Morley 2013 #2

Everyone,

We are now a full week into the New Year. We finished up our Christmas break and went back to work. The weather has gone from sunny and warm to snow and back to sun again. We enjoyed our Christmas decorations but packed them away for another year. After a month of indulging in Christmas sweets and constant festive meals we are back to eating sensibly again (most of the time). It's time to get on with life.

Tuesday was our first day back at work and it was bitterly cold. It snowed on and off all day. There was no heat in the ARC and I stood by the open front door shivering in my heavy sweater and gloves and greeting people as they came in. It was good to be back and see familiar faces and be greeted by hugs, kisses and squeals of delight from the kids. There was no heat in the ARC (it is controlled by the owner of the building) so though we welcomed people in it was still very cold. I was glad we were serving hot bean soup that day. It was filling and helped to warm people up. We have small heating units in the kids and baby room but with the constant opening of the door to let people in and out it only took the edge off the cold. We had 30 kids that day which meant we had 6 small tables surrounded by kids with just room for us to squeeze between them. We told the story of creation again and talked to the kids about what it means to be made in God's image. God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness......all the things we were created to be. We also talked with the kids about stewardship of the earth and how man was told to take care of the earth. After the lesson the kids colored a book on creation that one of our short term teams (thanks Glad Tidings) brought to us. We encouraged the kids to take it home and tell the story to their parents, siblings and friends. Several of them brought their book to show me and practice the story when they finished.

By the time the day had ended I was not feeling well - I think I just got overly chilled. I felt feverish and could not stop shivering. When we got home I got in the bed with my hair dryer (I run it under the covers to warm me up) and stayed there for two hours while Kent built a fire and tried to get the living room warm. We don't use the heat in our house because it is too expensive so we just use our fireplace. After the fire was going good Kent heated my fleece pajamas up and I came out by the fire. I only lasted a couple of hours and started shivering again so went to bed for the night.

Yesterday the weather was much better but we still had a fire all day to take the chill off. We had team meeting and team fellowship at our house. During the team meeting we looked at how things were going with Michales and his group of kids. You may remember I asked you to pray for him and his "band of urchins". These kids have at least one parent here but are allowed to roam the streets all day and have been a problem for us and many ministries. We all agreed that the time Michales is spending with the kids has been well spent. The girls have now integrated into the regular classroom and are doing very well. This gives Michales a chance to work with the boys who are older and really need a male role model. Everyone on the team agreed that we needed to continue with whatever was necessary to keep this program going. Thank you for praying for these kids - it is making a difference.

It was nice to have most of the team together again for Team Fellowship last night. Several are still gone on furlough but we enjoyed the food and fellowship as we gathered as a group once again. As always I am so thankful to have a home that accommodates the whole team and other groups that we host.

Today is sunny and I sat on the balcony to do my Bible study this morning soaking up the warmth. We enjoyed our break but are glad to be back in a routine and "about our Father's business" again. Thank you all for your love and support over the last year and we continue to look forward to what God has for all of us in 2013. We love you all.

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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