Brothels

We have been visiting the brothels in Athens' Red Light district every Wednesday morning. Teams normally consist of four people - three girls and one guy. The guys don't go into the brothels, but rather accompany the women for safety. They also pray outside. I have been two or three times now, and the brothels always strike me for their anonymity. Only a little white light outside the doorway marks each individual brothel. There are no pictures. There are only men entering and exiting the brothels to see the women. The streets and walls and doorways are so blank. They look like anything else except for the little lights. It is ominous and oppressive.

I am used to sexuality being expressed so publicly via magazines at Walmart or Victoria's Secret or internet pornography. It's strange that when it comes to selling sex as a profession that the business is so anonymous. Both the men and women lose their individuality in the brothels. Sex was meant to be so personal, and yet sin twists it to be outrageously public and therefore impersonal or outrageously anonymous and therefore impersonal. If sin and death are forms of separation, then this is another example of the way sin separates us from ourselves, each other, and God...

I would encourage you to read the posts of some of my female team members. They have actually entered the brothels, so their thoughts touch more on the prostitutes themselves. Here's Mallory's thoughts - "A Blessing in Disguise."

Greek Hospitality

We are ministering to the Greeks, but in a lot of ways, they are ministering to us. I am constantly blown away by their generosity and friendliness. Just in regard to meals - Aryellis invited us into his home for dinner, Tikanis invited us to his home for lunch, and Tollis paid for our dinner one evening. Many times it's not even people we know. After we finished sorting some clothes for refugees and immigrants this morning we went to get coffee. The woman who made coffee for us gave us four free bottles of water "on the house." A man on the metro offered to throw away some of our trash for us. A mechanic offered to help direct us when we looked lost in the middle of Athens. University students bought us coffee when we had conversations with them. The church also tries as much as they can to keep a Greek speaker with us to help us as we're navigating the city.

We have often felt at a loss as to how to repay them. As Americans, deep down each of us has had to struggle with subconscious thoughts that tell us we are only worth our work. We don't want to owe people. We want to "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps." We've realized that we are not very good at simply receiving help and blessings from other people.

We are helping the Greeks, but they are also helping us. We did not expect that. I think that was pride. Pray that God would use both us and the Greeks to be Jesus to people.

More About Youth Worship

I thought I would answer these questions from Ms. Tracy in a post because I thought it was interesting myself:

What kind of music do they sing?
They sing music similar to songs like "God of Wonders" and "Blessed Be Your Name."

Are they songs you know, or do they have their own songs?
Both. They sang "Blessed Be Your Name" in Greek. Other times they sing songs in English, but they mostly sing in Greek. Sometimes they sing original Greek songs which, obviously, I don't know. They sound great.

Is it praise and worshippy, or are they singing hymns?
I've sort of answered this by describing the types of songs they sing, but it's definitely more "praise and worshippy."

Youth Worship

We got to attend the last youth worship for the summer on Sunday night. It was really cool being able to see a lot of local teens gather to worship God and hear from God's Word. Gatherings like this are groundbreaking in Greece - the Orthodox church doesn't provide an outlet for teens to be involved in worship and feel relationally connected to other Christians their age. The youth met on a rooftop with a really cool view of the Acropolis! These are a few pictures from that night:







It's hard to explain how different this is for Greeks. Christianity to most Greeks is Greek Orthodox. Anything outside of that is heresy. In fact, in talking with young people about religion they will often ask, "So what heresy are you?" Yet many of the youth are searching for true spirituality. Pray that God would save more of the youth in this city.

Kids, Community, and the Kentro(s)

Last Friday some of our team went to the community center of the First Evangelical Church. First Evangelical's community center is open every Friday night as a place where kids from the area can simply hang out and have fun. There are lots of games for the kids, from Uno to Wii to Ping-Pong. Parents in the area appreciate the community center because it's a safe place to send their kids on Friday night. The community centers are primarily places where the churches connect with the community by building relationships with kids in Athens.

