Ministry Update: February 13, 2008

Big News:

• Our daughter, Betsy is engaged to Luke Freiler and planning a November wedding.  See www.betsyandluke.com for more information.

• Kenn is retired as of January 17, 2008.  The good news is that starting February we will have a regular income to supplement our donor based income.  The bad news is that we still don’t know how much it will be and we did not get the settlement for the back pay owed to us.  We have to file an appeal (and wait some more). 

• We finally have internet access in our home!  Look for us on Skype.

On the ministry side, we continue to be overwhelmed with new refugees.  We are seeing 20 to 50 new refugees every time we are open.  Many are Afghanis who had settled in Iran and have recently been forced by the government to move on, but when I gave meal tickets this week, I also enrolled many refugees from Gaza (a Palestinian territory), Iraq, Sudan, Algeria and Georgia (a former Soviet state, now a country).   There isn’t enough food, or milk or pampers or clothing or just about anything to meet the needs of these desperate people.  I can now say “no, we don’t have any right now” in several languages.  Yet, somehow in the midst of this chaos, the ones that are truly spiritually hungry are finding their questions answered in Jesus.   You see them intently watching the Jesus film or pilfering literature from the literature rack because they don’t want anyone to see.  Then they begin to ask questions or show up in a Seeker’s class or at Persian Christian Fellowship with an appetite for more than just food.   I watched one lady sit with teammate, Kallie in the office.  Kallie would read words from her Bible in Greek and the lady would read the same passage from her Bible in Farsi and back and forth they would go, without a single word of common language between them.   Saturday, the 23^rd, there will be a baptism after Tea House in the sea for those that want to publically declare their commitment to Christ.  Pray for our ministry here.

I have started taking Farsi lessons from Sahar’s mom (our neighbor), “mama Khamrani” along with Ella (Nader’s wife).  I’m really liking it and am anxious to be able to communicate better with the Afghani women and children with whom I spend most of my time.  I am continuing to learn Greek on my own.  Kenn is taking a government Greek class, 2 nights a week.   Most of our time outside of tea house and language classes and shower ministry is spent developing staff (coaching and encouraging and communicating and planning).   There is so much to learn about how to be an “international” team.   We had a great conversation recently as a team about how to communicate “care”.  In some cultures, saying “thank you” in the typical American way can be offensive and not communicate care in the way it was intended.    Honestly, about 2/3s of us sitting around the circle were shocked to hear that.  We have so much to learn and don’t even really know the right questions to ask sometimes.  Pray that God would give us wisdom.

Thanks for being part of our prayer team (meant…only to those of you who actually appreciate hearing “thank you”….for the rest of you come see me in Greece and I’ll give you a big hug).

Things I've learned in Greece

• Popcorn should only lie in a single row in the bottom of your pot if you don’t want it fly all over the kitchen. Who knew? My previous experience was only with “jiffy pop” on vacation and microwave popcorn at home.

• Toddlers don’t steal tables. I spent the better part of 20 minutes thinking I’d lost a table out of the baby room in the chaos of Tea House only to discover it broken and waiting to be repaired on the back balcony. This story is the source of endless humor among my teammates
• Instant coffee should not be percolated with a filter. Enough said. When you can’t read the label in Greek, it wasn’t immediately obvious that I had instant coffee (to a non-coffee drinker).
• Eggs don’t have to be refrigerated. They sell them on the shelf, not in the refrigerated section here in the grocery stores here and you can buy cute wire baskets to keep them in for your counter top. I still keep mine in the refrigerator (not sure why), but they don’t have to be if you eat them fresh. How many chickens do you know with refrigerators?
• When you buy olives in bulk fresh at the open market, you bring them home and store them in olive oil. It makes perfect sense, but I just didn’t know.
• In Europe, as a renter you own your own light fixtures, carpets (and none of it is wall to wall carpet), appliances (including the stove and oven) and in some homes even the cupboards and closets. This explains so much about IKEA.
• Cookie sheets in Greece come with your oven and you can’t buy them anywhere else because every oven is a slightly different size. They slide in like a rack or broiling pan. Looking for something non-stick? You don’t need it. Parchment paper is cheap here and everyone uses it on the metal sheet and nothings sticks to the paper. You just throw it away when you are finished. If you are really good, you can slide the paper off the cookie sheet with the cookies still on it, to your cooling rack without ever touching a spatula.
• I should have paid more attention on how to convert centigrade to Fahrenheit in school and how to convert inches to centimeters. In Europe, everything is metric and in Greece all power outlets are 220 (and require a transformer to use most appliances you might bring from the US). Transformers are specific to the wattage of your appliance, there is no “one size” fits all.
• The whole Bible thing about “daily bread” means that most of the world buys their bread (or makes it) daily without preservative, just what they need, just what God provides. There is no need to keep one in your freezer, or to stock up at the grocery store because you can always get more fresh bread at your neighborhood bakery if you need it, 7 days a week warm and fresh. Why would you want old bread when you can have fresh? I’m getting good at slicing bread thinly and evenly. I’m getting even better at actually believing God is able to supply my daily bread….daily.

