Upon our return from the Northern Greece trip, we got busy!  Saturday, students from Greater Atlanta Christian came to visit us on our campus.  Truly they are here to minister to the people in this community, but they were in town for Valentine's Day, so we had a party!  There were about twenty of us and forty of them, so we had a BIG group!  Our students were very outgoing and welcoming, so we were very proud of their spirits.  Our students organized basketball, volleyball, and dart tournaments and introduced the GAC students to Greek dancing (we had lessons the night before here on campus).  It was a fun night for all.

On Sunday morning, we attended a Greek Orthodox church service.  It was a very different experience from our traditional services.  There was incense; there was much motion - standing and bowing; the entire service was in song by the same three men; there were words that everyone needed to say together; there was very modest dress.  We came back to campus and processed the event together.  Later that evening, we attended our worship service in English and ate out together - Greek salad, potatoes, fried zucchini, garlic bread, and either kalamaki or gyros.  

Monday consisted of classes, and then we heard Vicky's sharing of how to make the Greek coffee that infiltrates this culture.  We've noticed the coffee houses on our trips into Athens, and the people here are very particular about their coffee, which Vicky says is not as strong as Italian espresso.  Everybody got to sample, and some people even got to make it, with Vicky's guidance, of course.  We then heard Vicky's story of meeting Christ, which was incredibly meaningful and inspiring.  It makes us feel bold, grateful, and connected to Vicky in a more special way.  Her name in Greek means "of the king," and she knows that she is His daughter, a princess.  We love our Vicky!

Today we went to the Attiki Zoo. Despite the chill in the air, we all had a good time together.  We even got to see a dolphin show!  It's a funny schedule today - we had time to rest this afternoon and catch up on some schoolwork, although I witnessed a couple of naps on the couches, some puzzle working, and some reading by the fire going on... I also want to tell you about today's dessert - kiwi, strawberries, pineapples, pear, and three cheeses - Brie, parmesan, and gruyere.  Absolutely delicious.  It was almost too beautiful to eat - yeah, right!  Seriously, the presentation was to lovely - on solid white platters with the pineapple top on display.  It made lunch at event in my mind!  Natasa, Vicky, and I decided that we'd be more than willing to take a field trip to pick up some French cheeses if the need arose... We had chapel this evening before supper; the students are in their Bible class right now, and I will teach my humanities class in just a few minutes.  So I'll sign off.  Parents, when you have time, and you likely already have, be sure to check out some of your kiddos' (not really kids anymore!) zoo pics on Facebook or Twitter.  We were able to get pretty close to some crazy animals!  It's been a fun few days on campus together.  We're learning new and interesting things about each other and about our world daily.  

On our journey to Philippi, we learned of the history of this Roman colony in the first (of the four) sections of Macedonia and specifically of Lydia, the seller of purple. We learned of the color purple - the origins of the dye sources (oak or seashells), the quantity of dye needed to color something, how to process and even the smell of the dye, the costs associated, the different shades of "purple," the sunning process, and the association of the color with wealth. 

We also discussed Paul and Silas' mistreatment - the beatings, the public humiliation, and the asking of him to leave secretly. Roman citizens would have felt like having a public outcry. Paul knew this and wanted to make clear to the people at Philippi that he had committed no crime. Afterwards, at Lydia's house, Paul and Silas encouraged their friends. We stopped by the water where Lydia was baptized and reflected on her reaction to Paul's message. We also spent a bit of time inside the church there, which is dedicated to Lydia. The church is in the shape of an octagon and made of marble. Following the ceiling imagines from left to right, paintings and mosaics tell the story of Jesus and of Paul's giving that news to the world. In the middle of the church was a baptistery, which looked like a birdbath compared to our full-immersion baptistry. We discussed the changing of the location of this procedure from streams and rivers to church buildings and the logistics thereof, and we spoke of the change in the age of the person being baptized and the reasons that infant baptism began centuries ago. We stepped into the baptistery floor level, just down a couple steps, with the hope of singing. The echo really was beautiful, and we sang together, even though we know that we honestly won't get first prize in a singing contest! We lifted our voices in song, and I know that God must have been pleased with our praises to Him. 

Ancient Philippi was interesting. We saw the ancient churches there that were built at various times and earth levels, including a floor mosaic with a date designed that gives credit to the time of the early church visit and dedication to the good news brought by Paul. We noted the octagon shape of the church, indicating equally of people worshipping, an idea that the Greek people still carry today, unlike the class system ingrained in the people of other European countries. We also saw the alter steps, where the scriptures were read aloud, centered in the aisle of the church; in later churches, the alter shifts to the side instead of the center; does this indicate the shift of the importance of the scriptures in the church as centuries passed? 

