FROM THE CHURCH IN ATHENS, GREECE
Greetings to all,
I received this letter from Theo who is one of the Christians in
Athens. I am so encouraged about being in touch with the Church over
there, and it is so good to be able to encourage each other. Please
keep Athens in your prayer... Good evening (or day regarding when you read it), my good old buddies. I have been absent for weeks due to a busy working life(people prayed for me to get a job, and look what happened to me now!! no time for anyone!!!ha!ha!).
Many interesting things and challenges have been in our lives the past few months, and as we try to see all issues through "heaven's eyes", God has been revealing his love and miracles in every step of our lives, and relationships.
A few of these interesting situations and chats are copied/pasted bellow.
Mr. Giorgos (my Italian awesome teacher), as we were talking again two days ago, shared some amazing life findings he had.
As I was sharing with him what was the disciples opinion, when I was asking them why did Jesus woke up so early for prayer, and after hearing everyone's thought [1-the crocks wouldn't let him sleep (…yes, believe it or not, that was a disciple's answer..), 2-he saw the need to dedicate his first hour to God as a sacrificial offering, proving to God He is his first priority, 3-he knew the difficulties ahead of each day, 4-he knew who is on his case, and had to feel the security of God's presence, 5-he knew when the rest-stressed-disciples would wake up ,they're gonna stress him up with their worries, as they actually did!]
He shared to me his own. He said:
"One day at my school, I asked one of my weakest students to answer a difficult Italian question, in my heart I knew she couldn't find it, and so without waiting I asked the guy behind her, whom I was sure knew it. The girl, in pain and anger told me: 'I know I'm weak, but at least let me think of it'…
"I never felt so broken and bad in my life! Only then did I realize what this insensitivity of mine could cause to a young student's heart and confidence…
"Every day I pray that I will be wise enough, even when I don't know if the student's life is good or bad, even if I don't know that someone in his/her family died, I ask for the wisdom to give an extra encouraging mark, so I'm never responsible for making any fatal mistake to a young soul's future.. "And so, as a teacher, I can understand Jesus, the greater Teacher, that he knew what kind of great responsibility he had towards everyone who was gonna come to him for comfort or wisdom, and he had to make sure God was with him when he was opening his mouth to preach, disciple or encourage them… "He definitely had to pray…" You know what kind of vision I got straight when he told me this?? I could see an elder in him, for our small Athens church!!!!! wooooowwwwwww!!!!!!
Can you believe the wisdom in this mature but humble man???!!!!
Isn't that such an encouraging story?
Also, one insight my good old buddy Tommy shared with me, I'd like to share with you also.
"When persecuted, what did Jesus do? Pray for the persecutors' forgiveness! Imagine if Jesus had lost His self-control for even a fraction of a second with the world which treated Him so terribly? Just one second of weakness, and all that incredible power would have been unleashed. I think recently the fact that Jesus was so humble, so "ordinary", that so many didn't even realise He was the Messiah, fills me with awe perhaps even more than the power itself. I know that if I had even one millionth of that power, I'd be busy teaching lessons to people! Having all that strength, but yet also having the meekness to hold it back and not even lash out in frustration once, is pretty incredible."
Also an insight of his wife, the incredible Kimmy, from an experience in a vineyard in Italy.
"For myself, it was just incredible how God can make grapes grow in such a dry place. The guide showed us this rock that is everywhere under the vineyards. Even though it hadn't rained for a week, the rock was still moist, meaning it held the water for the grapes to grow. Also, the amount of care and planning necessary to produce a crop (especially a good crop of quality grapes - which takes up to TWELVE years) means absolute diddly squat zero if God decides to send rain at the wrong time, drought at the wrong time, a nasty beetle or disease.
"More than anything else, I think I'm seeing this year the depth of our dependence on Him. Each breath we take is a blessing, we have no right to expect anything. Worthless! "
Kimmy was thinking of when Jesus spoke about him being the true vine, and that any branch that does not bear fruit will be thrown into the fire. "What these guys do (it was an exclusive vineyard where they produce Brunello di Montalcino, a rare wine) is only allow seven bunches of grapes to grow on each vine. The rest are cut off and left on the ground to rot. In doing this, the 'life' is directed towards fewer branches which in turn grow stronger and produce better quality wine..."
And to those who keep asking how our beloved Greek sister, Irini is doing, here is some news.
Irini is ok. She had her ordeal in Budapest, but God used her to bond the church, as everyone was praying in the meetings for her. God provided a miracle and she was out in three days, regardless what the doctors thought in the beginning.
the past month her mum was in hospital with head strokes, and the doctor told her:even if you believe in god, your mum is like falling from parthenon..so don't expect miracles. yesterday her mum was finally out, pretty well in her health. the doctor turned to irini in humility and told her, "Well...your mum fall from parthenon, but it didn't kill her.i guess, miracles still happen after all..."
And when she thanked the doctor for saving her mum, he turned to her and told her, "It wasn't me saving her, I guess it's your God that saved her." To God be all the glory for hearing all our prayers, but also the prayers of so many people out of Athens. Irini as you can tell, has a tendency of bonding disciples and churches!!
Also through everyone's challenging days in Athens, God has been providing many joyful experiences, like seeing the disciples grow in wisdom and love, visitors coming after long time, and especially old ones like my dear Alexis(the Londoners must remember him),who through his pain, seeks God's love from the beginning. Anything to bring them back Father!
That's it for now. Lotsa Love from Athens
Theo x