Morley Update 2012 #37

Everybody,

Meet Michalis. Michalis and his wife Ritsa are Greek team mates who were originally called to Sri Lanka but due to visa issues ended up here in Greece and became a part of our team. Michalis has worked in several capacities: serving in the kitchen, traveling 2 1/2 hours each week to Patra to help a church there in their outreach to refugees, teaching Greek and spending one on one time discipling a young refugee who is a new christian and happens to be blind. In all of this Michalis has struggled a bit to know what the Lord had specifically for him in this ministry. Michalis likes children and often wanders into the kids room, many times with a toddler in his arms as he seems especially drawn to the little ones. SO who did God in His wisdom give Michalis to work with? Eight rowdy street kids ranging in age from 8-13. These kids each have a parent here but they are allowed to run wild in the streets all day every day. Frankly we (and other ministries as well) have sometimes dreaded seeing them come as they often cause trouble and are very hard to handle. A month or so ago Michalis made the decision to let them come up on a Tuesday (of course they don't have tickets) because we had extra food. He sat with them at a table and kept order during the meal. We (the children's workers) told him that we did not have room for them in the kids room and honestly did not have enough staff to deal with them. Imagine my surprise when I later walked into the office and there sat these kids in a row listening to Michalis talk with them using a German friend who speaks Dari as a translator.

Since then Michalis has taken these kids under his wing on Saturdays, often taking them out somewhere for ice cream or to play soccer in the park or whatever else comes to mind. He has occasionally brought them up on a Tuesday as well but this was causing an issue because now they were inviting friends (who have families) to come also and we don't have space for this many extras. Yesterday at team meeting we had a discussion about what to do with these kids. Michalis wants to keep working with them and everyone agreed that Saturdays worked well because it is a day when it doesn't matter how many people we have come in. Tuesday were a bit harder however. While we wanted to reach out to these kids we needed to know how many people were coming. There was also the issue of what to do with them. Michalis is willing to meet with them but many felt that the office was not a good place for them to meet since our purses, cameras etc are all stored there and stealing has been an issue for these kids in the past. We didn't want to put temptation in their way or set them up to be blamed if something turned up missing. We finally decided that Michalis would limit the kids on Tuesdays to the 8 kids who are the core group of kids wandering the streets. He would tell them if they wanted to invite friends they were welcome to do that on a Saturday. We said we would set up an extra table reserved for Michalis and his "family". Since all the other rooms in the ARC are being used during the gospel presentation time we are planning to set up chairs in our clothing room for the kids to meet there with Michalis. "C" the young blind man Michalis has been working with has agreed to act as translator. Right now Michalis just wants to provide a safe place where these kids belong. He wants to give them a sense of family and to teach them some basic ways to behave in addition to talking to them about Jesus. These children need to know that someone cares enough to spend time with them and that they aren't just "those kids" we dread to see coming but people we welcome and provide for. Will you pray for Michalis and his little band of urchins? We have committed to having Michalis work with these kids through the end of the year and then see where God is leading. We continually ask God to open our eyes to where HE wants to work - who knew it would be with a group of kids nobody wanted?

Seeing where God has placed Michalis is a good example of something that Tasha shared in our teaching time yesterday at team meeting. "God did not choose us because we are gifted. He gifted us because we are chosen." Every talent we have, every measure of strength, is a gift from the Lord to be applied to the job he has chosen for us. May we be neither puffed up nor disappointed but use those gifts faithfully in the work before us.

Thank you for supporting us in so many ways as we continue to serve among the refugees. Please continue to pray for Greece. Racial tensions are mounting. People are becoming more desperate as businesses close, jobs are lost and pensions and services are cut. We don't know where it will all end but are thankful that our trust in not in the powers and authorities that are seen but in God who is never surprised.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@gmail.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
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