In our last newsletter, Catherine let the cat out of the bag that we are planning on moving to Oxford in the Fall so that I can go to seminary at Wycliffe Hall, an evangelical seminary within Oxford’s Theology Department. I thought you might want a little more information about Wycliffe Hall and why we wanted to go there, not to mention photos.

[larger photos here]

Wycliffe Hall was founded in 1877 to be an evangelical voice in the diverse theological environment of Oxford University, existing to train evangelicals for pastoral ministry. Wycliffe has graduated many influential evangelical pastors and theologians over the years, including J.I. Packer, N.T. Wright, and hopefully P.D. Wheatley in a few years.

After spending some time here in Greece, we know that a few years really isn’t enough to see this nation changed for Christ. As we considered how long we would remain here, other long-term goals began to factor in our plans. I have always loved teaching the Bible, and during our time here, my calling to teach the Bible has further grown and clarified. Because of this, seminary study has always been something Catherine and I knew I would undertake at some point. This time in our life seems like the most opportune time to begin full-time seminary study, since we have no children, and we are able to move anywhere.

We heard about Wycliffe Hall from British friends here in Athens. We loved the opportunity to study full-time, while staying close to Greece. Of course studying at Oxford appealed to me, but more importantly I wanted to go somewhere where I could learn to teach the Bible well and grow personally in my relationship with Christ. When we visited Wycliffe, the quality teaching, intimate environment of only 125 students, and the school’s emphasis on students living and experiencing what they are learning ultimately won us over. We were also drawn to the large population of international students from China we saw there. Beyond this we think that remaining in Europe will allow us the opportunity to stay connected to friends and colleagues here in Athens in case the Lord would lead us to return. I will even be starting at Wycliffe alongside Tim, a colleague here currently serving Greek evangelical students, who hopes to return to Athens after graduation.

Beginning our transition, we feel sad to say goodbye to the friends we have made here, but we are excited for what lies ahead. We still have four months left in Greece, about 20% of our total time here still ahead of us, and we will be busy!  Next week we will host 11 students and staff from the University of Texas. The following week we will have training with staff from Thessaloniki, and the week after that we will need to take a visa exit. Then comes Easter, and a little over a month later we will have 40 students and staff here for the summer! On top of all of this, we will be working out our transition to international student outreach in Oxford, as well as visa, housing and funding issues related to our move.  I will remain on support while at Oxford, continuing student ministry while studying, and we will communicate more with you about this as we work out the details.

Catherine and I are thankful for all of you who have continued praying and giving to our ministry, and as always we welcome any questions you have about this next stage in our lives.

What a week!

The protests in Athens haven’t completely died down, but they have for the most part turned peaceful.  We’ve been downtown to view some of the damage from the riots, and everything is mostly fine down there now.  Each evening [and some afternoons] the streets passing through some of the most popular areas for protestors are shut down, making travel a little more difficult.  Also, most of the universities have been closed ever since the riots and protests began.  Other than that, however, we’re not really very affected by the protests.  We thank you for your prayers and want to assure you of our safety again.

We also welcomed a group of Aggies here last week, visiting to see what our ministry is like.  It was fun having so many people around, even though students were mostly away from campus during all the protests.

During the week the Aggies were here, we took them to the refugee feeding program we work with to serve a Christmas meal to over 150 refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Algeria and Morocco.  What a great time!  At one point after the meal, people got up and began doing traditional dances to celebrate the good times.  Later a few young Moroccans got up on the stage to breakdance.  Who knew that was so big in Morocco!

While we were there, our Iraqi friend Mike told us that he would be leaving to find asylum in another European country, so he would be getting baptized before he left.  He told me that he wanted me to be there with him in the water with him when he was baptized.  I was so honored to be able to go with him to the refugee ministry’s camp north of Athens on Wednesday!  Catherine took photos while Mike was baptized by Bruce, the leader of the refugee program, and me.  This was the first time I have ever helped baptize anyone, and I was honored for Mike to be the first.

Enjoy some pictures from the day!

Finally on Sunday night we said goodbye to the Aggies, and Monday morning we welcomed my mother and sister for a Christmas visit.  We’re having a great time with them and are so happy to have them here.  What a week to be able to shake hands with an Iranian, baptize an Iraqi, have some Aggies over for dinner, and then walk the Acropolis with my mother and sister!

