Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Morley Update 2012 #8

Everyone -
Just a short note to let everyone we are well and continuing on with the work God has given us. Kent is pretty well over his cold. I have continued to struggle with some headaches and eye issues so am seeing an ophthalmologist today. That is why this will be a very short note - my appointment is at 11am and I need to get my laiki shopping etc done first since I know they will dilate my eyes and when they did it the last time I was pretty miserable the rest of the day.

It has continued to be cold and cloudy here with even some snow again on Tuesday. I had stayed home that day but Kent went in and said there was a smaller crowd probably due to the weather.

Yesterday we had a team prayer day. These are always special times of supporting one another, praying for one another and sharing our lives and ministries together. Yesterday was also our team leader Brett's last day in that job. As of today Kent is the team leader. This is not a position he sought or even was sure he wanted but God has done a work in his heart and mind and he is excited about the challenges ahead. Brett and his wife Kristin will still be with us until mid June - they have a baby coming in May. Brett will continue to serve on the team for the next couple of months and help with the transition. Our team has shrunk in size. Our first year here there were 19 full time staff not counting spouses and kids. Now we have 15 full time staff (14 when Brett leaves) and four of those are on furlough until after May. We are especially lacking in men and are thankful to some refugee believers who have stepped up to help out. The smaller team means we may be making some adjustments in how we do things. These next months will be a time of reorganizing how leadership works and looking over our programs. So far we have been able to continue everything but pray for us as we adjust to the changes. Though we are a smaller team, I have to say we are a quality team. The group of people God has allowed us to be a part of is such a gift. God has blessed us with language speakers, organizers, people with passion for kids, women, men and babies. As people have left God has raised up others to take their place and His work has continued. We look forward to what He has in store ahead. Thank you for standing with us in prayer and financial support. 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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us
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 :)

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Morley Update 2012 #7

Everyone,
If you think missionaries are all work and no play you should spend some time at the Morley household. Kent and I have been having a rousing game of musical beds and have kept it going for two days now with no end in sight! We have been having unseasonably cold weather the last few weeks and even quite a bit of rain which is fairly unusual for us. The refugee center has been packed with people coming in to escape the elements because even though we don't usually have heat we offer hot tea and when you pack 400 people into a room it begins to warm up quickly. Many of these refugees are suffering from the cold/flu symptoms that seem to abound this time of year. A team mate shared that in his English class it seemed that everyone was coughing and sick and he was almost afraid to breath in. A couple of nights ago Kent quite suddenly came down with a horrendous cough and cold. That same evening I had a meniere's attack that sent me staggering to the kitchen to down a couple more Dramamine. I took it and went to bed only to be plagued by cramps in my feet that kept me up and down from about 2:30am on. After Kent came to bed he too had a restless night.

The next morning we had a clothing give away and I had two meetings. I was not feeling great but decided to go on in anyway. Kent was staying home and got up about the time I was leaving. After I got to the ARC we got busy laying out clothes and setting up tables. Just as we were about to open the doors for the refugees to come in my world began to spin again. I made my way to the office to take more pills and sit down. After a half hour or so I was able to function and decided to go ahead with my meetings but I called Kent and told him I would call him when I was ready to come home on the metro and he said he would pick me up at the bus station so I did not have to navigate that also when I was feeling less than stable. I made it through my meetings and when I started the walk to the metro I called Kent to meet me. When he picked me up I asked how he was feeling and he said "Not too good, I went back to bed and slept most of the time you were gone". When I got home I ate a sandwich and then said I was going in to lay down a while. I slept for two hours and got up feeling a bit better although the headache I had been fighting all day had returned. We sat in front of our heater and watched a DVD together and then ate a bit of dinner. Kent was feeling pretty rocky and before long said he was going on to bed. Since I had a nap I wasn't sleepy yet and stayed up a while. When I finally went to bed I could tell Kent wasn't sleeping too well. I went to sleep only to be awakened by the cramps again. Once again I was up and down trying all my little tricks such as drinking vinegar and eating mustard. As soon as I would drift off it seemed I would get another cramp and be up again. Finally at 4:30 they eased off and I felt like I would get some sleep. At that point Kent who had been coughing a lot got up and began to dress. I questioned him and he said he was getting up because he felt like he was going to choke lying down. I got up and found him the Greek version of Mucelex and went back to bed. I woke up at 7:30 with a headache and decided I should get up. Just as I was rising Kent came in and said he was going back to bed and he is still asleep. Ah the glamorous and exotic life of a missionary!