My 1st Christmas in Greece

You are looking at the highlight of my Christmas season. I spent an entire Saturday with the refugee girls that I went to camp with in August. We met the bus on a stunningly sunny December day in downtown Athens. We loaded up and drove an hour outside of town to a retreat facility. We started with a snack in the kitchen and quickly moved to a craft time. We made glow in the dark stars intended as Christmas tree decorations, although most became necklaces and bracelets. Next we went to the outdoor ropes course. This included a climbing wall, high rope and a zip line. Some were fearless, others terrified. Most finished. After this we had lunch and then a time of outdoor games. During free time we played volleyball. I am the most un-athletic person ever. The thought of me teaching volleyball to children (successfully) was a truly amazing moment. They wanted so badly to learn and to play. The day ended with a magician who performed slight of hand and told a gospel message. You could have heard a pin drop, so intent was the concentration on every word out of his mouth. After the presentation, we gave Christmas gifts to each child. At the end of the long day, we took the bus back to Athens, and then I took the train back to my bus stop and got on the bus to go home. As soon as I got on the bus, the sky let loose and it poured rain as hard as I have ever experienced. I was so grateful that the children had a day in the sun to just be kids. This was the kick off to the Christmas season.

On the heels of this event, we had 3 Christmas dinners (Farsi, Arabic and everyone else). We had about 100 refugees each evening. They heard a Christmas message in their language and then we served dinner. After dinner we gave gifts. Kenn hosted a table and I hid a in room and packed age/gender approrpriate gifts for each person at each table which were distributed by the table host. This was fun in a crazy sort of way. We had several each night respond to the gospel presentation and want to commit to follow Jesus.

Our last Christmas event was hosted by Mattel toys. They came to Tea House on the last day we were open before Christmas. They nearly caused a riot with their kindness. Too many people, not enough toys. I was working in the baby room, hiding really. I had just given my friend Maryam earplugs for Christmas. She wasn't sleeping well with 8 people in 1 tiny apartment, when a sweet little 4 year old Afghani girl, named, Kobra, crawled up in my lap and opened her gifts with me. Her mom was busy with her other siblings and she just needed some love and attention. Ever since that day, every time she sees me, I get hugs and kisses. She remembers.

Christmas in our home was less memorable. Our Christmas tree was on a boat somewhere with our other household goods being shipped. Our retirement income hadn't begun yet, so we didn't have any extra money for really anything extra...and on top of it I was sick with a cold, flu or some sort of secondary infection for the entire month, so I didn't really feel like investing much effort. That along with no home phone and no internet, left me feeling pretty disconnected with friends and family in the US. Christmas cards, though were a delight. We received lots of them and used them to decorate our house. We also had a package with Christmas stockings and decorations delivered right before Christmas.

We had dinner with friends on Christmas Eve with a traditional Australian meal. We exchanged gifts and had dinner with teammates on Christmas day in a home that was beautifully decorated for Christmas. In the end, Christmas wasn't really about the shopping, or the Christmas tree (I did decorate several of them for the Athens Refugee Center, so I didn't miss not doing my own), or the gifts you receive, it really was about God's gift; the gift of his Son, Jesus which makes possible the promise of heaven and the freedom found in forgiveness. I'm here because in Athens, there isn't an evangelical church on every corner, there isn't Christian radio, there isn't a Christian TV station. If you want to see Jesus, you have to see Him in someone like me or maybe like you. I'd love your company next Christmas. Would you like to come help with the parties?

Follow the link to see a few Christmas pictures. I mostly tried to avoid the camera, because I don't photograph well when sick....
http://picasaweb.google.com/LDirrim/Christmas2007?authkey=AG_YssrFY-8

Thanksgiving in Greece

I have many things to be thankful for this year. If there was any temptation to wallow in self pity, all I needed to do is to sit down with a refugee and hear her story. My new friend, Maryam (I’m OK using her real name, because just about every woman from Afghanistan is named Maryam after one of the prophet Mohammad’s wives). She speaks a little English. She left Afghanistan when they stopped allowing women to attend school. She finished high school in Iran, but was unable to attend university there because she was a foreigner. So she and her brother went to France, but were recently deported back to Greece. Her parents didn’t want her to travel alone (even with her brother), so they arranged a marriage for her (not sure when). She doesn’t really like her husband much. They are unable to have a child which makes her an outsider in a culture where woman exist for the sole purpose of making more men. She is either 20 or 27 years old. She has told me both, but her English isn’t very good. I’m thinking she is closer to 20. She claims to not like children, but day after day she sits with me in the baby room and interprets for me and keeps me company. Last Saturday, she introduced me to her husband. He didn’t seem all that unlikeable from my 20 second interaction with him, but I don’t have to live with him.

