Morley Update 2010 #31

Everyone -

I know you are thinking - "has Myrna completely lost it and thinks it is Tuesday again already?" Well even though I couldn't get to sleep until 2:30 because it was 98 degrees in my house I am not that crazy. As I mentioned in my last update. Kent and I are going to take Tues. and Wed. next week off and be gone Sun.-Wed. I don't know whether we will have email so wanted to just send you a quick little note about a wonderful day we had this week. Those of you on facebook will have heard some of this.

When the ARC is open we have shower days for women and children one day and for men one day. Since we have been closed of course there has been no opportunity to do that. Recently Tasha found out from a couple of our women friends that they had not showered in a couple of weeks because there are so many people living in their house that they can not get in to the bathroom for long enough even for a quick cold shower. I decided to open my home for a women's shower day. On Thursday we invited 5 Afghan women and 11 of their children to come for showers, food and fellowship. When the women got there of course even though it was almost 100 degrees out they had on long sleeves and head scarves. The head scarves came off first. I was wearing a tank top - something I would never do at the ARC so said "Here you don't wear scarves and we don't wear sleeves. One of the older women stood up and took off her long sleeved shirt and just had on a sleeveless top underneath. Soon all the women taken off their long sleeves and shoes and were relaxing on the balcony talking and laughing. Several women on our team had crafts and coloring for the kids and my toy box was soon emptied onto the living room floor. The women and children took turns taking showers and I did laundry for a couple of the women in between. We snacked on fresh fruit from the laiki and homemade cookies. Late in the day I got out a huge Greek Salad I had made that morning and we ordered souvlaki. After we ate the kids sat quietly watching a video and a few of the little ones napped. The women sat around talking more quietly and were the picture of relaxation. It was truly wonderful to be a part of.

After the women left Tasha and "Z" stayed behind so "Z" could skype her sister in Australia. The twin (2 year old girls) were tired and restless. They wandered out on the porch and discovered a bucket half full of water. At first they just swished their hands around. Then the started splashing each other and giggling. It finally ended up with us giving them cups and they and everything on my balcony were soaked. They were having such fun and it was the perfect ending to a special day. I am attaching a couple of pictures.

The next day as I swept and mopped floors and wiped up sticky hand prints I was once again thankful for the house the Lord has provided for us through you. If it were not for your faithful support we would not be able to do the kinds of things we do for refugees or for the team. Thank you SO much. You are truly a blessing to us and to those we are here to serve. 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 Support:
Online go to: www.iteams.org/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 2010 #30

Everyone,

Today was our first day back at work after our Greek class. We finished the class on Friday but since we did a 60 hour class in 30 hours we have a lot of studying still to do before it all settles into our brains. I was amazed however, on Sunday how much more of the song service I was able to understand. I have been trying to watch a little Greek TV (soap operas) each day as well. I can see a difference in my understanding although I am far from understanding everything. Greek soap operas are a lot of yelling so hope I am not picking up bad words!

Kent and I are both very tired since our class and feel we need a few days to catch our breath. We didn't want to be gone this week however, since we feel a bit out of touch with the team and ministry. So we will work this week and then will take two extra days and have a four day weekend next week. We normally have Sunday, Monday off but will take Tuesday and Wednesday as well. We plan to go to a nearby island and snorkel.

I wanted to let you know about some changes in ministry responsibility that are happening for both of us. I, Myrna will be taking over communications and organization of short term teams. This will be a good fit for me because although my arthritis is doing pretty well, I can't keep up with a full work week. This gives me something I can do at home on the computer with my feet up. It is also something I can do when I am at home preparing for hosting people (refugees, team mates and short term people) in our home.

Kent will be stepping into more of a pastoral role on the team. He will meet bi-monthly for care meetings with each team member, as well as oversee team fellowships and prayer days. He has also taken over managing the team fund which we all contribute to monthly and use for retreats or special team events.

Kent and I will both still be very much involved directly with refugees but also see the importance of member care and facilitating short term teams. After all several members of the team, including Kent and I, started as short termers. Please pray for us as we transition into these new roles. Also pray that our Greek will continue to find its way into our long term memory. Pray for the work on our building. We are still hoping to be back in the building some time in August. Pray for the events we are doing outside the building during this time. We look forward to returning to a somewhat normal schedule if there is such a thing in this ministry! Thank you for all your prayers for us during our time here. I can't believe we passed our two year mark on July 10th. 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 Support:
Online go to: www.iteams.org/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 2010 #29

Everyone,

I just realized it was Wednesday and I usually do my updates on Tuesday. My mind is swimming with Greek and the days run into each other. Last week we had class every day except Sunday (although we did homework that day) for three hours every morning. Then after class we always have at least 4-5 hours of homework sometimes more. On Friday we will finish the 2nd level of the Greek course that most of us take here. It is a 60 hour class and we are doing it in 30 hours! That means a LOT of study time on our own. Once we finish we will still have plenty of studying to do to get these things set in our minds before we attempt 3rd level in the fall. Even though it has been hard at times it has been a fun class as well. We have done some extra things like learning Greek worship songs and singing them at the end of class. We are SO thankful for our friend Mnlista who came on her vacation time to teach us. I am sorry not to write more news but my life these last two week has consisted of only Greek class. Thanks for praying for us during this time. We are not only surviving but actually learning. 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 Support:
Online go to: www.iteams.org/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 2010 #28

Everyone -

This update is a day late because yesterday we started our 9 day INTENSIVE Greek class. After spending the morning (9:00 to 12:30) in class, Kent and I took a 1/2 hour lunch break before starting on homework. We worked until 6pm when we took another 1/2 hour dinner break before continuing with homework until 9:00pm. Kent still had to get up early and finish a little this morning. Today we had class again from 9:00-12:30 and ate a snack while we worked on homework. I finished at 5:30 and Kent is still at it at 6:00. At the end of this we will either be speaking Greek or dead - I'm not sure which!

In defense of our lovely teacher she is giving up vacation time from teaching school to volunteer her time with us for these two weeks. We have asked her to pile on the homework because we want to get as much finished in this time as we can. There are five of us in the class. Some of us naively thought that we could still participate in some ministry besides class but it is quickly becoming apparent that this will not be the case. Our team leader is in full support of this and we thank our team mates who are working a bit shorthanded these two weeks in order to give us this chance.

We continue to have ministry outside the ARC. We have had a beach day, a women and children's outreach, a feeding with gospel presentation, and a men's outreach. We are having two Farsi women's Bible studies, plus home visits and park outreaches. The renovations on the ARC are coming along but we will see how soon we are able to use the building again. I will close because my brain is very tired and I need to fix us something for dinner. We would appreciate your prayers over the next couple of weeks - our old brains need all the help we can get!


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 Support:
Online go to: www.iteams.org/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 ;}