Hello from Athens!

Friday January 16, 2003

Greetings Friends!

I’ve been in Athens for almost a week now. I hear people have been starting to wonder how things have been going. What has Steve been up to?

Well I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy. I arrived this past Sunday afternoon. Monday is the day off for the missionaries here, so I had the opportunity to get a tour of the city, and see some of the historic sites. I’ve included a few pictures here, including Mars Hill, where Paul spoke to a meeting of the Areopagus in Acts 17. It was basically a large rock that people could sit on and talk. It’s been kept essentially the way it was, aside from a plaque with Acts 17 written on it in Greek.

Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I had the opportunity to go into the Athens Refugee Center (ARC) that International Teams started 13 years ago. It’s a drop-in center for Refugees that are passing through, or hoping to settle in Athens. Currently, the refugees are primarily from Sudan, Somalia, Iraq (both Iraqis and Kurds), Iran, and Afghanistan.

At the ARC, we hand out food to around 400 people, have space for them to sit and talk, play games, and watch the Jesus video. The video is usually playing in one of the languages represented by the people that come in.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit with several of the men, and play Backgammon, or some other similar game, and talk. It’s been interesting to see the different variants of the game, including ones where the rules seem to change mid-game. Communication with refugees can be a challenge at times, as there’s generally quite a language barrier. So far, the guys I’ve sat with are able to speak a bit of English, but generally not very much. To be able to sit and play a game has been quite helpful, in that it gives me an opportunity to begin building a relationship with the person I’m playing with, time to struggle through simple communication, and try to show Christ’s love.

The team here also runs another ministry they call “The Nest”. It’s a house they open up to refugee families and single men who are seekers or new believers. They have space for 30 people to live for up to a year, and while they’re there, they have bible studies, and various other discipleship opportunities. I had the opportunity to have supper there with a bunch of the people one evening. We had an Iranian meal of rice, and some sort of vegetable and meat sauce we put over the rice. It was quite nice.

Thanks so much for your continued prayer while I’m away. Please continue to pray:

• That I would be a blessing to the team


• That I would be able to build good relationships with the refugees I come in contact, and have opportunities to point them to Christ


• That I would be open to all God has to do in me while I’m here


• That God would continue to direct in next steps in ministry, and my relationship with Grace, and that I’d be willing to follow where He leads

Thanks again for your interest and involvement in my life. May God richly bless you.

For His glory,

Steve Van Bruwaene