As I said, we have been running at full capacity at the refugee center. I have been spending a lot of time in the children's room and we can barely move around between the chairs. On Tuesday after the family mea,l we as usual invited everyone to stay and learn more about Jesus if they wanted to. We had 35 kids who stayed to hear the bible story in Farsi. I was amazed that although the room was full the kids were very attentive and engaged as our friend "G" a young Afghan Christian shared the story of Moses and the burning bush. After the story "G" asked questions and many hands went up to give the answers. We did a craft and then worked on coloring pages. Toward the end of the day when there were only a few children left in the room I noticed that one little boy was singing to himself as he colored. It was such a sweet sound and I was struck once again of how we offer a place of peace and safety to these kids whose lives are often filled with uncertainty and strife.

We have been seeing an increase in unaccompanied children and recently there has started an alarming trend of refugees whose families are separated pretending that a child is alone in order to have children's services take charge of them in the hope they will reunite them with the parent who has gone on ahead. This means that the children are kept in a hospital for a time and then a group home. Of course the parent who is there (usually the dad) cannot visit because children's services think the child has been abandoned. This is confusing and scary for the children and we worry that if people are successful in this - in other words if the child DOES get sent on - then more and more people will try this as a way to get their children out of Greece.

We recently had a real praise. We had all been quite concerned for a little boy who is 9 years old. His mother and sister had moved on to Austria leaving him behind with his father. His father decided to return to Iran and "A" was left here alone. He is a very sweet and trusting child and when he told us of his plan to go on to Austria by himself we were worried to say the least. We began to pray that God would protect and provide for this child. This last week another woman was moving on and she took him with her in order to leave him in Austria with his mom. Praise the Lord! Unfortunately there are many other children, especially boys from 10-14 who are traveling on their own. Please pray that God would surround and protect these vulnerable children who are part of this mass of humanity seeking somewhere to call home.

Pray also for our friend "G" the young man who helps out with the kids program. He has been very discouraged lately by his inability to get a red card which would give him some form of legality here and protect him from being arrested for not having proper papers. He has gone many times and slept on the street outside the police station in the hopes of being interviewed and accepted. The other day he was saying "Because I am telling the truth they won't help me". Other people are lying and cutting themselves to pretend they have been attacked so they will get priority. I believe God wants me to tell the truth but it is hard to see others who are lying be accepted." "G" is seeking to be a man of integrity and to grow in his relationship with God. He is a great help to us and we would ask you to pray that he would be granted the papers he needs to be accepted here. Please continue to also pray for the country of Greece, their government and our Greek brothers and sisters. Thank you for your support that allows us to continue to be involved in this work. We are always aware of you our extended team - you are truly reaching out to the nations. 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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us
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 :)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Morley Update 2012 #6

Everyone,
Since Valentine's Day was this week I had planned to write this update about Love, This is the 40th Valentines Day that Kent and I have celebrated as a couple. Those years have been filled with love. Sometimes it's the giddy romantic love that prompts poetry and romantic get aways. Sometimes its the comfortable love that says "I can relax and be myself because I'm with my best friend". Sometimes it's the nurturing love that makes chicken soup or brings you 7up and Tylenol when you're sick. Sometime it's the forgiving love that can look beyond the action and see the person that you love and respect behind it. It's a love that chooses Intimacy over Issues, Relationship over Retaliation and Co-operation over Conquest. It's the love that says "I CHOOSE to love you even when I'm not sure I like you at the moment". Coming to the mission field was actually one of the most challenging times for our marriage. Adjusting to culture, language and ministry combined to leave both of us feeling unsure of ourselves and less than competent. This led to irritability and a general sensitivity to anything perceived as critical. I can only remember a VERY few times in our marriage that we have really blown up at each other one of them was after we had been on the field for several months. At that point we stepped back and said "God has called us here, God has called us to be together. So what do we need to do? We spent some time again going over a book on Marriage. We purposed to spend time together and to exercise more patience and less eye rolling (me). Some of it was just holding on until the storm passed and we began to find our place and to learn to navigate in this new environment. We've now been here over 3 1/2 years and though there are still times when we struggle with culture, changes on the team and in ministry or just physical weariness, we would not change our lives for anything. We are so blessed to have each other and to still be in love after all these years.

