Morley Update 2010 #33

Everyone,

It has been an interesting summer. As you know because the ARC has been closed for renovations we have been doing ministry "outside the box" for the last two months. It has been good and has allowed us to try new things and be more creative. On the other hand it has been hard because the schedule changes from week to week and sometimes from day to day making it hard to plan ahead. I know I am looking forward to have a more "normal" schedule soon.

Today the team had our team meeting at the ARC for the first time since mid June. The contractors are finished except for a few little things and now the clean up begins. If I had one word to describe today it would be DUST. There is a thick layer of dust covering almost every inch of the ARC. Walls must be washed. Hundreds of chairs must be washed. Cupboards must be washed. Appliances and counter tops have to be washed. Every piece of clothing in the clothing room needs to be shaken out and rehung. When I walked in the door at home today I went to the shower before even sitting down. My hair and clothes were covered with dust and I had dirty trails down my face where the sweat ran down through the dust. We will spend the rest of the week cleaning and putting things away and hope to be open for tea house by the end of next week.

Once everything is cleaned I know we will all be basking in the new things that will make our lives easier. We have a completely new kitchen with everything you could want. It has a dishwasher and a big sink for washing pots. No more standing endlessly washing hundreds of plastic cups or greasy plates. No more back breaking work of washing the pots with a hose out on the balcony. Not only do we have a new stove top but we have an oven and two deep fryers. We have under the counter refrigerators and stainless steel work areas. It is AMAZING.

Our women's bathroom has all the women on the team rejoicing. It was hard to use the bathroom during the day because someone was always in it and when you did get in you had to clean the toilet before you could sit down. This was because since refugees are used to Turkish Toilets (which are a hole in the floor you stand over) they stood and balanced themselves on the seat of the toilet which of course made for quite a mess. Our new bathroom has two stalls with doors. One with a Turkish Toilet for refugees and one with a Western Toilet and a lock on the door for staff. Since both stalls have doors people can go in and out to use the sink even if someone is using the toilet.

The men's bathroom was also renovated with new tile and a new configuration for the showers as well as a second sink. This should make shower days go a little more smoothly.

We have a new office with cubby holes for our things and a cupboard for hanging coats and storing purses and backpacks. It has two work stations plus a table in the middle for meetings.

The walls throughout the ARC have been patched and repainted and some leakage and other structural issues have been taken care of. I know our refugee friends will be as excited as we are to see their home away from home looking so clean and nice. We have been storing everything in the kid's activity room which didn't need repainting thanks to the Central Christian team that came two years ago!

We had a little scare today but thank goodness nothing serious. I was working in the bathroom when I heard a crash in the kitchen. I didn't hear anything afterward so thought someone had dropped something. In a minute or two a team mate stuck her head in and said "Did you know Morley (Kent) just fell in the kitchen?" I said, "Is he hurt?" and she said "I don't know he's still laying on the floor." I rushed in and found him laying on his back on the floor with Kenn (our resident EMT) beside him. As soon as I walked in they said "He didn't hit his head, his back is okay - he landed on his tailbone." Kent lay there for a minute or two more and then they helped him to his feet. He said he thought he was okay and we all went back to work. We finished the tasks we were on and then Kent said he thought we should go home as his tailbone was pretty sore. Of course we had to make a stop at a friend's house and load up a a carload of things to take to another friends new house since we had said we would help him move that day. Fortunately he had some other people to help too so we just had to drop off one carload. After some Ibuprofen Kent said his tailbone is feeling some better and he is asleep in the recliner but we will see how he does tomorrow.

It seems like this letter is too long already but I wanted to tell you about two other blessings in our personal lives. We have not had air conditioning for the two years we have lived here but a local store was having a great sale where if you bought one on sale you could get a second one for half price. We bought two and we now have air conditioning in our living room and bedroom. The temperatures have often been in the high 90s low 100s and staying in the 90s around the clock so neither of us were getting good sleep. The last few nights have been wonderful! Another big blessing is a new (to us) motor scooter. Last fall we began to think that a motor scooter would make a big difference in our lives as Kent does a lot of running back and forth down town to meet with guys etc. Kent's cousin Linda and her husband Jim generously donated enough money for us to get a bike. Since then we have been praying about it and asking the Lord to bring just the right bike for just the right price. Recently we found out that a lady we had a connection with through Helping Hands was wanting to sell her bike. It was just what we wanted and only had 2000 kilometers on it. It was also in our price range. We made the deal and already it has been great to have. Kent will start having more meetings with team mates as well as refugee friends with his new pastoral duties so I know it will make a big difference. It will also be a big help when there are strikes because I can ride with him downtown rather than having to stay home on days we can't drive the car downtown. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful support system of family and friends who care about us and make it possible for us not only to be here but who help make our lives easier by their generosity. Thank you so much for all you do for us. 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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