Our Southern Greece Trip

We left Monday morning at 8am to begin our visit to Southern Greece. Our first stop was to Corinth for a stop to see the Canal, and then on to Ancient Corinth. The weather was beautiful. Not a cloud. In Ancient Corinth we saw all the sites associated with Paul 's ministry: the Agora, the Temple of Apollo, the Roman Odeon, the Bema and Gallio's Seat. We also visited the Archaeological Museum. We ate lunch at a restaurant in Corinth with a beautiful view of the countryside below. We next drove up to Agrocorinth. Gretchen took a wonderful picture of Christian standing at the very top. I hope to get some pictures downloaded later. On our way to the hotel in Tolon we stopped and had a short devotional time together at Cenchreae. We sat along the waters edge where the ruins of an early Christian 5th century basilica are. The singing was wonderful. Our rooms in Tolon had balconies overhanging the sea. Breathtakingly beautiful. We shared a meal together and then several of the students decided they wanted to jump into the icy water. That plan was short lived. They didn't last long :)on a sad note, the owner of the hotel, where we have stayed before, told us his 26 year old son had been killed two months ago in a car accident. His grief was still raw. We shared three conversations together, and he cried each time. He said his wife has aged three years. I so wished we could have brought him into our home and encouraged him. He has no hope. Having Christ, and our Christian family, we forget what it is like to have no hope. I did what I could in the short time I had, I only wish I had more time.so many here need to hear God's message.
The following morning we headed to visit the ancient Theater of Epidaurus, the largest, best preserved ancient Theater in Greece, famous for it's amazing acoustics. Our group sang two songs from the center of the stage. Beautiful.we then drove to Mycenae, where we visited the remains f the prehistoric citadel fortified with the Cyclopedan Walls, the Lioness's Gate, and the remains of the Mycanean Palace and the Tomb of Agomemnon. I went ahead of the group to the very top and enjoyed the incredible view with total silence. There were almond trees blossoming all along the hills. We ate lunch in Mycenae and then drove to Olympia for the evening. Earlier , we had some extra time so we visited Nafplion. It is a beautiful town built along the coast. I loved the old architecture. James, our guide, took us to an Italian he Atreus and we treated the students to an ice cream for Valentine's day. That evening Terry surprised me with a bouquet of roses at dinner. ( I strapped them in a seatbelt in a water bottle and brought them home with me the next day :)
Wednesday morning we visited Ancient Olympia which holds the stadium where the first Olympic Games took place in 776B.C. It began raining, and then hailing on us-- but we just kept going! We went into the Archaeological Museum and used the hand dryers to dry off the boys jackets and thaw out a bit. Just two days later this museum was held up by armed robbers and many antiquities were stolen. We lunched at a beautiful restaurant up in the wooded area. There were purple wild irises in patches around many of the trees. There was a warm fireplace we all enjoyed as the sun returned. On our five hour trip home, we saw a rainbow across the valley. A wonderful reminder of God's love. The remainder of the week has been spent with schoolwork. We are all enjoying having the place to ourselves since Harding is in Isreal this week. I am cooking the meals for the 16 of us. It's kind of like Sunday lunch twice a day! We are blessed with a special "family" with these students. We will be leaving on Thursday morning to fly to Tel Aviv, and will be spending eight days in Israel. Prayers will be greatly appreciated!