Now on to other matters. Several people have requested that I explain what is happening in Greece and why there are so many riots and so much unrest. Although I don't pretend to understand it all very well myself here is what I can tell you. Like many other countries, for years the Greek Government went on a spending spree. They borrowed heavily and spent freely. There was also much corruption in the government - people being paid highly for jobs they were not doing and government officials were taking money designated for certain programs and using it elsewhere or to line their own pockets or the pockets of those who supported them. In order to fund all these government programs they kept raising taxes and because people perceived these taxes to be unfair they began to find ways to falsify earnings and avoid paying them. Tax evasion became the norm rather than the exception. This of course caused more of a deficient. Eventually things came to a head and the Greek debt is now at 160% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The European Union in trying to keep Greece afloat has provided a bailout package but it comes in installments with certain requirement for cutting the deficient that must be met each time in order to receive the next installment. These austerity measures have included cutting public sector jobs, raising the retirement age, doing away with bonuses, trying to privatize businesses that have been government run, and cracking down on tax evasion while raising taxes yet again. As is always the case when trying to weed out corruption and streamline government there are people who are caught in the middle through no fault of their own. The unemployment rate is soaring, businesses are closing, people living on pensions are seeing those shrink away and hard working Greeks are wondering how long they can hold on. There is anger, frustration and despair. Whenever there is a new set of cuts being implemented there are large demonstrations protesting what is seen as injustice. Greeks are proud, independent people and it is very hard to have other countries dictating to their government how to run the country. On the other hand the European Union is not going to continue handing out money without making sure that necessary steps are taken to ensure that Greece will do what it needs to in order to become solvent again. Whether that is even possible is the big question. Whenever there is a demonstration there are groups that use these gatherings as an excuse for violence and rioting. Once the rocks start getting thrown and the police begin to retaliate it often escalates into the types of things you are seeing on TV with building beings burnt, property being destroyed and people being hurt.

How does all this affect us? On an emotional level, our hearts break for our Greek brothers and sisters who are suffering during this time. For people losing their homes and businesses, not being able to feed their families and feeling a sense of despair. Our hearts break for our refugee friends who used to be able to find a bit of work here and there to get by but now in the face of high unemployment for Greeks can find nothing. Our hearts break as we see some Greeks become increasingly antagonistic and even violent towards refugees who are seen on a further drain on an already struggling economy. Our hearts break for refugees who wait months sometimes years for someone to look at their papers, hear their case and maybe allow them to move on. On a practical level, we don't feel in danger. We almost always know ahead of time when and where demonstrations will occur and can avoid these areas. When there are strikes such as the recent 48 hour transportation strike its makes our lives more difficult in terms of getting downtown to the center to go to work and it means that refugees who come in that day will have had a long walk to get there. The general economic situation means we are seeing higher numbers on Saturdays when we are open to all and you don't need a ticket to come in for the day. It means our rooms are more crowded, our chairs are all filled and the controlled chaos becomes a little less controlled and a little more chaotic. It also means that many Greeks who have been faithful in financially supporting Helping Hands are giving more sacrificially or not being able to give at all. So far we have not had to make any program cuts and we rest in the knowledge that where God leads He will provide.

Pray for Greece. Pray for the Government to be honest and to do what is best for the country as a whole. Pray for wisdom for the leaders as they make hard decisions. Pray for the people that they will pull together and support each other in positive ways during this time. Several churches have started food pantries to help out those who are suffering financially. Pray for protection for refugees and for others who can get caught up in the violence. Pray that God will provide for His work here and for safety and protection around our building. I hope this gives you a little bit of a picture of how things look through our eyes. Thank you for being a part of what God is doing and for your faithful support. 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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: https://www.iteams.org/us
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 :)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Morley Update 2012 #5

Everyone,

After a good week in MA with family (two of our children, our grandchildren and my sister) I am back home in Greece. It was nice to see our daughter and son-in-law's new house and to help my daughter cover her dining room chairs. I enjoyed doing crafts with my grandkids and spending a girls night at my sister's home with two of my daughters and my granddaughter. My quest to find an out of service provider to buy my medicine from and thus get my deductible covered was unsuccessful. I found out that in MA you can only get Enbrel by mail order which is automatically covered at 80% and doesn't apply to my deductible. I then spent hours on the phone trying to find a non preferred provider in New Hampshire or Rhode Island. I thought I had found one once and was giving him my information. I told him we lived in Greece but the address on my insurance is International Teams Headquarters so it is an Illinois address. He said, "So let me get this straight, you live in Greece, you are in Massachusetts and you are from Illinois." I said "Actually, I'm from Oregon but my address for my insurance is Illinois". He then asked for the information for the pharmacy that was holding my prescription so he could contact them. I said "Okay, they are in Omaha, Nebraska" He started laughing and said "Am I on Candid Camera?!" After all this we found out he WAS on the preferred provider list so they would not apply any of the cost to my deductible if I got the medicine from him either. SO I can get my medicine here and will have to pay the $2500 deductible but after that it will be covered at 100% which I am very thankful to have.

The weather in MA was sunny and pretty warm while Athens suffered a cold snap and even got some snow while I was away. I came home to rain, wind and cold. I am thankful that I did my laundry before I came home since I would have to hang it inside to dry in this weather. Hopefully we will go back to our sunny skies soon. I have a couple of days at home before I hit the ground running which I am thankful for since I am feeling a bit jet lagged today. Friday night we have community group and then on Saturday I have a long day. I have to be there an hour and a half early to do orientation for a large team from France. Then we have tea house and Seekers Bible Study after that. Kent survived the week at home well and even hosted a team fellowship while I was gone. I am glad to be back and look forward to getting back into my regular routine. Thanks for all the prayers for my travels.

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
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 :)