Your Company is Good, But Your Feet Stink

Sorry to all for the absence of the blog the last two weeks. Our week in Volos went incredibly well, and I feel redundant to blog about it at this point. PLEASE read my fellow teammates blogs regarding Volos (Rachel, Thomas, and Mallory each provide a great perspective on our week spent there, and me blogging any more about it would only be repeating their thoughts!). The link to each of them is in the top corner of our page! The title of this blog was a quote from Pastor Meletis up in Volos. It is a popular Greek saying, meaning "it's time for you to go". Every night after our meetings, he would dismiss us with this and a laugh. It's starting to wind down to the last couple of weeks here, and we are starting to worry about the smell of our feet. A mentor, Opal, just visited us to help us through this awkward final stretch...and how to prepare ourselves mentally for the return back to the states. But while we are here, we have work left to be done.....so I will share:

With Volos out of the way in one short paragraph, we got back to the Bible School Saturday night, with me and Thomas in brand new rooms! I haven't told you guys this yet, but our prior room before Volos was pretty dadgum awful (compared to the girls rooms hah). No air conditioning (like the girls had), ant infested bathroom (unlike the girls had), and a mattress that resembled a black diamond in Vail. I say this with a cheerful heart and slight sarcasm because, without our prior accomodations, we would not know how heavenly this bedroom is and how lovely a back can feel in the morning. The downside is we only get to stay in this room one week before we must pack up again and move to Kalamos for the grand-hoorah to our summer's end.

We went to church on Sunday morning at the First Evangelical, and had a pleasant surprise. We were supposed to be going to Kalamos after the service to help with the kids there, but we now had an unanticipated guest with us. Ekki, a former prostitute from Nigeria who has come to know the Lord through Nea Zoi, would be tagging along with us all day. You could see the hearts of every girl melt for this beautiful girl, and you could still sense the fear and the guarded heart of Ekki. She met our group with downcast eyes and few choice words, and you could sense her feelings of judgement and shame with her prior occupation. But an amazing thing happened. Throughout the day, the love of Christ poured out from each girl on our team to Ekki. Her eyes began looking upward, her words began reflecting encouragement, her arms began linking with theirs as they walked. After lunch, we went to get coffee and discuss our week with the teenage camp coming up with what we would be doing. She surprised us all and ordered two pizzas for everyone to share (we were all stuffed from lunch, but the act in and of itself was amazing). For a former prostitute who idolized the ideal of money and intake to see the generosity others had shown her... and to digest that generosity to the point that it poured back out of her heart was one of the farthest acts they have ever seen a so-called "jaded" woman like Ekki do. Her heart now is to attend the Bible School. GUYS, THIS IS AMAZING. Not long ago, this girl was on the streets selling her body and soul to abuse. God has now brought her out of this mess, into another job, and impressed on her the desire to learn more about him. I can symbolize how far she has come by the way that we said goodbye to her. SHE LOOKED ME IN THE EYES. Something she hadn't done to me all day, me...a man...the same kind of gender who used to abuse her and manipulate her and treat her no more importantly than cattle at a stockyard. She saw in us something different, something not to be scared of or belittled by. There are godly men out there, men that she can look in the eyes and hug and say "thank you for everything" and "goodbye" to. Praise God for all the He has done in the heart of Ekki and in the heart of this team.

That night, Yotis informed us that we would be leading worship and giving 4-5 testimonies. This is something that we have becomed accustomed to, and we find almost humourous now. We joke and say that we are this traveling group of worship monkeys, ready to dance at any moment. But we have grown to love sharing our stories to these people. Even our ill prepared songs (Every Move I Make and Shout to the Lord) wound up being fun and working out. The testimony-ers were Rachel, Thomas, Emily, and myself. Each person did fantastic. I had been told earlier that day that I was needed to play the role of God/Jesus in a pantomine skit to the song "Everything" by Lifehouse in the middle of the nightly program. This wound up being an awesome experience for me, who has never really acted since my "Amerikids" glory days when I was 10 yrs old and Yakee Doodle Doo. To give you an idea, here's the link to a youtube video that we practiced to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA.

The skit really was moving to me, even though I was in it. You can watch it and kind of note the symbolism and the role God plays in our lives. At the climax scene, the kids were all standing up and yelling...and shouting and cheering once God won in the end. Haha, I'm not going to lie about my goosebumps. Anyways, overall great experience with the kids there....and I really, really, really cannot wait for our next week there. We will be there from Friday-Friday, spending 7 nights apart from each other in our own separate camp cabins immersed in the kids. Please pray that we touch these campers lives, and finish strong in this trip I know has changed my life and each person on our team's.

