office and having my friend Carolina come!! (HUGE praise report!!)
-Booking tickets to Cairo, Egypt for our next visa trip!

That about sums it up for now. I will fill you in on what is to come this week. We do have a Vision Trip coming tonight from UT and they will be here until next Saturday. Pray that God will use them on these campus to spread the word about "Agape Greece" and share the gospel with interested students.

Thanks so much for your prayers as always...and I'm having Texas withdrawls like CRAZY!!