Morley Update 2010 #16

Everyone,

Here as some "snapshots" from the last week.

1. It is Monday the day of a week when we have Tea House. That means our doors are open from 12-4 for anyone to come in, sit and have all the VERY sweet tea they want. Our team mate Brian is sitting and talking with a refugee from Sudan. He has been in Athens for a number of years and became a Christian since coming to Greece. Brian shares his longing to be able to offer more to refugees like him instead of just cup of tea and somewhere to sit for a while. In response the man said, “A cup of tea isn’t nothing, don’t say it’s nothing, it’s a lot. Here we can escape and sit in peace for a while... that’s a lot to us.” It’s both encouraging and heartbreaking to know that a simple cup of tea in a peaceful room could be considered "a lot". This man’s life in Greece is difficult, his chance of getting legal papers is minimal, going home is not an option and work is becoming even more difficult to find.Yet he doesn’t wish for comfort and ease. “My life here is hard but I don’t wish for an easy life, these troubles keep me walking with God.”

2. As I sit and talk with an Ethiopian woman, I have been watching for her. When she walks in her face lights up with a smile and she rushes over to give me a hug. "E" is from Romania and she came to Greece years ago with her mother. Since then her mother died and she now lives in the park near the port of Piraeus which is about 12 kilometers from the ARC. She comes anytime we are open and once even walked the 12 kilometers because there was a bus and metro strike only to find we were closed because of the strike. The last time I had seen her was a few weeks ago and she was coming down with the flu. I have been worried but had no way to contact her. As we sit and talk in a mixture of Greek and English I realize that when I look at "E" I no longer see a not overly clean, somewhat toothless, bag lady but I see the beautiful face of my friend.

3. Kent is talking with his two Kurdish friends "G" and "H". At one point Kent mentions someone who is leaving. "G" stops him and says, "Morley, you are not leaving?" Kent said "No". "G" says again "You will stay here." Kent says "Yes, I will stay here for a long time." "G" sighs with relief "That is good, that is good." I remember when we came almost 2 years ago, that if I needed Kent, I would usually find him in the kitchen. Kent is a bit shy by nature and sometimes found it difficult to talk "one on one" with the refugee men. Now if I want to find Kent I will usually find him deep in conversation with someone from one of his English classes or with one of the other refugee men. God is changing refugees but He is also changing us!

4. I am sitting with my friend "Z". I have written about "Z" before, she had twin daughters who are almost two and two older boys about 8 and 10. "Z" is holding one of the twins, Sahrah, on her lap and as we are talking Sahrah hands me a piece of the cookie she is eating. I say "Tashacur" which is Farsi for thank you. Sahrah grins and kind of giggles. She then hands me another piece and I say "Hoosh Mazai" (delicious). She grins even bigger. I pointed this out to "Z" and she said "yes, because she understand you". Oh how I long to have the language to speak freely to these people. As we say in Greek "Siga, Siga" (slowly, slowly)

5. Later in the day "Z" tells me of a dream she had where Jesus came to her, called her "daughter" and took her hand and prayed for her. She said she woke up and was sweating. She has been seeking for almost a year and attending church regularly as well as doing a bible study with one of my team mates Tasha. When she told me of her dream, I said "Jesus loves you very much." She said, "I know". I told her that I had recently sent a pastor in America her story and how she used to be very sad and even hurt herself sometimes. I said "now I look at you smiling and I know God is changing you". She said, "Yes". I said "But He is not finished yet." She nodded and said "I know. " God is calling "Z" and her friend "S" and I long for the day when they will finally overcome all their doubts and fears and enter completely into a relationship with Him.

6. We are visiting our team leader and his family in their home. Our little blue car is parked on the street below. It is the middle of the day. When we leave, we go down to the car and unlock it. When I open the back door I notice that there is glass all over the back seat. I look over and the side window is broken out. Then I see that the glove box is open and the contents are scattered on the seat. We have been robbed! We are usually very good about not leaving anything in the car but we had just taken a trip and our binoculars were on the backseat. This was enticement enough. They took the binoculars and the money we keep in change for tolls (about 15 euros). When they broke open the glove box they found our zune (microsoft's version of an IPOD) which was also in car because of our trip. Greece is not a city known for violent crime but unfortunately it IS a city known for theft. In the last two weeks our car was broken into, some team mates who were on furlough had their house broken into, a short term team person had their wallet stolen and in perhaps the most dramatic instance our Greek director was robbed. He was driving in the car and did not have his doors locked. As he stopped in traffic a man opened the back car door, reached under the seat, grabbed his bag, and took off running. Nikos left the car in the road and took off after them but he soon realized that there was a gang of about 5 men and that he would not catch them. Unfortunately he was carrying some donations from churches so the thieves got away with around 1000 euros.

It was a week of good moments with a few bad moments thrown in. In the larger scheme of things, our troubles are few and we are very blessed by God. Thank you for upholding us in your prayers. 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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