Welcome to our little page. We hope you'll find all sorts of things to keep you updated on what is happening in our ministry. We have newsletters, pictures, info about our ministry in Greece, and we even have an opportunity for you to support us, if you are so inclined. Thanks for visiting!
A few weeks ago, I informed you that I would be heading to Texas to be in a friend’s wedding and to work to encourage students from TX State, UTSA and UT Austin to come visit us here in Greece for a summer or a year.
The trip was a success! My friend Chris did get married, and I had a great time seeing him and my friend Bryan who did the wedding. My brother-in-law Taylor was also an usher in the wedding, and it was so wonderful to be able to spend a weekend with those guys who mean so much to me. Plus we got to go to the State Fair!
Beyond that, I was able to connect with some of my friends, family and supporters in Austin, and my time meeting with students and staff at Texas State, UTSA and UT Austin to talk about Greece was fantastic. People are excited about coming, and I’m hoping to see many of them with me here in Greece in the years to come! Here are some photo highlights of the trip for your enjoyment:
This summer one of my main projects was to edit together a video to help recruit students to come serve with us for a summer. It’s finished, and it will be premiering in San Antonio next Tuesday, as I will be in Texas speaking at the UTSA and TX State Crusade meetings to recruit students for next summer and to be in one of my best friends’ wedding.
I would love to see all of you while I’m in Texas, but my trip is so short and packed that I will be running around like crazy most of the time. Please pray for my time in Texas as I connect with students at TX State and UTSA that God will use me in the lives of the students I speak with. Please also pray that God would lead many students to serve with us next summer. I could also use your prayers, as I will need to be “on” most of the time I’m there, despite jetlag.
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!
The weather’s heating up in Athens, and this week the 17 students and staff who have been visiting from Texas will be wrapping up their ministry on campus. It’s been wonderful having them here. Inside our most recent letter [below in pdf format], you’ll find such fun stories as:
On Mars Hill with the Summer Project
Speaking in 6 Languages at once!
And much, much more!
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!
You may have noticed that we have been slow to update our blog, and have been impossible to reach on our phone. Where have we been?
Were we captured by pirates? Have we switched to communicating in only in Greek, forgetting out all our English-speaking relationships?
The answer actually is quite simple. We’ve been forced into internet exile. Our home internet, which took months to set up, worked for two months, and at the beginning of February it went kaput. For months we’ve been working with our internet company to get back online, but to no avail. Without home internet, we have no VOIP internet telephone, and our internet use is limited to checking and answering email mostly.
Greece is still slow adapting to this new-fangled “internet”, and new connections can take months to be activated, so we were slow to switch companies. We figured, surely it couldn’t take longer than a month to fix our internet. We figured wrong. After three months with no solution, we are in the process of switching companies to the big, bad [formerly government-owned] monopoly, OTE [pronounced, “Oh-Tay”]. We are told by OTE that it will be twenty days until our internet connection is, well, connected. By all other accounts, however, we could still be waiting months.
We ask that you continue to be patient with us as we work out these communication issues. We really DO want to talk to you. We also ask that you pray for OTE to set our internet up within the 20 working days they promise. When dealing with the souls of Greek college students, we know that the internet is a small thing in light of eternity, but having this connection would allow us to stay better connected to you, our loved ones, so we appreciate your prayers.
This month Catherine explains how Easter in Greece sometimes happens a little later than in America, we keep March Madness going well into April, and we make a few friends by means of some creative photographs! Read it all and more by clicking the picture below, or just click here.
[image courtesy of www.greecetravel.com, a great guide for travel information in Greece]
Last Monday, March 10, was the first day of Orthodox Lent, or Σαρακοστή, called Clean Monday [Κάθαρα Δευτέρη]. On this day, Greeks go to open areas around Athens and fly kites. It’s really a beautiful thing to see. On Clean Monday Greeks clean their house of everything they will fast from for Lent, hence the name “Clean” Monday.
Ironically, Clean Monday was anything but clean. Beginning on Clean Monday, there have been numerous strikes: subways, buses, but most importantly trash pickup. For over a week now, trash has been accumulating in the streets of Athens as the trash workers refuse to pickup trash until their demands are met.
We braved the stench and documented this wonderful event for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy. [If you really want to get the effect, view the slide show below next to an open dumpster!]
We’ve been away from internet-land for a while lately, since the internet in our home has been down for over a MONTH! Never to fear, though. We’re getting caught up whenever we can get our hands on a wi-fi connection.
We emailed and USPS-ed our February newsletter weeks ago, back when it was still February, but we never put it here on our website. So here it is! Inside you’ll find fun information about our church, my friend Kostas, and snow. Enjoy!
click on the photo above, or click here to download it.
Welcome to our little page. We hope you'll find all sorts of things to keep you updated on what is happening in our ministry. We have 