Thank every one of you who has committed us to your prayers, to our church who has supported us so faithfully, and those who have continued to read our blog and be apart of God's work out here. I know that we have only really scratched the surface for you guys, and to truly comprehend what is going out here is hard to convey via blogspot. I cannot wait to see many of you in two weeks, but I am not ready to leave this place behind. Pray that our looking forward will not hamper our final days, and that we will have no regrets about our time spent here. Pray for continued team unity, as each team member truly loves the next. Pray for the continued protection from the devices of the devil, and that our physical and mental fatigue will not leave us vulnerable to these. Pray for the continued impression of the Gospel here, and the understanding that the Gospel does not end once we get off that plane in Atlanta. Thank you to all the mentors who have been able to spend time with us out here, and know that each of your absence is sorely missed! We love each and every one of you guys, and know that you would still be out here if you could.

"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

In Him,
Austen Weatherly

It's July

So the title has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this blog, but the team is feeling the heat (mentally and physically) from the onset of July. As it gets warmer, so our time here gets shorter. The last month was a strange combination of time caught between a sense of "flying by" and another sense of "remember whens...". We feel as though we have been here forever, yet each week is starting to pass quicker than the one before. With this said, last night was our LAST festival we would throw downtown for the kids.

We have grown to love these kids over the past 4 weeks (especially the last two). Each team member has settled into their niche amongst the crowd of children, and each child has their most favorite team member. And by child, sometimes I mean old men (i.e. Caroline's crew). We have seen Mallory and Rachel in the face painting corner. We have seen Thomas and Chelsea blowing balloon dogs, swords, hats, flowers, you name it. We have seen Emily engaging young children like she gets paid to do it at home (wait?). We have seen Ron being patient and talking to our friend, Hasad, throughout the week (hooray, seed planting!). I have settled into the older kids crowd around the basketball courts, even adopting several nicknames haha.

(Mallory and Maria - Festival 6/24)

(Ron talking with Hassad - 6/24)

I have been intensely amused by the way my boys work socially. It truly is a scene from the movie "Hook", and I am Robin Williams. It took me a while for the neverland boys to induct me into their club, but once I was in you could see friendships that were there to the end. You have your leader of the packs, the dominant personalities if you will. All the kids will get around these kids and chant their nicknames (recall the scene for "Rufio, Rufio, RU-FI-OOOO"). However wild these kids are, there is a sense of organization about them. There are no adults supervising usually, there are no referees, but they all just know how their own system works. They pick teams that are extremely fair, knowing the good futbol players and the bad, and are extremely supportive about waiting for the next game before playing. It's almost a sort of Rounds Robbins approach to games, with a title game at the end. The boys sitting around watching will scream cheers and taunts, the sudden death shoot-offs at the end leave you hanging on the edge of your seat, and the team that wins usually does a celebratory dance at the center of the court. It is actually pretty amusing!

My role has been that of throwing the American football (they call it rugby?) around the fringes with whoever is not involved in the futbol games. There was a small sort of cult generated by this, and needless to say my arm was blown several days this week. Every kid marvels at a well-thrown spiral, and want to be taught the correct way. I had a small little following on the fringes, and I was excited to see them excited (if that makes sense?). I also played the role of basketball player (they call me Lebron, Kobe, you name it haha). In Greece, if you are even slightly good at basketball....you are a star. It felt nice being the guy everyone wanted on the team. I even heard extremely flattering words like "You will go home and be extremely successful in the NBA my friend, I will watch for you on tv"....laughing to myself knowing that I wouldn't have even started on my high school basketball team. We had great times though, and I really am going to miss those kids. I have alot of emails and facebooks, so hopefully I can keep in touch with some of those guys.

Finally, today we are heading to Volos (actually in 45 minutes so I must run and pack). Please keep us in your prayers as we do servant ministry up there cleaning up the city. I hear there is a unique coalition between the Evangelical and Orthodox churches in Volos, and excited to see the seeds planted up there already. It is in the mountains by the sea, so I hear it is extremely gorgeous! Thank you for the prayer support thus far, and we are trying to pace ourselves to finish this summer out leaving nothing behind. God bless you guys! Εφηασιτοωε!

In Him,
Austen Weatherly

Happy Fourth: More Farewells

(pic of red light district above)

As most of you prepare for a day of fun in the sun, eating too much, and spending time with family; we are headed on a train to Northern Greece (Volos to be exact) for a week of Mercy Ministry, children's festivals, and kid's camps. We are all extremely excited about this new adventure (i.e. getting out of the big city of Athens for awhile). No more metro, long bus rides, sweaty people, steaming weather, etc etc. Not saying that we have hated being in Athens.....it is somewhat our home.....but it is always good to get away for awhile (step out of routine a little bit). Alot has happened since the last time either one of us has blogged, so I am going to use this opportunity to share what has happened this last week so prayers and praises can be lifted up.

