March 4, 2010

We hope this finds you very well this day. Just wanted to let you know we’ve been thinking and praying for you all this week. We thank God that each and every one of you have been placed in our life. You are the imperishable treasure in our hearts that cannot be taken away by the corruption and disintegration we see going on all around us in this world.

Many of you have been dropping us a line asking about how things are going here in Greece, with all the news about the economic turmoil the country finds itself in. Yes, the Greek government is working as hard as it can to correct a very difficult situation the country finds itself in. And, yes the people are upset with the many belt tightening measures the government is imposing on them. Nobody likes it when the money goes away, but they do realize that something must be done. Hopefully the country and the people continues to move forward.

In the meantime, Diana and I are holding our own. The inflation is indeed high, probably the same as back home, but thankfully the dollar is rallying a little, which sorts of evens things out. We are doing ok.

TWO BITS OF WONDERFUL NEWS

The first bit of wonderful news. Last Saturday, one of our students, Oliva Musa Bawa was baptized for the remission of his sins. One of the classes he is in is Ray Hull’s Fundamental Theology. He came up to me during morning break and said he needed to talk to me. I always get excited when that happens, because I generally know what follows. Sure enough he said that as he’s been sitting in classes these past months, he has learned that he’s been missing something very important. I asked what it was, and he said that he had not be baptized properly before and wanted to be baptized for the remission of his sins. I asked him, as always, when he wanted to be baptized and he said quickly, “As soon as possible.”

I then asked him who he would like to baptize him and he looked at me funny. I guess he thought I would automatically be the one to do it. I explained that I would be honored and thrilled to be the one to do so, if that’s what he would like me to do. But then since he has been sitting in Ray’s classes this term, maybe he’d like to have Ray do so, since he’s been the one teaching him this month. I gave him a little bit of time to think about it. He then chose Ray to baptize him. I was thrilled, because it is such a pleasure to get to share in such a wonderful event as this.

It’s always such a blessed event. We gathered in the auditorium for chapel that day and Ray Hull was very happy to do the honors. It’s always such a blessing to see the excitement in a new Christian’s eyes as they give their lives completely over to God and realize their sins have been washed away forever. Oliva came out of those waters with excitement in his eyes. Ray reports that it almost looks like he’d been stunned.

THE SECOND BIT OF WONDERFUL NEWS

Yesterday our paperwork was accepted by the Greek government which will renew our visa for the remainder of our stay in Greece this year. Our Visa was set to expire on the 11th of this month, next week, and as always we were under the wire to get it turned in on time. We finally got it all assembled and submitted in good order yesterday. The government reports our new visa should be ready to be picked up in about a month’s time. Generally it takes about three months, but then again, we do have a God that is so much bigger than the governments of this country.

God can not only direct the hands of a national government, HE can direct the growth of the seed of salvation in one individual’s heart. He’s such a good God isn’t HE? We praise His Name.

We pray you have a very great rest of the week.

November 11, 2009

Our love and Greetings to you this 11th of November.

We hope yours is a clear and bright day in the Lord. Know that our thoughts and prayers have been with you this past week.

It’s been a very good week here in Athens. We finished up our second school term of the year this past Monday and it appears the students did pretty well with their grades. I still have a little bit of grading for one of my classes. Bill Day, who taught the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John, departed for home this morning. we enjoyed our last evening with him and Becky last night by going down to Glyfada and enjoying some good Souvlaki together. (For those of you who don’t know what Souvlaki is, it’s slices or chunks of freshly grilled pork, chicken or sometimes lamb kabobs, wrapped up in a warm pita with tomatoes, onions and Greek tzatziki sauce. They’re great and are the Greeks version of a hamburger. They would say much better than a hamburger, and they make a strong argument.)

Bill, as always, did a great job teaching his classes. The students were challenged, and by all accounts they really appreciated and enjoyed his lessons. I really enjoyed teaching Scheme of Redemption and Life of Christ Part two. It’s always a delight to watch the students eyes light up as they study and learn how God’s plan for mankind’s salvation was thought out and came together even before the beginning of time. We also finished up our Life of Christ Study by watching the movie “The Passion of the Christ.” This screening of this powerful film was attended by all the students who attend the Monday classes. Even Bill’s students stayed and watched, even though they didn’t have too.

It’s always a special Sunday when we have a Baptism here in Athens. Victor Babalola, once again brought a young man named Philip Martins to church Sunday night who was ready to be baptized. Philip is a young man who Victor has been studying with for quite a while, nearly two years. I so much appreciate Victor’s evangelistic spirit and his patience to keep hanging in there with those who require that little extra portion of love and acceptance. This diligent efforts bear such sweet fruit. Victor is already talking to Philip about coming to be a student in the school.

We enter a break week this weekend and won’t be starting up classes again until the 21st. It gives me time to catch up on some things and get things ready for the next term. We are very excited in that Beni Leka will be joining us as a teacher again in the classroom. He will start with one class this term, teaching Effective Bible Study. This is the class where we teach the students how to properly study and interpret the bible. It’s a very important class and Beni does a very good job with it. The students have been looking forward to having him back. I will be teaching Christian Evidences (Part one), Bible History (Part two) and Ezekiel. This will be a rich term for me. I do look forward to it.