Rome, the Eternal City

On Monday morning we caught our flight from Athens to Rome. Our calendar this semester had us here for two straight weeks, and with the cold, wintry weather upon us we knew we needed to do something quick before cabin fever set in:) Upon arrival in Rome a van picked us up an drove us to the Hotel Parco dei Massimi. We have used this hotel before with the Patrons group. It is lovely, though not convenient transportation wise. This time, more so than usual. Rome had just had their first snow in 26 years and was unprepared. There were huge pine trees and branches blocking sidewalks, and smashed into parked cars. The shuttle bus from the hotel to the Vatican did not run because the driver was afraid to drive it. For a Roman to say that --we knew the roads had to be horrid! We walked up the hill to the bus stop, and took the bus to get around mostly. We did use taxis to go out to the Catacombs. We covered a lot of ground in only three days. We visited Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, attended a mass in a neighborhood church,the Spanish Steps, the Trevino Fountain, the Colosseum, the Catacombs,Roman Forum, St. Peters, the Vatican, and the Sistene Chapel. Most meals we grabbed on the run, though we all ate lunch in the Vatican cafeteria together one meal. In the evenings our students met together for a devotional together. We have been blessed with a wonderful group from Faulkner. While we were down in the Catacombs we sang a hymn together and Terry led a prayer. His words
reminded me of a hymn I used to listen to by Steve Green. The lyrics were along the lines
of..." may all who come behind us find us faithful." our last evening in Rome we left the boys
reading in the room(Christian has taken over my Kindle reading the Hunger Games Trilogy)and we
went down the hill to a local trattoria. It was so good to eat a real Italian meal again. I
had Bucatini Matriciana, Taglia di filet di manzo, grilled zucchini and eggplant, and Creme
brûlée for dessert. Perfection on a plate. We flew back to Athens Thursday morning and arrived
back in time for lunch.The rest of the week we have been studying and the students have been busy with exams. Friday night we went to Debbie and Dino's for dinner. We had a lovely dinner at their new place in Vari, along with the James, Nellers, Corbins, and Steven. It was good to visit and catch up. The years have flown since we had our teenagers together as the Greek youth group. They shared their concerns with the dismal Grrek economy and the social unrest. Saturday morning there was a parade of cars flying black flags and honking down the streets of Porto Rafti. There were riots in downtown Athens and the Embassy had advised us to stay away from downtown. This evening there are reports of fires being set over a several block area-
theaters, stores, etc. The unemployment rate for young people is now at 48%. These kids feel
there is simply no hope, and they are being asked to cut back even more. We feel safe where we are. I do feel for the Greeks and Italians though. Prices have skyrocketed. For example,
chicken nuggets in Rome at McDonalds were 6.80 euros($9). Pray for these struggling people, so many of which do not know the love of God.

First week in Porto Rafti

This week has flown by. With unusually cold weather, we made the decision to fly our group to Rome on Monday to keep cabin fever from setting in. Our plan is to return on Thursday. So, of course, Rome just had their first heavy snow in 26 years! Even the Colosseum was closed to tourists yesterday because of the dangers from the ice. It looks like a warming trend is on the way, and hopefully temps in the mid-40's. In the mean time, our Greek weather has been getting better and better. Yesterday we spent the afternoon down on the Aegean Sea. It was windy, but the sun was out. We passed several of our students climbing the rocks along the shore line. Terry and I walked the promenade about an hour and then drove along the coast in a more isolated area. We stopped at the Temple ruins of the Artemis. They had some scaffolding up, so there has been some work done in recent years. The museum was closed. There were many people in the fields picking wild herbs, and possibly pistachios. We passed a shepherd out standing by his large flock of sheep. This evening when Terry mentioned in his sermon how Jesus was our Shepherd, I immediately thought of this scene we had just witnessed.
Speaking of church, tonight Terry spoke on "Why I Am a Christian". He had a wonderful message. We met several new members, including Sarah from Iowa, married to a Greek, who has just lost his job. These are difficult times for so many here. Earlier in the week when we had snow, Matt Gulley opened the refugee center and allowed men to sleep there for three nights. Most had blankets, and they laid on tables off of the cold drafts on the floor. How often we forget to be grateful for how blessed we are. The students here have been going on Monday nights to serve food at the shelter. It is right near the Acropolis. At the end of services tonight, Varni, a Greek woman who was married to an American many years ago, gave me her wool coat and shawl, insisting I take it with me to Rome because it would be so cold. She would not leave until I accepted. The hearts of Greek Christians are so generous. Their light shines brightly in this culture.
Several have written to ask how the boys are liking it here. As we witnessed years ago, God always blesses. Jordan and Christian are awake before I am in order to be at Chapel. They enjoy being downstairs playing chess, playing the piano, shooting baskets, or working out
in the weight room. Night before last they stayed down for movie night. And while we were
walking on the promenade, Jordan was with some of the Faulkner guys climbing the rocks out on
the Pointe. Unbelievably, Christian was busy reading the second book in the Hunger Games

Trilogy. I am grateful for my Kindle:) Tonight's post is a hodge-lodge of our experiences this week, but I knew if I didn't write before our trip to Rome I would forget everything! Blessings on all those I love. We appreciate your prayers for us, and also for the Greek people. Kalispera.