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| Lanny's
Journal - AIBI - Week 4 |
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Meet Sam Odeh, his wife Margaret, and their 5 month old son, Courage. Sam came to Greece from Nigeria about 8 years ago to make enough money to get his four other children into boarding schools (which is the only way to get a meaningful education in Nigeria) and to provide a better life for his family. Like most of the immigrants from his country, Sam is self-employed as a trader. Through discipline and hard work he has succeeded in providing the money to educate his children. |
| After coming to Nigeria, Sam met another Nigerian who was a member of the Omonia Church of Christ and he was converted to Christianity. At about that time AIBI was getting started and they were being housed in the Omonia building. The school has since moved to its present location with the Evrou Church of Christ. Sam was eager to know more about Christ and he became one of the first students in the new school. He was part of the first graduating class in May, 2002. During his short time as a Christian, Sam has personally been responsible for leading at least 5 of his fellow Nigerians to Christ, and two of them are now students in the school. After much prayer, Sam has just bought airline tickets to take himself and his family back to Nigeria. He will be leaving on the 24th of this month. The reasons that brought Sam to Greece still exist, but his evangelistic soul and love for Christ are compelling him to leave the financial security he has here and to take up the cross in a hostile environment. Sam will be working with the churches in the area of his home and he will be doing follow up work with the contacts that are generated by the World Bible School program. |
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February 13, 2004 OK, do you remember that I told you it never snows in Athens? Well, if life sends you lemons, make lemon aide, and if life sends you snow, make snow ice cream. 1 Cup milk; 1 egg; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; 5 to 6 cups of fresh snow or to consistency. Ummmm good! Just like mom made back home in Oklahoma. I heard that the snow shut down the airport. |
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January 14, 2004 Valentines Day No school today. As of 2200 hours last night the roads were still icy and the temperature was forecast, by Athens standards, to remain bitter cold. We will have to do some doubling up and catching up later on. Many apartments here, including the one I am using, rely on solar energy for hot water. This works great when the sun shines, and on cloudy days there is an electric element that supplements the solar. However, as you can see by the picture on the left, when the temperature stays below freezing for any length of time, the water line will freeze. |
The good news is that we still have cold water and thanks to an electric range I have hot water for dish washing and for personal hygiene. Click here if you would like to see more of my Athens snow pictures. The sun came out today and the temperature got up to around 34 degrees Fahrenheit so I decided I should walk down to the store and pick up a few grocery items. Bad idea! The store I go to is an Athens Supermarket. It has two stories that are connected by an escalator and it uses about 15 to 18 check-out stations. I have never seen that many bodies per square inch in any retail establishment anywhere. I always teach on Saturday so this was my first (and last) trip on a weekend. The store always does a brisk business, but nothing like this. The best way to get around would have been to walk on top of the shopping carts. I didn't see anyone try that. Maneuvering the carts was out of the question, so people parked them and scurried about picking up items and bring them back to their cart, if they could find it. I finally managed to pick up three items that seemed more important than the others on my somewhat lengthy list, and headed for the check-out line. Given the size of the crowd trying to check out, the lines tended to merge, converge, and blend. It is probably fortunate that I couldn't understand the raised voices of some of the people in line. I did see some of the natives grin at what was being said, and grinning is not a common public occurrence here. February 15, 2004 Today was a great day of training, worship, and fellowship. We have the English worship assembly at 6:00 p.m. following an afternoon of teaching. There are several families from Athens that join us for that service. It was my privilege to get to deliver the sermon this evening. I have attached a copy of my sermon at the end of this week's journal for the benefit of any who might be interested. Following the worship assembly, we had a dinner-fellowship to celebrate Valentines Day, February birthdays, and to honor and commission Sam Odeh and his family as they prepare to return to Nigeria in the service of the Lord. Ladies from the church and the school prepared a feast. The food represented the cultures of Greece, Russia, Albania, Cameroon, the Philippines, Spain, and, I am sure, other places I don't know about. Every bit of it was delicious and not one bite was left over. It was a great time of family rejoicing for many who are far and long separated from their own personal families (of whom I am one). February 17, 2004 And the rains returned, and winter kept its grip. |
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Addendum to Week Four
- Sermon delivered in Athens, February 15, 2004 |
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It
is about Blood
Introduction: A. December 7, 1988, Susanna and her four year old daughter Gayaney had gone to her sister-in-law’s to try on a dress. She was in the midst of changing when the clock hit 11:41 a.m. and the 5th floor apartment started shaking. 55,000 people died in Soviet Armenia. Susanna and her daughter fell to the basement with the 9 story apartment crumbling around them. During the 8 days it took to rescue them, she died, but she saved her daughter’s life – with her own blood. B. Jesus held up the wine and said “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood.” His children were trapped so His hands were pierced and His side was ripped so that a thirsty world might drink and live. C. There are over 1,000 references to blood in the Bible. When we cut through the “fog factor”, in religion, it is about blood. I. The second instance of blood sacrifice – God spilled blood for skin to cover nakedness. II. The first instance of blood sacrifice – Revelation 13:8. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. III. The third instance of blood sacrifice – God looked with favor on Abel’s blood offering. After Cain killed him, his blood called to God from the ground. IV. Noah’s first act after the flood was to build an alter and sacrifice “taking SOME of ALL the clean animals and clean birds.” Genesis 8:20
V. Moses and Pharaoh were about blood.
V. The atonement system under the Law of Moses was all about blood.
VI. The Blood of the Lamb – What all the blood of bulls and goats could not do, Jesus’ blood did. It is far beyond our comprehension. • Every drop of animal blood from Abel on pointed forward to Calvary, and every drop of blood from Stephen to the thousands during the first 3 centuries, to the ones today who lay it on the line and spill their blood for the cause of Christ, points back to Golgotha. Conclusion: The question is, “Is the Blood still fresh to you? (Sounds of Glory)
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