Lord's Day....

And many of our team members are sharing about their trip in various life groups. We would appreciate your prayer!

Charlotte....

Well, I spoke a bit too soon about getting on the bus at 3:15. The bus and driver that drove us around for our sight seeing and was ALWAYS punctual, never showed up. At 4 am, we called taxis for 21 people and their luggage!!!

Even in that though, the Lord really showed Himself strong. There was a young man from another mission team who had insomnia sitting in the hotel lobby while we were assembling and waiting for the bus. When we realized that the bus wasn't going to show, we all spent time in prayer while Chuck worked on figuring out what to do. Chuck then announced that we were going to have to get 7 taxis at 55 euro's apiece, and he couldn't guarantee that we would be reimbursed. Shortly after that announcement, the young man vanished. A few minutes later, he came back down, walked over to me and handed me 200 Euros. He said, "I heard about your dilemma, and wanted to help out." I attempted to hand the money back to him, but he said, "No, I really want to do this for you guys. God bless you!" And then he vanished back up the elevator.

Pretty much, after our arrival at the airport, we had smooth sailing for the rest of the trip. Our ETA at First Baptist is right about 5:15

Most of us are doing presentations in Sunday School first thing in the morning. Ummmm.... that wasn't the greatest timing :)

More pics

More ruins

Acropolis

Mars Hill

Most important stop of the day

Temple to Poseidon and Athena

And we're off!

3 am, and I'm sitting in the lobby awaiting the gathering of the team for our journey home. Our ETA in Charlotte is 5:10 pm on Saturday, FBS about 5:00pm. I will be asking everyone to write a little synopsis of the trip, and will attempt to post them along with pictures over the next few days, so stay tuned!

See y'all on the other side!

Pictures

Delphi Museum-- Charioteer statue and pieces of the horse..

Yes-- we are HOT!!!

Letter to follow . . (stone carving)

Letter

Figurines, 6th century BC

Statue to follow

Girl

Changing of the guard

Ancient Church-- the IC XC stands for Jesus Christ

Wednesday and Thursday

Thank you Nathan for posting about Meteora.

On Wednesday, we boarded the bus fairly early, and headed for the ancient ruins of Delphi. Some of us spent some time at the back of the bus, singing and reading Scripture. That was a blessing, and honestly, probably my favorite part of the day.

Upon arrival at Delphi, our wonderful guide, Voula, showed us some interesting sights. It was fascinating to hear the history of the place, and to see ruins from several centuries BC. The Museum was fascinating as well.

We arrived at our hotel in Athens, hot and tired. It is amazing how many people from the AGM are staying at our hotel.

This morning (Thursday) we headed out nice and early and took the metro to the presidential palace to watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. After this we headed for the Acropolis, Parthenon, and Agora. We also visited Mars Hill, where Chuck read Acts 17:16-34 and Voula shared with us some interesting facts putting the passage into the perspective of that day.

The temps today were about 38 degrees Celsius. I am told that that translates to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, I am writing this in my hotel room, and I don't have Internet access up here so I can't verify. If how we felt, and the amount of water that we consumed with incredibly few bathroom breaks, was any indication... I would say it was @ 120 ;) I do know, however that that is most likely a bit of an exaggeration.

I have not yet successfully posted pictures, so I will email them to my sister, and we will hopefully get them posted soon.

More pics! :)

Meteoric Rise

Calimari, friends! May the squid be with you! Also- good morning! (Calimera ;-)) It was a weird mixture of emotions yesterday as we left the AGM 2012 conference and ventured forward on our sightseeing tour.

The whole experience of hanging out with kids and being goofy and silly with them and teaching them about the awesomeness of Divine Love- it was all just great beyond words! It was incredibly personal for some of our group who had been to such conferences themselves as children. It was a bittersweet time as we left the children we had grown to know and love over that week and leave them in the hands of Father.

Even though there was some sadness in leaving this part of our trip, there is a joy in the journey and a light we can find on the way. And it led us onward to the monasteries of Meteora. We rode the long and winding road that leads up the mountain to where the monks live and preserve the ancient monasteries. It was really awe-inspiring to see all the iconography of the ancient church that we visited. We were able to get some souvenirs here and learn some about how the monks lived and indeed, still live there. We even saw a modern day monk who was helping with getting water supplies up the mountain to the monastery through a pulley system! It could be a fun ride, but it would take some faith for someone to get in that contraption. Though the monks used it in ancient times for transportation, they have steps built into the mountain now that seem to be a slight bit safer. ;-)

We have learned and seen so much already in Greece. Even the pictures and video and words can't do it justice. It truly is an amazing experience to see this ancient land and walk where kings and prophets and seers have walked. Farewell for now and may your journey be filled this week withNathan light, love and happiness. :-)

Pictures!

Tuesday...

Yassas ya'll! (Yassas is the formal or plural "hello") I have been working really hard at learning a few Greek words, so that I can attempt to speak to the nationals in their own language, or at least show that I am making an effort. I didn't realize until one of the other volunteers speaking of his mistake, that the first few mornings, I was walking around saying "Squid" to the hotel staff (Calamari= squid, Kalimera= good morning) Hehehe! No wonder I was getting some strange looks!