During or before his beatings, we don't know exactly why Paul didn't say, "I'm a Roman citizen," which would have stopped the beatings immediately. But we do know that people believed afterwards (Philippians 3:20). Maybe God gave Paul a vision. Maybe not. But it seems that Paul had a reason for not saying anything. Regardless, we have the result of the church here and the letter to the Philippians, the happiest church of them all. Paul humbled himself so that the message would advance. He got the beating so that the church wouldn't get it later; certainly years later, church people remembered the unlawful beatings and town leaders left the people in peace. Even though Paul was treated incredibly poorly and likely was low in spirits, he kept the faith. He had an impact on people from this land and all over this area, and through him, the gospel was spread. So one lesson from the example of Paul is that in the face of challenge, trouble, and even fear, we must put our faith not in ourselves but in God, knowing that we are being used by the Lord for His purpose in ways that we may never witness, if that is our prayer - and sometimes even if it isn't. His will certainly is not limited by our prayers and intentions, but that's another thought for another time.

After a rest for the night, we packed up and journeyed on the bus, passing through the area of the largest kiwi producers of Greece. The kiwi vines look like a larger version of the grape vine--without their leaves--taller with a stronger trunk, actually. 

The ancient city of Dion, named for Zeus, was a community set up to honor the gods. My favorite part of his city was the ancient trophy cabinet - not really a cabinet, just a display wall. The stone shields and armor indicated that there was leather and bronze decorations, taken from Dion's conquests. The word trophy comes from the idea of a turning point. In battles, there is a turning point when one begins to defeat his enemies, so after a win occurs, you gather the spoils from your enemies at the geographic location of the turning point to say, "this is where we became stronger," and display them; thus, the concept of a physical trophy remains with us today. In the background from the middle of this ancient city, one can see Mount Olympus with its snowy peaks. It's a bulky mountain, with a wide girth - something that I'm fighting as we're served all of this tasty and fresh Greek food and sweets! Ha! On the bus again, we face away from Mount Olympus and head to Thermopylae, where the mountains turn brown, gray, and green, and the silver green color of the olive trees looks like dulled nickel, contrasting with the yellow-green brush of the mottled ground. The cypress trees jut into the air, and we pass villages made up of square, white houses with terra cotta roofs. Throughout Greece, we see the colors of the sky, the trees, the rocky mountains, the houses, and the roofs. Blue, green, brown, white/cream, and rusty orange are becoming our most familiar colors. 

On our way to Thermopylae, we heard the history of the Spartans. Their shields were given to the boys when they were young. They were told, in it or on it, meaning, you come home with a victory with your spoils or dead on your shield; there is no cowardice accepted. They trained together, beginning at the age of seven, to be warriors for life. The men ate and slept in the barracks together until the age of thirty, even though they were allowed to marry at the age of twenty; they simply couldn't live with their wives yet. Because of this time and bond formed, there was no army with better teamwork. You fought beside your father, brothers, grandfather, uncles. You won or you fought to the death. And these were the laws of the city. Every man lived by the same code. Thus, the Spartans were the conquerors of the age. We heard of the Persian power rising and of the battle of the 300 Spartans. We then discussed that Persian king Xerxes and of his marrying of Esther. Then in 479 B.C. we have another war with the Persians. We stopped at the memorial to the Spartans and the Thespians and stood on the battleground for a group photo. 

For the remainder of the drive, we told riddles, laughed together, and reflected on our adventures in northern Greece. What a wonderful group of young people this is at HUG!

Sunday was such a meaningful day. We worshipped in Greek and English with people from Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Iran, Afghanistan, and America. All were worshipping the one Lord. We felt truly special and honored to be able to take part in such a service. God must feel so honored and praised (exactly how we want Him to feel) each week when the family of believers worships Him from across the planet, all unified. After my first international worship experience, I've never quite looked at our corporate assemblies in the same way - my view is much more alive now, as I see that our true family stretches across the globe, and rarely does a Lord's Supper go by when I don't think of people with whom I've worshipped from many countries. It's much more personal and much less about only me at the same time; God is beautiful like that. Families separated by war, poverty, fear, religion... I've never experienced half of what these people with whim I worshipped Sunday must experience on a daily basis. It's a bigger concept than I can express that Americans are incredibly blessed not to face FEAR when worshipping WHO and HOW and WHEN we want to...very unlike the rest of the planet. Thank to the good Lord that Greece is 97% Christian. We're next door though to a different world, which believes in a totally different deity type from ours. Suffering because of this is commonplace. 

All of us ate lunch at the church afterwards with the members there.  A group of our students went early to help prepare the food--chicken, potatoes, peas, corn. Then they took it to the bakery to have the bakers use their ovens so that the food would be ready at lunchtime. This is a common practice here--this food preparation and then having someone else cook it in their ovens so that you go pick it up when it's ready to share with friends and family. 

Carrying the theme, today at chapel, Knight read from Psalm 86:9, which talks about all the nations praising God together. He guided our thoughts from the seven nationalities worshipping this past weekend to the numerous nations worshipping together in Heaven one day and the importance of living daily as if it were the last day we have on earth; our actions count - toward each other and toward our God (one in the same, really - you know - the greatest command). 

I don't have all the words for Sunday in addition to today's chapel yet available for expression. Still processing...heavy but so very fulfilling and thought provoking... Very thankful to share worship time with this special group of students. We're maturing in our faith together, and it is lovely to grow in Him.