Greece - Maclellan Scholars 2017

Sunday May 21, 2017. The last day in Greece before we all go on our separate ways. Today the group split up to go to two different churches. Half the group went to First Greek Evangelical Church in Athens again, the other half went to First Greek Evangelical Church of Glyfada. I went with the second group to Glyfada. The church was on the second floor in what looked like an office building. A couple rows of folding chairs were set out facing the podium. There were about 60 people there total, including us. The head pastor is currently in Uganda, so we had an English speaking pastor sub in for today. Andrew, today’s preacher, is a professor at the Bible college here in Athens. He talked about how we often expect God to change our situation and not to change us. After attending church in Glyfada, we all made our way back to the church in Athens for lunch. Nopi, Pastor Giotis’ wife, cooked us an amazing meal again. Meal time with her is the favorite part of the day for most of us. Mea

Saturday. Activities are winding down as our time in Greece draws to a close. We had the whole day free and we chose to visit the beach. Our destination was Batis beach. "I only like the Batis beaches," said David Kraus when asked for his thoughts on free day. It took about an hour to make it to the beach from our apartment, taking advantage of the public transportation system. It was a clear, sunny day. 80 degrees Fahrenheit by my estimation. The water of the Mediterranean was a clear blue and very calm. We enjoyed our time laying on the sand, working on our sunburns. Brian, a boy our age from the Iranian church, met up with us on the beach. He wanted to get in the water immediately. We made our way to the water's edge. The seawater was cold. The shore was covered with small stones and the slope leading into the water was lined with large rocks. We dove in. Still cold. It was an invigorating swim. Most of us got out of the water at that point. I went to

Today, we focused on the topic of Islam. Our day began with lectures from Dr. Makis Makris, an expert on Islamic religion and socioanthropology, and from Massud, an Afghan pastor. Dr. Makris' lecture gave a brief overview of the history of Islam and its relationship with Middle Eastern politics, and attempted to explain how the social and communal elements of Islam affect the way believers interact with nonbelievers. Massud gave his testimony and spoke on some of the challenges that Muslims face in converting to Christianity,  and in traveling as refugees. After our morning lectures, Nopi cooked us a delicious lunch, and we went our separate ways until our evening event. At 5, we travelled to the Iranian evangelical church in Athens. There we listened to the testimonies of two church members and Pastor Manucher, and we also stayed to hear Dr. Halvorson deliver the sermon for the service. After the service, we shared a meal with the congregation and returned to our apartments.

On Thursday, four of the female students went to the Center of Hope, an outreach that focuses on serving refugee women and children. The other women in our group had each gotten to volunteer another day, so that our numbers wouldn't overwhelm the center. Started in 2015 at the height of the refugee crisis, the ministry is currently switching over from emergency relief to integration into the Greek community. On this particular day, the students participated/led the weekly Culture Day, focusing on American culture. As their example of American culture, the students taught several women how to swing dance and a couple of line dances. More exciting for the students, the Afghani and Syrian women showed them several of their traditional dances, which far outshined our own. It was so special to be taught by the refugee women and give them control over a situation when they are so vulnerable after fleeing their homes. Swing dancing at the Center of Hope While the rest of the group

We awoke to a rainy morning and made our way to Glyfada for day two of interviewing local business owners. Josh, Suzannah, and Bethany interviewed the owner of a specialty leather shoe store. She explained that the economic crisis had slowed business, and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to compete with larger companies. When asked if she would use free training if it was made available she gave an enthusiastic yes. After we had completed our interviews, we enjoyed exquisite burgers and free dessert at a local restaurant. In Glyfada after conducting surveys In the afternoon we heard from two speakers. The first speaker, Dan, is the co-founder of  FAROS , a ministry that serves unaccompanied boys ages 12-18 in Greece. Before the escalation of the refugee crisis, there were only 300 shelter beds and over 1000 boys who needed shelter. The need for a shelter became even greater when refugees began arriving in the tens of thousands beginning in 2015. FAROS aims to provide

Today was the first day that we split up into two groups for the day’s activities. One group went to Glyfada to participate in the Bluprint business surveys that we'd learned about the day before, and another smaller group (of only girls) went to the Center of Hope to help with activities and to meet some of the refugee women there. The business surveys were a unique experience that exposed us to Greek culture and Greek people, particularly in a small business context. Our task was to approach different business and ask the owner a few questions about their business and their plans for its future. This activity was especially important in helping us better understand the current events in Greek culture, particularly the financial crisis. Also, these surveys provided information for the Bluprint project to use in order to better assess the needs of the business community, and therefore, direct and shape the goals of this up and coming project. The group that went to the Center o

We began our day with a tour of the Athens Cathedral led by Greek Orthodox Pastor Spyros. Spyros is a good friend of Pastor Giotis, and is partially Calvinist in theology. The cathedral was breathtaking and filled with icons and relics of Mary, Jesus, the apostles, and many more. Spyros explained the history of the Orthodox Church and the importance of tradition. We were fortunate to sit down for a Q&A afterwards. It was interesting to watch Pastor Giotis and Spyros directly yet lightheartedly challenge Spyros on his beliefs. In contrast with the majority of Greek Orthodox people, Spyros recognized justification by faith through grace, but also stressed the importance of works after salvation. The interior of the Orthodox cathedral Listening to Pastor Spyros Later in the afternoon, we met back up at the church to hear from Pastor George. After graduating from Westminister Theological Seminary in the U.S., George moved back to Greece to start a church plant. The church has