Morley Update 2010 #9

Everyone,

It seems like I just sent an update and here it is Tuesday again already. We continue to do our Greek classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. It is going well and I am happy with how much we have learned.
I have found though that when I try to have a conversation in Greek with someone, I can form halting and probably poorly composed sentences but as soon as they begin to speak I realize how much I don't know. Oh well, as they say here "Siga, siga" (slowly, slowly).

Wednesday was prayer day at our home and then a laid back Team Fellowship of just hanging out together. Our team was small that day. We have several people on furlough and then we have had a lot of sickness going around. There is a bad bronchial bug that has been hitting people and seems to last for at least a week. Of course we are constantly re-exposed. It seems like I am always hugging someone who then tells me they have a fever or I pick up a child with a snotty nose and bad cough. I try to wash my hands a lot and we almost all carry germicide. The other day I came in the kitchen and one of my team mates was rubbing germicide all over her phone. She had dropped it on the bathroom floor - ewwww.

Thursday was Farsi day and our friend Peshraw spoke so I had a day off from planning a skit. We served our usual spaghetti lunch and since we have begun serving meat sauce with it (thanks to the generosity of some Greek friends) the shallow bowls we serve it in are very greasy. I have sort of become the official prewash person which means I stand at the kitchen door where they stack the dirty plates. I scrape them and then wash them off a bit in a dishpan of soapy water. I have to change the water many times before I have the 120 or so dishes finished. I don't mind doing it but this Thursday I was tired by the time I finished so rather than go in the kitchen to dry dishes like I often do I sat down at one of the tables with the women. I talked my friend "Z" and then leaned forward and laid my head on the table. One of the other refugee ladies came over and started giving me a VIGOROUS back rub. Because of my arthritis it was a bit painful at times but I didn't want to say anything. When she stopped she said something to "Z" in Farsi. "Z" said to me "She say, 'you do so much for us she want to do something for you'." I said "Tashacur" which is thank you in Farsi. The woman put her hand on her heart and said in English "I love you." I gave her a hug and told her I loved her too.

On Friday, Kent spent the morning preparing a sermon for Persian Fellowship and then went and picked up our friend Dr. "S" and took him for a drive down the coast for a few hours. On the way home he picked up Peshraw and "D", another refugee man who is a Christian. After serving them the usual cup of tea we sat down to dinner. Dr. "S" and Peshraw speak VERY good English and "D" does quite well so we had a fun dinner laughing and joking. Afterward we moved to the living room with the intention of watching a movie but ended up just visiting. I was talking with Dr. "S" and he said "Many days I feel as if I am losing my mind but when I am here with you or with Brother Kent, I have hope." It has been a year since he came here and he worries constantly about his wife and 4 year old daughter and 3 year old son. Please continue to pray for him for courage and peace and that a solution will be found to move his case through the system so he can be granted asylum.

Friday and Saturday the air was filled with dust blowing in from the Sahara desert. It was warm so Kent and I walked to do our errands Saturday morning. When we got back he took our neighbor girl out for driving practice on a stick shift. She did fine but will probably need another session. I am getting better about my driving and am venturing out more and more. I drove when we went to Greek church Sunday morning. We came home ate some lunch and I took a nap in the sun while Kent worked on his Greek lesson. That night we went Persian Fellowship which is in Farsi. Kent preached with a translator and did a good job.

Monday was a long day. Kent had to be at the ARC at 8:00am for a leadership meeting and I got there at 9:00 for a team meeting. There were a couple of issues that we needed to work through and it was a long meeting. By the time we were ready to start the day for tea house it seemed that we were all tired and wishing we could call it a day. After a time of prayer we opened the doors. I was in the kitchen for the first part of the day but in the afternoon I went to sit with the women for a bit. Let me tell you a little about a woman named "C". When we first came she and her husband "A K" had a little boy and she was pregnant with their second child. "A K" was a Christian but "C" was not. She came to Persian Fellowship but she sat with her head covered was VERY quiet and solemn. She does not speak any English but once in a while I would sit with her and she would always take my hand and hold it. Eventually "C" became a Christian and was baptized. She removed the head covering but was still quiet and reserved. One day some women began to harass her for not wearing a head covering. They said she was unclean. She responded that Jesus had made her clean and that she did not need to cover her head any more. Gradually "C" began to blossom. She began to bring her little boy and baby girl and sit in the baby room and visit with the other women. She began to witness about her faith and share openly with the other women. On Monday I was sitting with her and a group of women and I was telling a story which "S" was translating for me. "C" got tickled and began to laugh and tell her own story. As I looked at this beautiful woman with her smiling face and warm personality I was struck by the transformation that has happened over the last year and a half. This is what it is all about! Our newly revised Vision Statement read - "LIVES TRANSFORMED- to see gospel SEEDS planted across Greece, take ROOT in the lives of refugees, and bear the FRUIT of life transformation." That is what is happening here in Greece and YOU are a part of that. Thank you will all our hearts for allowing God to use you to support this ministry. We love you all.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@juno.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
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