Yesterday was a long, full day. We did our full day with the kids, then after supper, the older groups met their groups and the amphitheater and did crowd control until each age group came up and sang for the other M's. The parents seemed to really enjoy watching their children sing the songs with their other american friends.

We baby workers got a break and just sat back and watched and enjoyed. Of course, I heard the various babies crying at different points through the evening, and had to chuckle at the fact that even though the crowd was big, I knew exactly which baby was crying.

After the recognition of the childcare volunteers (at which we were presented with a small hand-painted soap dish and some soap) we headed back to the hotel to repack, and prepare for the next phase of our trip. It was a bittersweet evening, as we said goodbye to our new friends.

This was the first entire Euro AGM conference since '91. There were about 1,200 people at this conference... workers, M's, MK's etc. There were close to 400 children that we provided childcare for. And M's from every country imaginable. It truly was exciting to be a part...

After breakfast at 7 this morning, we loaded up on our bus for the sight seeing portion of the trip. We have been joined by a lovely couple from Tennessee, so there are 16 of us touring together. We have a lovely, air-conditioned bus, and a tour guide who is just awesome. She is also our sister, and is able to point out things that are important, or of interest in NT history. She speaks English BEAUTIFULLY! (A real blessing)

For those who wish to know, we will be touring Meteora today, and spending the night in a small village at the foot of the mountains. Then Delphi, Epidouros and Athens. I'm collecting pics little by little. As soon as I get a decent bit of internet connection I'll post a few pics here, and a link to the album.

I imagine that by now, you all have figured out why I was asked to communicate with everyone back home... apparently, I have the "gift of gab." We are currently riding on the bus (A 5 hour drive) and I am going to sign off and enjoy the scenery for a bit. I'll be posting this sometime in the next 48 hours :)

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Friday was supposed to be a half day for the workers, however, half of our crew were asked to volunteer to do childcare for the evening service. This was accompanied by the usual challenges of giving childcare to a group of children ages 4 and under... many of whom were from timezones up to 8 hours different, and many of whom had never been away from their parents for any length of time. It made the evening a little rough :)

Saturday was a full day. Because the resort wasn't really set up as a "conference center" with child care, the group has had to be creative in their locations for classes. One class is meeting in a breezeway, another in a newly painted storage room, and yet another outside under a tree. The baby nursery is two adjoining bedrooms. The furniture was removed, and on one side there are blankets spread on the floor as a "play area." The other room is a sleeping room, and has wall to wall mattresses on the floor for sleeping babies. Once again, I have some great pictures, but with the issues that I am currently having, I am writing these updates in a notepad, and will be copy/pasting and posting them when I can get proper access. Pictures may have to wait until we are back in the city.

Saturday evening after supper, our group took a taxi to town, and rode a ferry over to the island of Orobos (I'm uncertain of the spelling, but that's what it sounds like.) We walked around, looked at a few shops, got some icecream, and then some of us hit the sack, while the rest started a table tennis tournament.

Sunday morning found us eating another delicious breakfast on the veranda overlooking the Adriatic Sea, sharing a quick reading and chat with Father as a team before catching the buses back for another full day of childcare.

On a funny note, on Friday evening, some of the board members and their wives actually came up and helped with the baby nursery, as not all of the workers came back up (it was on a volunteer basis) and we had a room full of crying babies.

Several shepherds were rocking, bouncing, or walking screaming young'uns. The general consensus among them was that when they return to the States, they will be speaking for a much shorter time out of respect for the nursery workers :) One of them also reminded us of the sacrifice on BOTH sides of the ocean for the sake of Father. He was bouncing a beautiful, blue eyed, inconsolable puddle of tears on his knee and said... "I'll bet that there is a grandpa back in the States who is just aching to hold you." He is so right!

I have heard funny, sweet, and great stories from the rest of the group and the classes that they teach. I SO wish that I had more time to write down the things that I have heard. Honestly, we pretty much go non-stop from breakfast @ 7am until late evening. Buses run us back to our respective hotels after dinner. The buses run 8:15, 9, 10, 11. Whenever we make it back to our hotel we spend time in study/planning for the next day, or just decompressing a bit, before setting out our stuff for the next day, climbing in bed, and getting a little rest before starting over.

This evening is laundry night. We are working hard, and it's hot. We come back to the hotel hot, sticky, and often wearing somebody's snack, tears and other things that I won't mention :) We were given t-shirts at the beginning of the week that we were to wear the first and last day of the conference. This evening, my room is going to be a laundry room, and we will be washing our t-shirts by hand and hanging them out to dry overnight for our final day of childcare. It is hard to believe that our time of service is so close to over, but we are also really looking forward to our time of sight seeing before reentry to the US and our busy lives at home.

Once again, ephedisto (thank you) for your thoughts and for talking to Father about this trip.

