Aigina part II; more pics

Caitlin in the water. The water was a bit cool for my taste, but it made for a good picture.
Claudia and Caitlin sunbathing. I just sat in the shade and walked around the town a bit. Actually, the beaches are really bad and there are only a couple of places where there is sand. Aigina is not a place you'd recommend for the beaches even though the water is beautiful. There are other places on the island you can go and explore, so the beaches may be better there, but I'm not sure?


Sunset before we left the island at 8 pm. Saying good bye to a really nice day.

A Day on Aigina; a Nearby Greek Island

Saturday,April 19,on a beautiful day (72 degrees and sunny), we went to a nearby island for the day. The Island is Aigina (pronounced as Egg-ee-na). We took the fast hydrofoil boat which took about 40 minutes so it's very convenient in terms of time. We just spent the day doing some shopping, eating (a light lunch and dinner) and some sun bathing. We left the island at 8 pm as the sun was setting. It was a really nice and relaxing day away from the craziness and business of Athens.
Sitting on an old abandoned and certainly not seaworthy boat on the beach.
What would a trip to the Island be without some shopping at one of the local shops. Actually, this shop was run by a lady from Southern California.
In case you are hungry for something really adventuresome, a really popular delicacy in Greece is Octopus. Yum Yum? I can't really say if it's good or bad since we haven't tried it. I guess we weren't that hungry at the time. But, my guess is it tastes like "chewy chicken" at best.
Caitlin captures a moment of indecision..."now which way do we go?"
Lunch on the water (literally...that's water right behind us in the picture). We had for lunch some tasty wraps (chicken, Ceasar and Santa Fe)...sounds like we're in the US rather the Greece.

London trip part III; Chartwell (Winston Churchhill's house)

Friday morning we went to Chartwell to view Churchill's home. After a couple of hours, we went to the nearby village and had a great lunch at a French restaurant. The English weather during the weekend was a bit unpredictable; some sunshine, some rain showers (which didn't last long), and some sleet (no kidding), but mostly cloudy and cool(in the 50's).
The background is a view from Churhchill's house overlooking the English countryside.

A view of Chartwell(from the back); Churchill's house

London trip Part II: A Walk in the Park

On Sunday afternoon, we took a walk in the nearby park or preserve with their dogs... a favorite past time of the Loves and their friends. Brits, like Americans, are such dog lovers.

Claudia and the ladies walking down the country lane in the park preserve. Claudia is in the dark blue jacket(second on the left). Andrew and Collin are in the foreground with the dogs.



Andrew and Belinda Love (and their Black Lab "Dilly") along with Claudia and I. This was at the end of our walk and just before it began to rain.

Back from London: Party Pics from Saturday night

We had a "brillant" (as they would say in England) time at Andrew's 50th Birthday celebration. The party was at the Country Club of London where 70 of Andrew's friends gather for a wonderful evening. The party started out with a time of cocktails and socializing, then dinner was served and of course, the evening was rounded out by dancing to a live band. A great time was had by all.

The only sad part was our friends from the States (Charlie and Katherine Pennington and Bob Canada and Helen Inbody) couldn't make it to London. American Airlines had canceled their flight from Tulsa to Chicago (along with 1000 other flights in the US for FAA wiring inspections). We were really sad they were not able to make it because they missed a great time of fellowship and fun.
What more can I say about these two beauties! Claudia and Caitlin both were "Belle's of the Ball."


Caitlin and good friend Felicity Love

Dancing the night away! That's a bit of an exaggeration, but we did dance a few dances.

The American invasion of England...for a Black Tie Party!

Beginning Thursday, Americans will be entering England from the East and West for the big gala event of Andrew Love's 50th birthday party. We will be leaving Thursday to spend the weekend with the Love 's, but we will also be reuniting with good friends from back home in Tulsa as well. Charlie and Katherine Pennington as well as Bob Canada and Helen Inbody will also be arriving in London for the big event as well. It will be good to see our friends from the States. We are looking forward to it.
As soon as we return on Monday the14th, I'll post some pictures of our reunion and party.
more later...

Americans in Greece gone Irish

After church we ate at this Irish Pub in the Plaka. It's a nice get away from the Greek culture. They speak English and the serve the typical "fish and chips" that you find in England.

Random Sheep Sighting!

Just when you thought it was safe to walk home from the metro to our apartment, this is what we saw...a heard of sheep heading our way. It's hard to imagine this scene since Athens is a densely populated city of 4 million people and very few grassy areas for sheep to graze unless it's at a nearby city park.
They were last seen heading toward the highway! I guess you could say the traffic in Athens is really "baaahd!"

Greek language classes and the Gospel

Well, as it turned out I did enroll in Greek Level II. And, in hind sight, I am glad because I've learned a lot. Actually, due to the intensity of the class (3 hours every other day), I'm certainly not absorbing 100% (maybe 50%?). At this point, I have 2 more weeks then I'm done (April 17). We've covered in 14 weeks (level I & II) of Greek what most people would study in 2 years. Now, comes the time to let some of this soak in, use some of it in everyday life. It's my hope, one day, to be able to speak the language, but that seems along way off right now. But, of course, Rome wasn't built in a day and the Greek language won't be conquered in 14 weeks. So, patience will be needed.

In my 2 classes, I've met people from all over the world; Ukraine, Holland, Sweden, England, Romania (via California and now in Athens), Germany, Poland and one the other American. And, with the exception of the one American (who is doing ministry work in Athens), all of these people are "lost and blinded" to the TRUTH of Christ and God the Father. So, what am I to do? What light will I be to these "lost" people in my class? Will I stay silent while these men and women are doomed down a path toward destruction? Has God providentially placed me in such a time and place as this?

As it has turned out, God has provided me opportunities to talk privately with several of them over coffee (after class) about Christ, God, creation, salvation, the Gospel and my own personal testimony. It's been amazing because I see God's hand at work when I find myself having coffee with them alone in conversation. So, I take the opportunity to "turn" the conversation toward spiritual matters. In the everyday occurrence of going to language class, God has given me much more to do...that is, to speak about HIM. All I can do is to give them the words of truth and let God do the real work of salvation; to cause the blind man to see.

And, so it is, my Greek class has a bit of a spiritual twist to it. It's what keeps me going back for more...to see who God is going to place in my path.

My prayer has been for God to use me and for God to continue placing people in my path to speak about the hope that I have in Christ.

Gary

It's No "April's Fool" Joke...the Women's Pilot to start in May!

Sorry that I haven't been updating the blog, but actually we've been in a holding pattern waiting on finding enough qualified "leaders." It appeared that all was lost and that there would be no Pilot class this spring, but BSF headquarters has decided to allow the women to start the Pilot class without a children's program (which means 4 less leaders to obtain). Normally, BSF classes offer a full children's program for the evening classes which mean the women can bring their school age children with them. However, in the interest of not losing the momentum with women already registered, BSF has given Donna and Claudia the green light to START!

As it stands now, the 4 week training for the leaders will begin very soon and the 5 week Pilot in Philippians may start as early as May. Praise the Lord!

thank you for all your prayers!

Gary