Four months have passed since moving to Athens and we are starting to get our feet wet and feeling like we belong here. We have found a church to belong to for this year that has a great youth group with many girls of all ages and most of the kids have grown up here in Greece and can relate to our girls. We have enjoyed getting to know the families and have spent Thanksgiving and New Years with some of them. This ex-pat community has helped us develop some friends in a short amount of time which has helped our transition here.
Athens is very different than Thessaloniki, both in size and in the diversity of foreigners living in the city that include: Afghans, Iranians, Philippinos, Chinese, Romanian, Russian, Korean, various African nationals, Albanian, etc. Most of the refugee ministries here are reaching out to the Afghan and Iranian communities because the need is so great! This has been a great opportunity to reach Muslims for Christ and many are turning to Him. Our family is volunteering once a month at a refugee center to serve hot tea, talk with the women and the men and to play with the children. There are many opportunities, just not enough workers!
Alan has been making appointments and meeting with leaders and pastors of migrant churches and refugee ministries as well as missionaries to learn what is going on in the city and to get a feel for the atmosphere here towards minorities and refugees. We have been amazed to learn how many foreign churches have been established here in Athens and how many more foreign believers there are in the city than Greek believers, approximately three to one. The goal is to have an accurate picture of all the foreign churches and ministries in Athens and begin to find ways to encourage and strengthen them, as well promote a spirit of love and unity between them. He is continuing to work with the Greek pastors as well, hoping to see more participation and using Natural Church Development to help their churches grow spiritually.
Whitney has decided to help New Life part-time, a ministry that reaches out to women in prostitution as well as trafficking. She will be helping two days a week, with the Wednesday morning outreach to the brothels and helping in the office with administrative responsibilities. She is also looking for various ways to get involved with non-believing women in the community where we live.
The girls have done great at school so far! We thank God for helping our niece transition into our family as well. Amber is doing well at the Greek Bible College and is seeking God’s direction for where she will study next year in the US, much is dependent on scholarships and cost!
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