I’ve been fighting off a slight head cold these past couple of weeks, and Diana was feeling a little under the weather a couple of days, but nothing serious. The weather has been cool and rainy here, a little more than usual for this time of year, but it still hasn’t been too bad. Other than that, we’ve been doing just great.

We pray God continues to bless you mightily this week and you are as well as can be. Our thoughts and prayers are with you always.

October 7, 2009

Greetings in the Lord dearest loved ones,

It’s a beautiful crisp October morning here in Athens. I pray it is the same for you where you are. For many of you the colors are probably starting to change on the trees, and you can sense a change in the weather. So it is here too. The weather is still plenty nice (in the 70s during the day), but you can sense the changes in the air.

This past Sunday the nation of Greece held national elections, the second time since we’ve been here. The people overwhelmingly threw the old government run by the New Democracy Party out of office. The old Prime Minister is out and the new Prime Minister for the Socialist Party (Pasok) is now in control. Just a few moments ago on Greek television the New Prime Minister and his Cabinet was sworn into office. With a stroke of the pen, and a prayer from the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, the old season of the right centrist party has been swept away and the new season of the left Socialist party has begun. . . . just that quick. The times . . . they are a changing.

What does that mean for us here in the school? Probably not too much on a practical matter. Who knows? But isn’t it so very good in times of uncertain change to know we have a powerful and wonderful God who is in control of all things. We just finished in school our study of Daniel this week. There we learned, along with ol’ King Nebuchadnezzar, that it is God who rules over all things in the lives of men. He is the one who controls kings and presidents and world rulers. His dominion and power is over all men, even world rulers. Isn’t that a great comfort in time of uncertainty?

This week we have a visitor in our mist, a single woman who was visiting Greece from the United States. She is here on vacation, planning on moving on next week for a visit in Turkey. We met her this past Sunday evening at worship services at the church. We received a call late last night from this tearful woman who unfortunately had been pick-pocketed at one of the Metro stops in Central Athens. She had lost her credit cards, ATM card and cash. She didn’t know what to do. That would be disconcerting wouldn’t it?

I immediately went and picked her up and brought her to our home. There she was able to call her credit card and ATM companies and get everything stopped. They have new cards heading this way, and we talked her into spending the rest of the evening with us. She has had a good evenings rest and we will help her get back on her feet and back on her journey. We were so glad we have been here to help.

Isn’t it so very good that we can reach out a hand to one another in times of need and assist our fellow sojourners when they find themselves in hurt and trouble? That’s what Christ did for us, isn’t it? And it so very good that we can do that for one another. No matter what this world may do to us. No matter what changes enter our lives, sometimes in disconcerting and troublesome ways, it is so very good that we can be part of the Body of Christ. A body that reaches out and shines the light into the darkness for those trying to find their way out.

Thanks for sharing this week with us. We pray the rest of it will be a good one for you,

In HIS Mighty Name

Ron and Diana

Greetings in the Lord dearest loved ones,

It’s a beautiful crisp August morning here in Athens. I pray it is the same for you where you are. For many of you the colors are probably starting to change on the trees, and you can sense a change in the weather. So it is here too. The weather is still plenty nice (in the 70s during the day), but you can sense the changes in the air.

This past Sunday the nation of Greece held national elections, the second time since we’ve been here. The people overwhelmingly threw the old government run by the New Democracy Party out of office. The old Prime Minister is out and the new Prime Minister for the Socialist Party (Pasok) is now in control. Just a few moments ago on Greek television the New Prime Minister and his Cabinet was sworn into office. With a stroke of the pen, and a prayer from the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, the old season of the right centrist party has been swept away and the new season of the left Socialist party has begun. . . . just that quick. The times . . . they are a changing.

What does that mean for us here in the school? Probably not too much on a practical matter. Who knows? But isn’t it so very good in times of uncertain change to know we have a powerful and wonderful God who is in control of all things. We just finished in school our study of Daniel this week. There we learned, along with ol’ King Nebuchadnezzar, that it is God who rules over all things in the lives of men. He is the one who controls kings and presidents and world rulers. His dominion and power is over all men, even world rulers. Isn’t that a great comfort in time of uncertainty?

This week we have a visitor in our mist, a single woman who was visiting Greece from the United States. She is here on vacation, planning on moving on next week for a visit in Turkey. We met her this past Sunday evening at worship services at the church. We received a call late last night from this tearful woman who unfortunately had been pick-pocketed at one of the Metro stops in Central Athens. She had lost her credit cards, ATM card and cash. She didn’t know what to do. That would be disconcerting wouldn’t it?

I immediately went and picked her up and brought her to our home. There she was able to call her credit card and ATM companies and get everything stopped. They have new cards heading this way, and we talked her into spending the rest of the evening with us. She has had a good evenings rest and we will help her get back on her feet and back on her journey. We were so glad we have been here to help.

Isn’t it so very good that we can reach out a hand to one another in times of need and assist our fellow sojourners when they find themselves in hurt and trouble? That’s what Christ did for us, isn’t it? And it so very good that we can do that for one another. No matter what this world may do to us. No matter what changes enter our lives, sometimes in disconcerting and troublesome ways, it is so very good that we can be part of the Body of Christ. A body that reaches out and shines the light into the darkness for those trying to find their way out.

Thanks for sharing this week with us. We pray the rest of it will be a good one for you,

In HIS Mighty Name

Ron and Diana

Athens.