We’re in a website-updating mood today.  Our Photos page has been updated, we’ve gotten our Newsletter page up to date, and on top of all that, we found the time to write a newsletter for November. If you click on the photo below, you can download the page in pdf format.

Inside, you’ll find exciting stories of reunions, friends showing interest in studying the Bible, and our list of things we’re thankful for this year [*spoiler alert*: you’re on the list].

At the end of September, we headed to Ancient Corinth to show Andrew and Paige, our new stinters, the beauty of the Greek countryside. Afterward we visited a nearby winery right in the middle of their grape harvest. I’ve never seen so many grapes in my life.

It’s celebration time!  Today marks one year in Greece for Catherine and me.  Over the year we feel like our marriage has grown deeper, our walks with God have become more vital, and we have learned so much about ourselves.  We’ve also struggled through language and starting friendships with Greek students cold-turkey, but through it all we know that God has used our time here for His glory.  We are so thankful for your prayers and support during this last year.

Starting tomorrow we begin staff meetings, and the following day our stinters [one year interns] show up.  Everything is rolling again!

Man, you people sure can pray! As of yesterday evening, we are officially tangled in the World Wide Web again! OTE [”Oh-Tay” for all you Little Rascals] had our internet raring to go in under 20 days! After waiting 3 months for our last internet company [Boo, Vodafone!!!], we didn’t think it could be so easy.

We will be a little less cyber-scarce now. To prove it, we’ll give you the reader a little photo love. We’ve been hosting a summer team here from UT, TX State and UTSA for 10 days now, and we thought you’d like to see a few pictures from the summer so far. Enjoy!

We wish you a Merry Christmas from Greece! We have so many things to be thankful for this Christmas! We finally have internet set up in our home, so we have been able to talk to our families today, and we can update you here!

If you read our December newsletter, you heard a little about Christmas in Greece. I wanted to take a moment and let you know a little more about how they do Christmas here.

For example, rather than Santa Claus coming into the chimney, Saint Vasilis climbs onto your balcony, and (we presume) into your home to give gifts.

Saint Vasilis, the patron saint of sailors, whose feast day is celebrated on January 1, was known for helping the poor by giving out loaves of bread with money hidden inside. So every New Years Day, Greeks give one another a loaf of bread with a coin inside to celebrate the new year.

While Greeks celebrate Christmas on December 25 just like us, Christmas is a day for gathering with family and celebrating the birth of the Savior. However, they wait until Saint Vasilis day on Jan 1 to actually open presents. So Catherine and I got a jump on all the Greeks today by opening presents on Christmas!

We’ve been very thankful for the fact that Greeks hang lights for Christmas, as it has made it feel a little bit like home. In Syntagma square [a huge plaza across from the Greek Parliament building ], there has been a huge Christmas tree and winter carnival going on for the last few weeks. Beautiful!

So, from the bottom of our hearts, we wish you a Merry Christmas, or as they say in Greek, “Καλά Χριστούγεννα” [”Kala Christougenna”] and a “Χρόνια Πολλά” [”Chronia Polla”], or Merry Christmas and many more!

image from stratikis.gr

Hello from Greece! We’ve almost been gone for a month now. Can you believe it? The time has flown by.

We’ve been busy setting up our apartment [after many trips to Ikea], meeting with our new team to plan for the year [pictured above], and trying our hand at Greek. Below is a link to a few pictures of our apartment.

Today we went on campus at the University of Athens to get to know what student life is like in Greece. The students are very friendly and helpful, but we have a lot to learn.  We’ll update you more later, but it seems very different from US campus life! Thank you so much for all your prayers.  We couldn’t do this without you!

Click here to go to our apartment pictures!

Our teammates Jeremy & Julie have found an apartment for us in their neighborhood in Athens, called Zografou. It’s a little funky, but we like it.

We’ve said yes to this apartment, and we are just waiting to get our deposit in to secure it until we arrive in September. Please pray that no one will rent it before we can get our deposit to them. We’re wiring the money tomorrow. Also, thank God with us for His provision!

This apartment is two blocks from campus, and across the street from the building where the rest of our team will be living. We love the wrap-around balcony, and it’s well within our budget! Enjoy the pictures, but keep in mind that we’ll be painting and adding our personal touch!

Click on the image above to be taken to the apartment photo gallery.