Final Day!!!!

We had a day of shopping and last hang outs with our Greek University friends!

We then went and had an AMAZING dinner at an outdoor restaurant on the city walls with a GORGEOUS view of the entire city of Thessaloniki.

Our final goodbyes were said to the Sebastians and our new Evangel University friends and we were off to the airport to leave for the States!

WE LANDED!!! We are now sitting in the Newark airport safe and sound and are waiting for our ride :)

A huge thank you to everyone who supported us, financially and with prayer!!! It was through those prayers that we saw amazing things happen in the country of Greece!!

Day 6 & 7- Where has the trip gone?!?!?!?

Sorry about the lack of communication of yesterday's events.  It was a very late night and we fell asleep as soon as we got back.

Day 6-

Today we went to the Roma (gypsy) Camp and were able to spread some old fashioned Christian love into their homes.  As soon as we got there the kids flocked to the funny looking pale people that brought balls, crafts, and jump ropes.  It was an amazing 3 hours with the kids, we had a bunch of crafts for them, we got our butts kicked in soccer, and were able to teach them some Bible stories.  This is the only group of kids that we are openly able to share the Gospel with because it is illegal to do so with Greek minors but this group of people are the outcasts of their society.  It was awesome to be able to just love on these kids.  The biggest problem was saying goodbye because once we showed them love they wanted to stay with us all the time!

After we left the camp we had some time to hang out around the city and it was a relaxing time that was much needed because our next event was a Greek Culture night experience.  We went to a restaurant where they played traditional Greek music and is surprisingly a very popular thing among students.  The other thing we experienced about their culture is how late they stay out... we did not see a lot of people there until about 1230 am and when we left at 230 we were leaving extremely 'early'.  Our Greek friends told us that most people would stay out until about 4 am!!

Day 7-

Today was another university day :D these days have been so great!!  We had many more awesome conversations with "old" friends and met a lot of new ones!  We were passing flyers out for a film and discussion time later in the evening.

The film we watched was called 'Paper Hearts' and is all about Love.  We then had a panel discussion talking about the different types of love and how love plays a role in our lives.  Afterwards we took that discussion into time to hang out with our friends and converse a lot more.

This trip has been amazing so far and is so focused on relationships it has opened our eyes to other models of ministry that is different from the states.

Kali nichta everyone!!

Day 5- Wednesday is Spread the Word day :)

So the title says it all... today we spread the word... what is the word?...

Well...

First we took stickers that had the i-heart logo on them and put stickers all over the university campus and the whole center of Thessaloniki.  We had the opportunity to answer many questions about the cafe and it seems that there is already a lot of buzz about his cafe and we are very excited about it :D

Next we had a presentation about the A21 campaign and it brought a lot of things about human trafficking to the forefront in our minds.  With this new awareness that we had the opportunity to spread it through the city.  Each of us put a piece of black tape over our mouths and went out and gave out business cards with the A21 campaign website: www.a21campaign.com  The tape over the mouths was to signify the women who have no voice in their decision to be trafficked.  It was a very moving event and we were able to spread the awareness to the whole city.  After all, awareness is 90% of the solution.

Afterwards we got to experience a Greek mall and bought some of our loved ones some European clothing ;)

Tomorrow is a new day and new events with the Roma kids at the camp! gjume te emel (sweet dreams in Albanian)

Day 4- University Adventures

So today was our first day on the University campus and boy do we have some crazy stories! However... since there are so many we cannot post them on here because it would take 4 hours to write and it would be too late... lol. If you want to know about some of our experiences just ask individually :D

Afterwards we got to go to an "encounter" night held by a small group at a church.  There was awesome Greek/English worship and prayer afterwards. These new friends are definitely being used by God!!

Sorry this is going to be a short post but we are VERY exhausted from the day on the campus and have a energy packed day of 'sticker-bombing' the city tomorrow... so KALI-NICHTA everyone! (goodnight)

Day 3- Philippi, Lydia's pool, Tacos, and Greek Dancing!!!!

So today marked the second and last of our 'free' days while we are here...

We went to Philippi and let me tell you it was AWESOME! We were able to walk the same roads as the Apostle Paul and it was an amazing experience.  Some of the big things we got to see were the first church in Europe, the place that Paul was judged in Acts and also the prison that held Paul and Barnabas (though not for long).  It was a great adventure that is a once in a lifetime experience for so many of us :)  The only downfall was that it started to sleet during the walk through the historical site and it caused us to have to cut the walk short.

The next thing we did was go to Lydia's pool where Paul's first convert in Europe was baptized.  We had our lunch there and were able to meet some very nice Greek people who loved speaking in English to us and loved Americans :D

We stopped at an overlook on the way back to Thessaloniki and were able to take BEAUTIFUL pictures of the city of Kavala (biblical port of Neapolis) and it was gorgeous.

After we got back to Tony's house we had amazing homemade tacos and got to meet Gorgos and Gorgos, two extremely funny very cool guys, came and taught us about intercultural communications, as well as some Greek dances... don't fine us VFCC ;)

Tomorrow begins our adventures on the campus! Can't wait to come back and let you know how it went!! :D

Day 2 (Still alive and Kicking) :D

This morning we were able to go to Katerini to attend a Greek Church.  Two students from our group shared life stories with the congregation that warmed their hearts and blessed them.  A few other students performed a drama, called Everything by Lifehouse, which brought tears to these wonderful people's eyes.  We were all greatly blessed by their kind, encouraging words to us after the service.  I personally was moved by the love they showed us and their interest in our culture.

In the afternoon we went to Dion where there is an archeological site.  It was here that Alexander the Great made sacrifices to the Greek gods before he conquered the known world. The ruins were very interesting and captivated our attention.

We then went and got to walk in a little bit of the Aegean Sea! It was FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!!

 Later on in the day we were able to go to Mount Olympus.  We were in awe of the height of this great mountain.  It goes from 0 ft at sea level to 10,000 ft in less than a mile.  We went to a small mountain village named Lichotoro where we had some time to shop at the base of the mountain.  Later we were able to drive up part of the mountain in our bus and eat dinner at a small diner. We ate what is considered one of the staples of Greek food, a bean soup called fasalada.  It was made with beans and vegetables; it was delicious.

Right before coming back to our apartment we had our first experience with Greek crepes for dessert and were able to make two new friends! The crepes were AMAZING. We had an amazing day filled with sight seeing and interacting with Grecians.

We are Here!!!!!!!

Well we are here! (Jet lagged and super Excited!!!!)

We ate our first gyros here for dinner tonight!! They were delicious :)

Tomorrow we will be heading to church in Katerini then to check out the ruins of Dion (where Alexander the Great sacrificed animals to the gods) and lunch at the base of Mt. Olympus!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support!

It is 10:45pm here and we are exhausted so we are going to go to sleep!

Goodnight world!!!!!!