Morley Update #37 2011

Everyone,

Several people have written and commented that in the midst of being thankful I sounded discouraged last week. First of all let me reassure you that I am fine. I have NO regrets about coming here and still feel honored to be a part of what God is doing in Athens. That said it is true that the last couple weeks were not the easiest weeks I've had here. For one thing as you know I had been sick and still am struggling a bit to get over this cold/flu. Quite a few of our team mates have had it too and it just seems to hang on for quite a while. I don't feel terribly sick but just don't feel 100% either. I am much better than I was. I have also been having quite a bit of trouble with my arthritis. It seems to have centered on my right knee which is more swollen than usual and painful to walk on. It is frustrating because so much of what we do is dependent on walking. Kent had to go in early yesterday morning for a meeting so I stayed home from team prayer and the clothing give away just because I wasn't sure I could handle the walk to the ARC from the Metro. It was very difficult for me to get on to the bike yesterday also as I have trouble bending that knee. I would appreciate your prayers.

The second reason last week was hard was because of some changes on the team. Two members of our team will no longer be involved in the day to day activities of the ARC. They will be concentrating on developing other areas of ministry in Athens. While we will still be connected it will be a change not to see them at work every day. The bigger and more difficult change was our Iranian team mate Nader. Unbeknownst to the team or leadership Nader flew to Canada and applied for asylum there. This of course leaves a BIG gap in ministry as well as the personal loss of not working with our friend or even getting to say goodbye. Nader needs prayer as we do not know what the outcome of his case will be and what will happen if he is denied. Thankfully the Lord has provided our new team mates Aziz and Donna who speak Dari (which is very close to Farsi) and he is also raising up another young Afghan man "G" who is helping to teach the children in Dari and helping with translation for our community group. Please continue to pray for the team as we make adjustments to cover some areas of ministry and especially pray for Aziz and Donna as much of the load falls on them while they are still getting settled in Greece and are relatively new on the team.

Okay enough with the difficult stuff. On a positive note we had an American style Thanksgiving dinner for the team at our house on Monday. There we 26 of us for dinner. I cooked one turkey and a team mate cooked another. The ovens in Greece are quite small - so I barely got a 14 pound turkey in mine. We were thankful to only need to cook two turkeys. In Greece you have to go to several stores even to find a turkey and then the largest you can find are about 3.5 kilos which is almost 8 pounds. This year we have an intern here who has a connection at the American embassy and he was able to get us an 11 pound and a 14 pound turkey. He also got cranberry sauce which is almost impossible to find. While I made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls the rest of the team all brought their favorites. We had SO much food. Everyone took home leftovers and I have my freezer stocked with leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. Yesterday I cooked the turkey carcass and also added containers of turkey soup stock to my freezer.

Last Friday we had our community group of Farsi believers at our house for dinner again. We so enjoy being a part of this group of men. Once again I was convicted at how easy my life was and is. During dinner Scott asked each of us to share a bit about our brothers and sisters as a getting to know you question. One young man said "My brothers and sisters are in Pakistan and it is very dangerous. I'm sorry I cannot say more or I will cry." Later as we were praying for each other we prayed for his family and he broke down and began weeping almost uncontrollably. I can't imagine what a burden these men carry but it was good to see his brothers in Christ gather around him, cry with him and pray for him.

We continue to gear up for our Christmas Parties happening the first week of December. One of my jobs as I was at home yesterday was to fix some coloring books that tell the Christmas story in Farsi that we are going to put in the kids bags along with a small packet of markers. We were very excited to get these done and a wonderful printing company that does a lot for us printed them and stapled them together. The only problem is that we neglected to tell them that Farsi books are bound on the right and open on the left so the staples were on the wrong side. I told Wendy, our children's director that I would take them home and remove the staples and restaple them. I had not taken into account that these had been stapled by a machine and therefore the staples were very heavy duty and did not come out easily. They also left quite a hole when removed. I did 5 of them (20 staples), looked at the 195 (780 staples) that were left and thought - not going to happen. I then got the brilliant idea that we could just cut them off on the stapled side and restaple them on the other side. I brought home the big paper cutter from work and tried it - success. Still a big job but doable. I finished 60 in the morning and did the rest in the afternoon. My next project is to build the set for the Christmas puppet show so Kent and I need to scout the dumpsters for some large pieces of cardboard.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with food, family and friends. In the midst of thanking God for all our MANY blessings, let's remember that there are many in this world who are not so blessed. Thank you for sharing with some of these people and for your prayers. We are so thankful to be part of a larger team that includes you. It's not too late to help with Christmas parties and sleeping bags. Here is an except from our team leader Brett's recent blog: "We've already handed out 100 sleeping bags, and are making plans to give another 100 bags in the next few weeks. Nearly twenty of these sleeping bags went to a group of Afghan and Iranian refugees sleeping on the roof of an abandoned theater near one of the main parks in Athens. They slept in groups of two or three, embracing to stay warm, covering themselves with whatever they could find that might help keep the cold out (blankets, cardboard, stray fabrics, newspapers). In the name of Jesus, these sleeping bags were tangible witnesses of God's love; a needed reminder that God has not forgotten these young men." If you would like to donate toward our Christmas parties or more sleeping bags you can still give. Gifts should be designated HELPING HANDS -CHRISTMAS IN ATHENS and sent to: International Teams 411 W. River Rd. Elgin, IL 60123 or give online at https://wwws.iteams.org/us/give be sure and designate this for Helping Hands - Christmas in Athens.

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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us/give
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)