Morley Update 2010 #24

Everyone,

It has been rather an odd week for me. We got home from retreat on Monday, Kent did men's showers on Tuesday and on Wednesday we had small group meetings at the ARC. Our team is divided into "IDEA GROUPS". These groups oversee different areas of ministry. Kent and I are on the REACH group which oversees evangelistic outreaches, gospel presentations, bible studies, discipling etc. We also both joined the SPEAK group which oversees helping refugees with practical needs (papers, housing, jobs etc), networking with other ministries and agencies, English classes, plus women and children's events. After these two meetings I went home and Kent stayed for a leadership meeting. On Thursday there was a metro/bus strike and it was not a day we could drive in the downtown area. We decided to go ahead with our Arabic Meal but Kent was only able to drive within about 1/2 hour walking distance of the ARC. Since it would have been hard for me to walk that far and then work all day we decided I would stay home and he would take as many other team mates as he could fit in the car. Since for the last three weeks I had not been to the ARC much, first with my sister here and then with team retreat, I felt a bit out of the loop.

On Friday Kent met with Dr. "S" for bible study in the morning. In the afternoon he went to meet with his friend "G". You may remember that "G" is one of Kent first Kurdish English students. He is a great guy and Kent has grown very fond of him. As with most of our friends, "G" is without proper papers and because of this he has been thrown in jail a couple of times, the last time for four months. The jails are a bad place to be. There is not adequate food, they are put in a room with 15-20 other men and they are not well supervised. We had learned a few weeks ago that "G" was in jail again but we had not been able to find out where. Then we heard he was out but he doesn't have a cell phone so we had not been able to contact him. On Thursday he called Kent and said something about being hurt but Kent had trouble understanding him so arranged to meet him at noon the next day.

When he met "G" he found that while in jail he had been beaten severely by a group of Arabic men who were in the same cell. They beat him and when he fell they started kicking him in the face. The guards did nothing for about 15 minutes and by the time they stopped it "G" had to be taken to the hospital. There was extensive damage to his mouth, teeth and jaw. At the hospital they worked on it and after 10 days sent him away saying he was okay now. This was a week later and Kent said he was in extreme pain and could barely open his mouth. He said he went back to the doctor and said something was wrong but they dismissed him because he had no money to pay and they said he was fine. Kent went with him first to Doctors of the World, a non profit group that works near the ARC. They said they couldn't help him and that he should go back to the first doctor. They went to that hospital and talked with a social worker. She agreed that something was most likely wrong but said since the doctor there had dismissed him she thought it was unlikely he would help and she recommended going to another hospital. They went to the red cross hospital and a dentist examined him and said there was definitely something wrong but he could not fix it and he needed to go back to the first doctor. The dentist wrote a note saying what he thought needed to be done. Back they went to the first hospital where the doctor again dismissed them and refused to see "G". Kent went back and talked to the social worker and she called upstairs and talked to the doctor and then told them to go back up. This time the doctor examined "G" but Kent said he was very rough with him and he could tell "G" was in agony. The doctor finally agreed that there was something wrong but said he would have to come back on Monday and see his original doctor who wasn't in that day.

All of this took 6 hours of riding the metro, walking and waiting. "G" was exhausted and needed to go home. Kent was frustrated because he was going to a men's retreat with some refugee guys on Monday and would not be able to go with "G" back to the doctor. He told "G" he would find someone to go with him and arranged to meet him on Monday morning. When Kent got home he was feeling very bad about what was going on with "G" and powerless to help him. We talked about the different options of people who might go with him and Kent decided to ask a man who is one of the elders in our church. He is a retired doctor and a former head of one of the hospitals. We had no idea if he would even be open to the idea but on Sunday we talked to him. He immediately said, Yes, he would meet Kent and "G" on Monday morning and then would go with "G" to the doctor. Kent and I were both in tears because we were just so thankful that finally someone who might be able to help cared enough to try. So often refugees just need someone to speak for them and as a foreigner we don't carry much weight. That is why we are seeing more and more the need to be involved in the Greek churches because there are people there that do have the contacts and the knowledge to help.

Please pray for "G". Pray for healing and good care. Pray for our Doctor friend as he helps him. "G" has been very open to spiritual things, pray that he will come to an acceptance of the the truth about Jesus.

Pray for Kent as he is at retreat this week for refugee men who are seekers. This retreat is put on by another ministry but we were invited to join them. Kent took two refugee men he has been speaking with and will be gone all week.

Please continue to pray for our friend Dr. "S", his family is still in Pakistan and still in danger. He has been doing a bible study with Kent and attending church with us. He continues to grow in his faith and wants to be baptized so when Kent gets back we will arrange to have some people from our church and some people from our team get together to do that.

Pray for our refugees friends in the coming months when we will be closed for repairs to the building. Many of them will be trying to leave the country during this time as happens every summer so we may not see some of them again.

Pray for Greece as they struggle with their economic crisis and civil unrest.

Pray for us as we find creative ways to minister in the weeks ahead while the building is closed.

Today is Kent and my 37th wedding anniversary. We went out to lunch Sunday since he would be gone. We talked about the journey our marriage has been and Kent said "I wonder what our lives would be like if we hadn't come here". I asked if he ever regretted it and he said "I was just thinking the other day that even if we had to go home suddenly I would be so thankful that we came". We hope to be here for a long time to come but we know that wherever God leads us our lives are forever changed by what we have experienced in these last two years. In Greek there is a word that sounds phonetically like s'efkharisto which is a way of saying Thank You that carries more emotion with it than Thank You alone. That is what we say to you. Thank you SO much for being a part of changing our lives and the lives of refugees here in Greece. 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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