(First Church's community center - Kentro)

Every now and then, especially in the summertime, the community centers of both the First and Second Evangelical Churches host festivals on the weekend. They take lots of games and treats to a local park and kids just start showing up. It's "kind of a big deal." I took some pictures of our first festival.

(kids begin to gather)

(Chelsea doing some face (arm) painting... she did a lot of Albanian flags - Greece has many Albanian immigrants)

(preparing to throw water balloons, part of one of the games)

I've learned enough Greek to ask kids names and tell them my name. I can also say Thank You, You're Welcome, etc. It's amazing how much more you can communicate just through body language, especially around kids. Throwing a football or showing a kid how to walk on stilts (one of the games) doesn't need a lot of explanation.

It was great seeing so many neighborhood kids. It really gave you a feel for "growing up" in Athens. The Evangelical churches are trying to reach these kids and get involved in their lives.

Giving Your Testimony

Greece is a country of about 11,000,000 people. Of that 11,000,000 there are only 30,000 Protestants. That is less than %.001. The Greek Evangelical Church is struggling to survive.

I shared my testimony here at the Bible Institute (the only Bible college in the whole of Greece) last week in chapel. Afterward, I had so many people come up and pat me on the back and ask me questions. People here love to hear testimonies. It gives them hope in the Gospel's power to transform hearts.

Part of the reason that testimonies are so powerful among Evangelicals here is the predominance of the Greek Orthodox church. For many people to be Greek is to be Orthodox, but that doesn't mean having a relationship with Christ. Also, many of the university students we've talked to are atheistic, agnostic, or simply believe in the concept of God. Their definition of church and Christianity is highly ritualized, traditional, and bound up in the Greek state. That's reasonable because there was never a Protestant reformation or enlightenment here. Church is Greek Orthodox. That's all. The young people don't have a leader and they don't have a community. They are angry and confused - you can tell this by the riots that have been happening over the past few months.

It's no wonder that testimonies about the saving power of Jesus Christ inspire the people at the Bible Institute. They love to hear stories about a personal God being at work in the lives of people.

Nea Zoi

I have so many things that I could say that it is almost too overwhelming to try and type something up.

I will just describe one of the ministries that we are helping here. Nea Zoi (New Life) is a ministry to prostitutes in Athens' Red Light district. Yesterday we went there for a briefing on how we are going to be helping them. Many of the prostitutes in the district are trafficked women who come from countries like Bulgaria, Nigera, Russia, and Albania. Nea Zoi tries to reach out to these women, establish relationships with them, and draw them out of prostitution. It is extremely difficult to do though, for several reasons. First of all, most of the women do not speak Greek. They do not have anywhere to turn for help once they are in Greece because they cannot speak the native language. Second, the bosses who control the brothels make sure the women move around a lot, so the women are never able to establish meaningful relationships with anyone in the area. Third, prostitution makes more money than any other job these women can find. Nea Zoi tries to establish relationships with the prostitutes, develop their social and work skills, and also help them find work.

I was amazed at the hearts that the people at Nea Zoi have for the women of this district. Day in and day out they are trying to be Jesus to people in one of the darkest places of Athens.

άφιξη (arrival)

We arrived in Athens, Greece on Saturday, May 31st late in the evening. We are thankful that God gave us safe travels. We are staying at the Greek Bible Institute, a very small Bible college just outside of Athens in Pekirmi. It was graduation night, so things were a bit chaotic as we tried to find our rooms and get settled. The Greeks were very welcoming though, and we got to be with a lot of people almost immediately upon arrival!

It's amazing that just about anywhere you go in the world, there are a few Christians there to be your family. The Christian family spans the entire globe.


This is a picture of our team right before our first Sunday at First Evangelical Church in Athens. From left to right: Agilles (one of the Greek leaders), Austen, Chelsea, Mallory, me, Rachel, Caroline, and Brian & Lorrie (our mentors for the first two weeks).

Our team is excited about what we're going to be doing here. Keep us in your prayers!