(I’ll get back to my topic of idol formation most likely next time but wanted to share this Greece story with you first.)
In a previous post I mentioned that since we didn’t know all that we would be doing on our trip, it was a faith adventure. That felt strange, because most of the time when Larry and I minister overseas, we go into one country for one or two weeks and have seminars planned. So this six weeks in one country with only one seminar planned was unusual. Yet, we had been wanting to make a lengthy trip like this so that we could have more time with the people in country and see what opportunities God might open up.
Well, He started quickly after we arrived in Athens. We traveled with Taki from Los Angeles who is the Greek pastor we are ministering with in Greece. I plan to tell you more about the amazing Taki and his wife April in a future post. Traveling with your host is a great blessing. That’s security! When we arrived in Athens, we first slept for a few hours at the home of some of Taki’s friends and then were taken to the bus station to take a bus the six hour trip to Taki’s home on the island of Zakynthos. Originally we wanted to take the noon bus but it was filled. So we had to wait for the 4pm bus. We ate lunch at a little take out place and sat there talking.
About 2pm, I noticed two young women come into the restaurant and they looked like Americans. They were talking, looking around, and finally came over to our table. “Do any of you speak both English and Greek?”
Larry and I pointed to Taki and the gals began their tale of their friend whose back pack was stolen on the bus and in it was her insulin because she is diabetic. Taki was able to make some calls for them to Greek authorities and also find the phone number for the American embassy. Over several hours, they would come back to report what they were doing and how things were going. At times, I needed to walk around because of my back problem and as I did, I realized that I never heard anyone else speak English in the bus station.
At one point, we were able to tell the college students about how we shouldn’t have been there but that God delayed us leaving so that we could help them. One of the gals said she was Jewish and felt the connection with us. We told them the Lord loved them all.
Larry and I were encouraged to experience already God’s leading for the ministry He had in mind for us. We knew we’d begun a wonderful adventure.