Ron and Deborah left this morning.....a very sad day. The weeks flew by so fast that it is almost scary to admit that they are actually gone. Wow, there aren't enough words to describe how amazing the two of them have been. Ron was here for two weeks by himself after Brian and Lorrie had left. He brought such an incredible aspect to our team. His focus was on growing us through group de-briefs, bible study (Corinthians), and intercession with the Lord (something we needed more than anything). He is such an amazing listener with a gift for relationships. Every second he had was spent with a different person.....trying to get to know he/she better. It was easy to see his sincerity and his heart for mentoring. Whether the words that came out of our mouths were joyful or grumbling, he always had a way to point everything back to the cross. When Deborah arrived it was like a new Ron had joined us. It was amazing to see how well they complemented eachother and how Deborah brought out this "Ron" that we had never met before. The first night she arrived (fresh from cross-country travel), she quickly hopped on our beds and started digging deep (so precious). She has this generosity and sincerity about her that exudes every part of her being. The way she loves Ron and quickly loved us speaks wonders about how incredible this woman is. I thank the both of them for challenging our thoughts, shaping our hearts, and pushing us to strive for the crown with endurance. As Ron said yesterday during our de-briefing time, "This summer is like running a Marathon, we are at about 16 miles right now and to sprint would be useless, pace yourselves so that you can be steadfast in doing the Lord's work." Such an amazing couple and an inspiration to all of us to pursue the Lord in every aspect of our lives.

"Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."
I Corinthians 10:31-33.


Nea Zoi this week was a very humbling experience. The group was large so I knew that most of us girls would be put on the praying team (which I have grown to love). Our worship time before everyone hits the streets is such a precious time. We sing songs (both in Greek and English), and to hear both languages singing the same words is something one cannot describe. It was Deborah's first time at Nea Zoi so she was able to go out on the streets with one of the teams. Austen, Ron, and Thomas also joined the street teams as men are such a vital role in this Ministry. On that note, there are some major prayer requests involving this ministry. Without male volunteers, Nea Zoi would not exist (because a one or two males are required per outreach team). Nea Zoi struggles with this aspect of the ministry because many Greek men feel that this is a women's ministry; therefore, involving all women. Because the men don't physically visit the brothels and minister to these women, it is hard for them to realize that what they are doing is vital. Many times outreaches have been cancelled because men were not present to go out on the streets. Pray that the Lord would bother these men and tug at their hearts to be apart of this ministry. I have witnessed that safety is a top priority to many Christians and mostly to myself (whether Greek or American) when serving the Lord. What is safer??.......children's ministry or Nea Zoi??..........helping hands or Nea Zoi?? I am reading John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life" and he says that "Clean noses and quality family time is not life". He goes on to say that no one will ever want to say to the Lord of the universe five minutes after death that they spent every night playing games and watching clean TV with my family because I loved them so much. Maybe a little over the top (maybe not), but the Lord calls us to take risks: whether that is saying no to children's ministry and spending that time in the red light district of Athens who knows!!

"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phillipians 1:21.

Another prayer request for Nea Zoi is the Nigerian ministry. As I have said before, these women work on the streets illegally and not in the confounds of a brothel. To reach them is dangerous for them (because we are associated with the police). We (the prayer team) walked to the location of the Nigerian Ministry to pray about the ministry in that location. It is so overwhelming for Nea Zoi because these women seem "unreachable". They seem to take advantage of the Nea Zoi outreach teams (because they can) by just asking for food and drink (which is something the teams always carry around with them). Many don't have the desire to have conversations with the teams or to seek help. So, in saying that, this part of the Ministry needs an intense amount of prayer. Pray for encouragement for the team, for wisdom in how to reach these women, and for men volunteers for this area of the ministry (because more men or needed as it is a little more sketchy).

Well, I was just informed that we are leaving in an hour for Volos instead of two hours (that sums up the Greek culture for you) so I am sorry I had to cut this short. When we return next weekend I am sure I will have more than enough to share about our time in Volos and the new ministries that we were involved in. Once again thanks for sharing in this experience with me. Thanks also for your prayers as we continue on this adventure. Continue to pray for unity on our team as we are "mentorless" for the last leg of our journey. Pray for wisdom as we make decisions on our own and continued safety while we do the Lord's work!!

Happy Independence Day (Eat some good food for me),



Caroline Weatherly