Last Update from Greece

Everyone,



Yesterday the walls that once rang with laughter and the sounds of Farsi, Greek and English now echoed hollowly with only our footsteps and the swish of the broom as we swept up the bits of packing paper left from the movers. As we walked through our now empty house I thought back to the fun we had painting, choosing light fixtures and dumpster diving for extra things with which to furnish our house. Some of these things, like the little tile table and big trunk from the front porch are making the journey back to America with us. I remember the day we placed the verse on our wall that said "Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations.." I believe God WAS exalted among the nations in our home. We had people from the Sudan, Nigeria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kurdistan, Morocco as well as placed like France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia and the Czech Republic eating and staying in our home. Women and children took showers, played games, did crafts and had chances to hear about Jesus in an environment that was safe for them to ask questions. Men came to sit around our table and be fed with physical and spiritual food. They too had times to relax, to play games, to just enjoy themselves and times to hear truth and to ask questions. Prayers and songs went up in English and in Farsi. There was laughter but there were also tears as people shared the pain of separation from family and friends or the inhumane treatment they had received at the hands of evil men. In our home for a short while these men and women we able to be a peace.



We had the privilege of hosting many different interns over the years. Several of these interns have ended up on the mission field, for security I will only use initials but, "T" and "A" are in Albania, "H" is in Turkey with her husband "C", "L" is in Laos, and Lindsey just joined our team here. Many of the short term teams who came through also visited our home which gave us a chance to share our story and the stories of some of our refugee friends. I will miss communicating with interns and short term teams but am thankful for Kenn Dirrim who is doing such a great job in taking that over. God is raising up those to stand in the gap, if indeed we leave a gap. Yesterday we spent a little time with Nick and Kirsti (Sorry if I spelled that wrong) Nick has volunteered for us off and on when he was visiting here from Finland. Now they have moved here and are going to volunteer for a time with an eye to joining the team. We already know Nick and his gifts and that he will be a huge asset and after meeting Kirsti yesterday I am sad that we won't be here to serve with them - I know we would be friends. There is a couple coming from Germany to serve for six months and they will stay in an apartment that Helping Hands and 3rd Evangelical Church are going to maintain for short term workers. Some of our furniture and all of our appliances went to that apartment. Another couple on the team bought our grill and I know they will use it to cook for the team and for many refugee friends as they already are. My puppets and some of my costumes are staying behind so they can continue, as they already are, to be used in the ministry here. The new leadership team is in place and Christy who has been shouldering that burden alone will be able to take a much needed furlough at the end of November knowing that "M" and Kenn along with Nikos will be on the job.



Kent and I are both tired. We are physically tired from packing and moving boxes. My back is still bothering me. We are emotionally tired from saying goodbyes both to people and things. Kent sold his bike yesterday and our little blue car which faithfully hauled so many things, like couches and double beds, on its crazy roof rack. We had many adventure in that car traveling all over Greece. Sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. Most memorable are losing the keys for 2 hours at Corinth, losing Christy's suitcase off the roof rack on Kythnos, and our crazy trip the Methana where we got lost on back roads for hours finally arriving at the town to discover that if got it's name Methana from the Methane gas that rises from the sulfur springs which give the whole city the smell of rotten eggs. We have seen most of the people we need to and are going in to the ARC today for one last time. We will finish cleaning the house and running a few errands. Tomorrow we will be at the airport at noon to say goodbye to Greece and to begin a new chapter in our lives. We will stay with our kids and grandkids on the east coast until Nov. 4th when we will return to Portland OR. After that we are not sure how it will all work but we intend to eventually settle in the Eugene area. We will keep you posted. Again thank you for staying with us through this arduous journey. It hasn't been easy at times but we wouldn't have missed it for anything.




Serving Him Together,

Kent and Myrna Morley
backhoeboy1@gmail.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: www.iteams.org select: US, Select: What do you want to do, Select: 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 :)

morley update

Everyone,



Well time is flying by and we are living in the midst of boxes, boxes, boxes. We have packed most of what we can that we are not using. The cupboards in the main bathroom, the extra bedroom, the sewing/craft room and the living room are empty as well as the filing cabinet and the desk drawers. We still have kitchen stuff that we are using, our clothes and quite a bit of glassware that we didn't have boxes for to pack. We have been trying to decide between two shipping companies hoping that one of them would come down a bit in price. We were staggered at the cost of shipping our things home. We even considered just leaving everything behind but we have so many things with sentimental value like our big oak desk that was my mom's desk when dad had the logging business and then when Kent and dad went into business together, We also have the spool bed that Kent's dad slept in as a child and then Kent had and then was our first bed as a married couple. Kent has his beloved Gas pump and we have boxes of antiques some family and some that we have picked up along the way. We started adding up the cost of just shipping these things and then replacing the other furniture and we found we were pretty much at the same cost anyway so decided we just had to bite the bullet and go for it.



Last night the team had a celebration going away party for us. We were moved as people shared different things with us about ways we had touched their lives. At the end we sat in two chairs and they gathered around to pray for us. I had a flashback to 2006 when we were finishing our 3 month short term trip here. We sat in chairs then as well and the team gathered around. I remember Nikos particularly praying that God would send us back to Greece. Now 8 years later God is sending up back to America. There have been tears, ours, people on the team and refugee friends but we know that this is God's leading and His timing. We are ready to be settled and begin a new chapter in our lives. Please pray for us as we finish here. We have a busy week ahead as we see a few more people, finish packing and take care of necessary paper work (always a joy in Greece). We have sold our bike and our car and most of our furniture that we wanted to sell. We still would like to sell our two big couches but if they don't sell we will ship them home. We will go back to the condo in Portland where we were staying before we came here for a time until we find a place in the Eugene area. Please pray with us about that as we are not sure what that will look like. At this point we are planning to look for a house that needs to be refurbished and fix it up to resell. It is something we have wanted to do and we did this to our own house before we came to Greece. We had planned to try and live in the house while doing the rehab but after such a long time of living out of a suitcase are not sure we can handle living in the midst of a complete mess again. We have considered buying a larger travel trailer or motor home and living in that while we do the house or possibly buying a second house that needs only cosmetic work that we could do over time. All this is predicated on us being able to get financing which has been a bit of an issue since we have been out of the country for the last 6 years. We would prefer not to have to rent somewhere because that is just money that has no return on it. We know that Lord has the right place for us and will open doors as the time is right. Pray that He will show us what is best. You could also pray for my back. It was bothering me before I came and has been made worse by all the packing. Some days I do okay but there have been a couple days that I have just had to be on the couch quite a bit. I have a back brace which I can wear and got some muscle relaxants from the pharmacy which seem to help. Thank you for standing with us during this time. I picture marathon runners coming in to the last mile, tired but with their supporters lining the way, giving them water and urging them on. You have been there for us through out this journey and we could not have done it without you. 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
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: www.iteams.org select: US, Select: What do you want to do, Select: 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 :)