Enjoying Fall

Last beautiful evening in Athens

Ben preached at the Wed. evening service and Pastor Giotus translated. Ben found this difficult as did the others who spoke from our group. He had to cut his sermon to about a fourth of what he had originally written. And several people mentioned that it was awkward having their illustrations translated because they didn't know if people would "get it". I know it was a good experience for Ben.
After the service, we all hiked up to a restaurant with a rooftop view of the Acropolis. Unbelievable! Can't even tell you how wonderful this was!
The Teasleys-RUF at Wake Forest University
The Haileys-Gig 'em!
The Stones-RUF Assistant Coordinator
The Fosters-RUF at Virginia Tech
The Sterlings-RUF at Samford University
The Mays-RUF Coordinator
Opal Hardgrove- MTW mission trip leader

the university day

One of the many fun shopping alleys in Athens
Marisa, Eliza and Susie at our lunch stop

The next few pics are a tiny representation of our trip to the Greek university. There are several universities in Athens and they are free to the children of tax paying citizens. As a result, beautiful quadrangles and buildings are not part of the university scene. I doubt they have a recruiting department. I was surprised to walk into gray, drab and downright depressing surroundings. Smoke, trash, graffiti and walls of political posters characterize the atmosphere. For the Greek student, however, it is a huge source of pride to attend university and I can say that if I survived that environment for several years with my mental health still in tact, THAT too would be an accomplishment.
The court yard pictured below was one of the brighter spots but even it had an unwelcoming feel to it. At one point I noticed some graffiti written in English on one of the inside walls; "I don't belong here" spoke volumes.

At least there was some color in the cafeteria. This whole experience was a bit of a shock to me because I expected all of Greece to be overflowing with beauty.
Outside the cafeteria-i WISH i could have gotten more of this place on film but it was crawling with people and i didn't want to weird anyone out.
Finishing up with some questions for one of the students from the church
We spent lots of time this week going in and out of the subway
Syntagma Square (Greek Parliament) - we just passed through on our way to the university bus. Wish we could have seen the guards do their march.
Leaving the university

Bottom line---GREECE NEEDS AN RUF!!!

A day trip to the island of Aegina (Monday)

Leaving the Port of Pireaus
On the island of Aegina--a 45 minutes ferry ride from the mainland
Lunch by the sea shore
That scooter was probably built for half that much weight but it was a FUN ride anyway!
I put the camera in action mode and took tons of pics during our ride. I only posted a few here.



A break at the beach...i do believe that pineapple juice I drank was fresh squeezed.
A fun day and here we are with our pistachios, ready for the ride back to Athens

Our second day (Sunday) in Greece

Inside First Evangelical. We wore headphones to listen to the translation of the sermon. The hymns/tunes were all familiar!!! We just sang the English words and nobody knew the difference.

College Lunch
After worship, we hiked to the Acropolis (right up the street from the church!).
Gig 'em in Athens!
Mmm Hmm...
RUF'in it in Greece
Mars Hill -Paul's Acts 17 speech to the men in Athens (in the shadow of the Parthenon)
Evening worship
Hadrian's Arch across the street from the church, gateway to the temple of Zeus

Our first evening in Greece

The Bible school where we stayed
At dinner....(JR and Eliza missed out on this event because JR was preaching at the church)
Rod and Debbie somehow got cut out of the group shot.
Fresh seafood, greek salad and good wine....on the shore of the Aegean Sea....w the night breeze...
....watching the ferries and cruise ships at the dock...