Arrival on Lesvos

We arrived on Lesvos, Greece, yesterday where we will begin working in a refugee camp tomorrow. I can’t take photos in the camp, but we toured it today. Nobody is starving or without water, but a former military camp that was designed for 2000 has 7000+ at the moment. 1500 have come by boat in July. We volunteer with the group in charge of housing.

After our training session we drove north to see Skala Sykamineas and the Molyvos Castle.

Here is a photo of the lookouts. As soon as a boat of refugees enters Greek waters, a rescue boat is sent (usually from this charming little town of Skala Sykamineas that is pictured above).

Please pray for us. Our first shift is tomorrow, and we are all a little nervous. It’s hard to know what to expect.

Corinth

We had a day in between visiting ministries in Athens and our flight to Lesvos, so I decided to take the group to Corinth.  It's only about 90 minutes from Athens.  We rented a car and drove there together.  Our main preparation was watching this pastor teach about ancient Corinth.  If you have the time, I great recommend the video.  It was so helpful to us in explaining what we were looking at, and hey, we didn't even have to spend money on a guide!

First, we visited Ancient Corinth.  There is a huge temple to Apollo, and you can see the ruins of the town where Paul worked with Priscilla and Aquila making tents and where he stood before the proconsul Gallio.

The inscription is a quote from Corinthians which says "these light and momentary afflictions are preparing us for an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison."

 Stephanie made this picture of me just before we got told we couldn't make photos like this.  

We loved our little lunch spot looking up at the AcroCorinth.

Next, we climbed the AcroCorinth, even though it was 104 F.  Hottest hike of my life!  

When we came back down, we went in search of the canal and managed to find both ends of it.  

The shallow end

The deep end

It was amazing.  I don't guess I've ever seen anything quite like it.  We also found the harbor of modern Corinth.

Even though we were hot and exhausted, it was a very good day of seeing new things and bonding as a team.  I also think I have another level of appreciation for the setting of the New Testament.

Mission Partner Visits in Athens

We arrived safely in Athens, and after seeing a few of the sites (see here), we headed out to meet with some of our church’s ministry partners here in this strategic city. First stop was a visit to the Bridges ministry, led by Voulos and Illias.

Google maps said that it was a 19 minute walk from the base of Mars Hill to Bridges.  This is the country of the Olympics, so maybe the Athenians just walk really fast, but it took us an hour even though we did not get lost.

We had a great time visiting with Voula and hearing the latest with their ministry.  Greece has just elected a new government that is not refugee-friendly, and Voula explained what some of their concerns were with these new policies.  

Then we met with Alexandros, one of the pastors of the church in Exarchia (see this post from a previous trip), and he showed us the progress on their church building and led us on a tour through the various ministries of Faros.  Progress on the church building has been slow because it was designated for historical preservation.  The women’s center that I worked in two years ago is now an educational center focusing on young women - preparing them with skills for the workforce.  We visited the home for unaccompanied minor boys that I worked at two years ago and then also toured a new facility where teens are learning technical skills.  MIT actually contacted Faros and is partnering with them at a center there.  There are many gospel opportunities in the relationships being formed there.  Very exciting stuff!

2019 Lesvos Team On Its Way

Our team met at the Knoxville airport with a few family and friends.  We had a prayer circle before departure.  It was so nice to be flying in and out of Knoxville this year instead of Atlanta.  Well worth the extra money.  This year's team (L to R) includes Dale Berry, Stephanie Estabrooks, Terry, me, Anne Martin, and Bob Mackey.  

We landed in Athens the next morning, found our way to our AirBnB spot right next to Victoria Square, and then spent some time seeing the sites and recovering from jet lag before jumping right in to our responsibilities.  Athens is starting to look quite familiar - having traveled there three summers in a row now.  

Monastraki Market area

Hadrian's Arch

Panathenaic Stadium

National Gardens

Syntagma Square

Acropolis

Mars Hill

Mother/Daughter Backpacking Trip

Rebecca has been talking for years about how we needed to take a backpacking trip together.  This summer when Joseph was away on drill with the National Guard seemed like the perfect opportunity. We were afraid if we waited much longer, that Rebecca would be pregnant or have a child and that our trip would never happen.  Turns out that on this trip, Rebecca was already pregnant, but I didn’t know it yet (because Joseph didn’t know yet as he was away on drill and she wanted to tell him in person).  So we had another little backpacker with us.  Rebecca did a good job keeping the secret, though I’m pretty sure she had to straight up lie at one point.

I was a little worried that backpacking in July might be miserably hot.  But lo and behold, we had a cold snap like I don’t ever remember having this time of year.  The high was just in the 70s and the low was in the 50s.  We were actually quite cold in our hammocks!

We were only gone for one night, and we camped at Alley Ford in the Obed River area.  We did not see another soul on our hike in or out.

We opted for hammocks instead of tents, and we also opted not to bring anything complicated to eat.  We heated water for hot chocolate and tea and ate power bars.  We spent our time reading, napping, journaling, and having some deep conversation.  I’m so glad we went when we had the opportunity.  I think we’ll be fine camping with her little one, but we will probably not be backpacking together for a while.