1 more week!

Hello all!
We have one more week left in Athens. :( Time has gone by so slow and yet flown by at the same time. I am looking forward to the next week in ministering at the ARC because we are beginning to see familiar faces of refugees from the previous days we have been at the ARC. We have been able to not only build relationships ourselves with the refugees but in our physical work (like washing dishes and serving tea) at the ARC, we have been able to alleviate the full time team to meet new refugees and build their existing relationships - this is key because of the transient nature of the ministry. Refugees may be here only a short time, try to move somewhere else in Europe then be deported back to Greece if they were fingerprinted first in Greece. So it is vital that the full time team at the ARC is able to interact and build relationships with the refugees as much as they can.

Today the girls were able to sleep in - thank you Lord!! The guys had men's showers at the ARC - it sounded like just as the women cut loose a bit during women and children's shower day last Friday, the men also were a bit more free to be themselves.

The girls went to the produce market in Glyfada, which was A-MAZing. They close a large section of the main street where we catch our usual morning bus and they have all the seasonal fruit in Greece - strawberries, cherries, apricots, oranges and apples. It is so fresh and quite likely the best fruit I have ever tasted!

We met up with our guys and Ebby (Carolyn's fiancee) at Carolyn's cozy house for supper. It was Iranian and so delicious! We lingered to hear Ebby's story as a refugee making a many years long journey to end up in Greece at last. He was thrown into a prison in Athens because he was a refugee and that is where his and Carolyn's paths crossed. She works at the ARC and a team of leaders there provided for Ebby when he was released from prison - it was a beautiful story to hear of how their love grew! He is a strong believer in Christ, as is she, and it was encouraging to see their focus on Christ and their integrity throughout the stages of their relationship.
Please pray for them as they finish the crazy planning of their wedding, which is in about a month! Also, pray that Ebby's papers would get straightened out without much hassle, that God would provide work for him and that his shoulder would be healed from a serious accident he sustained.