At Work in Athens

Church in Central Athens

We traveled to Athens for a series of meetings with other MTW missionaries from all over Europe.  It was a refreshing time of praying for one another, worshipping (in English!), and talking about the future of our work.


One of the many treats was a tour of the work that is going on in Athens.  The churches with whom MTW has been working are involved in a broad range of ministries in the city including a church plant in the Southern suburbs, a community center in an Albanian neighborhood, an outreach to women working in the brothels, some of whom have been victims of human trafficking, and a church in the anarchist neighborhood of Exarcheia.  Yes, you read that correctly; there is a neighborhood in central Athens that is home to one of the largest concentrations of anarchists in the world.  And God is calling out a people for himself from among them.

Bema (rostrum or judgment seat) in Corinth
 

We also had the privilege of visiting ancient Corinth during our time in Greece.  Our excellent tour guide brought a new perspective to several passages in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians as she explained how he had carefully woven images and words from everyday life into his explanation of the gospel.  Imagine hearing the gospel for the first time and walking away with a mental image of something you would see nearly every day of your life as you walked through your city.  Talk about something that would stick in your mind!  This is a real challenge to us to learn how we can do the same thing in our context.