Until next posting, Kalinichte (goodnight) or... Kalimera (good morning) (Of course, I do not know the proper spelling, but once again, this is how they sound. I'm making an effort to learn a few words of Greek while here.)

Thursday Evening....

(Posted Friday morning due to internet connection)

Wow! What a day.

We started this morning with an organizational meeting for the volunteers. This group was close to 200 people: VBS workers, physicians, counselors, and every other "title" imaginable. After the planning session we unpacked and sorted the suitcases, and prepped our areas for our classes. It was slightly chaotic, but then again, just among our group of 14, we brought 12 suitcases of "LM auction" items, VBS supplies, and gifts for our M friends. I know that the other groups all brought a LOT of extra baggage as well.

I got some great pictures of the process, but honestly... internet connection is sketchy at best, and I'm having difficulty adding pics. I'll try to email some Stateside and see if my sister can add them from her computer.

This afternoon, we had a few hours of free time which we used to rest, study, and refresh, then this evening was the kickoff meeting. I wish I could just share with you some of the video from the meeting. Words... even video wouldn't do it justice.

There was such a buzz of excitement as old friends met again after several years, and new friends visited. Children were running everywhere, enjoying the ability to speak with friends in their own language... and pretty much the whole evening was what I love to call "Happy Chaos."

Tomorrow, we start childcare in earnest. 7 am team devo's and breakfast, 7:45 bus ride up to Eretria Village, and 8:25 the kids start coming. We will be doing childcare until 12:50, and then again 1:50 to 5:30 Our group has 14 infants, 31 three year olds, 25 eight year olds, and one of our guys is in the 4 yr old class, but I really don't know how many are in that group.

The meals here are buffet style, and are fabulous! The hotels are filled to the max and there are some "transportation" issues, but really, they are doing a wonderful job accomodating such a HUGE crowd.

Thank you for thinking of us, and checking in on us. Father is blessing in a wonderful way already.

Thursday...

The group returned from Corinth last night weary, but excited about having physically seen and experienced sites that are steeped in NT history. There were many pictures taken, and many stories shared, but time and logistics will not permit me to post them all at this time.

After a 7 am breakfast, the volunteers and all suitcases carrying LM Auction items, and VBS supplies were bused back to Eretria Village, where we are anticipating a busy day of organizational meetings, unpacking, sorting, and prepping our VBS rooms.

The families begin official check ins this evening. Already last night, the dining hall was beginning to fill with families, weary from their travels but evidently excited, and looking forward to a time of fellowship, rest and refreshment. The spirit of anticipation and excitement was palpable, and there were some joyful reunions among members of our team, and some of their family who are serving over here.

Despite minor "bumps" in the road and some plumbing/sewage issues in our hotel, we are psyched and really looking forward to ministering and serving these precious people who have sacrificed so much in service for Father.

Safe Arrival

After a one hour and forty five minute delay on the tarmac in Charlotte due to inclement weather, we lifted off and enjoyed a thankfully uneventful flight. Due to our delayed arrival, we were met in Munich by an attendant who walked (or trotted us) through the airport, and security. We sailed through customs and to our next gate, where they were holding our plane for 20 of us whose flights were delayed.

Upon arrival in Greece, we were incredibly blessed to be able to totally bypass customs, and load onto buses for the final leg of the trip. We arrived in Eretria exhausted, and ready for some rest. After a short time to clean up, rest up, and get settled in, before piling on a double decker bus to come back for dinner.

I have a few minutes of free wifi here in the dining room, so everyone is waiting for my computer :)

Tomorrow, some of the group will be going to Corinth for some sight seeing. Others have opted to remain at the hotel and rest up before the conference starts. We will attempt to post pictures on and updates as often as possible!

Group photo-- leaving FBC in Spartanburg

I spoke too soon...

Thunderstorms have moved in, and we are sitting at the gate until the weather moves on. Not looking good...

hmmm... sitting on the tarmac waiting for the weather to clear. It is NASTY out there. The plane is actually swaying a bit from the winds... and the rain is just coming down in sheets.

safely on the plane

all here, and shutting down phones etc. Already have an exciting bit of news. They DID check our baggage straight through. WooHoo!!!

Departure...

In less than 24 hours, we will be boarding a bus headed for the Charlotte airport. Although I can't speak for the other members of the team, I can say that I'm pretty excited!

We had a lovely time of celebration this morning in anticipation of our departure tomorrow. What a joy to know that so many of you will be thinking of us during our travels!

Germany will be a bit "hairy" as we have slightly over one hour to get our luggage through customs, and check them back in for the flight to Greece. Thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I will do my best to post an update as soon as we have safely arrived at our destination. Thank you for all of your support!

Amy- for the group

Chuck Gaines
Elizabeth Rainwater
Lisa Hill

Charlene Chambers
Kelly Buster

Mary Kay Hannon

Angela Haley

Susan Stevenson

Austin Stevenson

Brian Maddux
Jessica Rider

Kevin Ludwick

Nathan Ludwick

Amy Bixby

Woohoo!!! Greece, here we come!