We had a family night at the ARC the Friday before Thanksgiving and she came as my family since neither of us had children to bring and I was expected to come. Her brother took one look at the many women and children in the room and left. Her husband didn’t come at all. That night we sat with my other Afghani friend, H’s daughter, M (age 15?). “M” is a talker in English and in Farsi. It was the first time Maryam had been introduced to an Afghani woman here in Athens and H’s daughter knows everyone. They spent the next 2 hours telling their stories (in Farsi). I followed some of it because I’d heard both stories before in English. They sat knee to knee, frequently touching their fingers together in compassion. Finally, they exchanged cell phone numbers and kissed. The 3 of us were oblivious to the family games and other events happening loudly around us for nearly 2 hours. They frequently stopped to apologize for not speaking in English, but the mother’s heart in me warmed to see Maryam have a friend to talk to in Farsi. It was my gift to her.

All of this to say, I’m grateful to have a husband I love and who loves me. I’m grateful for God’s gift of my children (and grandchildren) and I’m grateful for my new friends (and my old friends too). I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to go to college late in life (and to be able to explain to Maryam that it is never too late to go to school if that is really what you want to do).

We had the team over to our house for Thanksgiving. We brought in 10 foot tables and borrowed chairs from friends and neighbors. Just a simple American meal for 32… My friend, Kim sent a box of Thanksgiving decorations from the US and other teammates brought tablecloths and candles and lots and lots of food. We carved 4 small turkeys in my kitchen which I used to think was rather large, but it felt small that day. After dinner we had the non-USA teammates explain the story of thanksgiving. It was quite imaginative, and then the USA teammates explained the real story. Finally we watched the DVD, Madagascar with the projector on the wall. It was a fun evening. Follow the link to see pictures:

View Album Play slideshow
If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser:http://picasaweb.google.com/LDirrim/Thanksgiving2007?authkey=CF2bCmAoKac

The New Apartment

We moved into our new apartment on Monday, September 10th with a mattress. We got electricity on Tueday the 11th and a washing machine on that Friday. Our refrigerator and stove/oven came on Saturday along with the couch and love seat. We got light fixtures the following Monday the 17th and the phone was turned on while we were in flight back to California. We should get internet access in about 3 weeks. It is a bit like camping in our own home, but it is home and we love it. Click play sideshow below to see my pictures.

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Kid's Camp

This camp was unlike any camp I have ever been acquainted with. What sort of camp has some of the children come with just the clothes on their backs? What kind of orientation covers which children have been in prison with their parents and how to deal with children who have issues with grief over the loss of parents, homes and possessions? You will see the smiles in the pictures if you follow the link at the end of the blog to the photo album, but the smiles are the smiles of kids being kids at camp and are not indicative of what is "normal" life for them. If that isn't enough, my 5 girls spoke 3 different languages in their homes and none of those languages were spoken at camp. The common language at camp was Greek (what they speak at school, if they go to school), not Farsi or Arabic or Aramaic (the Christian language of Iraq). And what do I speak? English with a bit of Spanish and Greek.

After 2 days of orientation and preparation we are ready for the children to come. After not sleeping at all the first night, the 2nd night I slept at home. I needed a night of rest before the children came. I've pondered why I didn't sleep that first night. It could have been 15 women in a room, but it was mostly quiet. I was certainly tired enough. It was almost like the darkness in the room on Sunday night was spiritual darkness (some sort of evil) and I was uncomfortable closing my eyes so I spent the night praying for camp. this was my first jump outside my comfort zone.

On Tuesday, I went from home directly to the ARC to meet the kids waiting for the bus. This was our first clue how many would really come. We ended up with 39 kids and I ended up with the older girls and not the group I thought I would have. I didn't know this until the bus reached camp an hour later. They actually decide the camper assignments while we drive to make them fit the rooms and staff we have available. It was a good bus ride with sick tummies but no used "barf bags". These children have rarely ever been in a vehicle and are prone to motion sickness.

We arrive and the kids go to their rooms to discover the backpacks the team has brought them from Canada full of pjs, bathing suits, flip flops, tooth brush, camp shirts and clothes for the week...everything you as a mom would have packed if you were not a refugee and didn't have it to send. Later while they are in the group session, stuffed animals and flashlights will appear on their beds. The campers who has previously been to camp knew this was coming. This was my first camp, so I was surprised and a little clue-less. During the group session, Shamissa became very homesick and started crying. Militsa took her back to the room by herself to talk and I needed to keep the other 4 out of the room. Suddenly they all wanted to go bed. What sort of girls want to go to bed the first night early? Those who know there are gifts sitting on their beds, of course and that we are the only room in the camp who hasn't seen them yet! This made so much more sense when we finally got to our room later in the evening.

Our days were busy with group activities: water games, food crafts (decorating cakes and cookies for snack time), crafts (bracelets, pencil boxes that the Canada team would fill with school supplies), song time and drama. Each group prepared a parable of Jesus to present to the group. We had the "Sower and the Seeds". This led to a great spiritual conversation in our room about what kind of soil their heart was to the message of Jesus. Mariam talked about how her family studies the Koran and how her family wanted her to be Muslim. This might have been awkward until Diana spoke next about her family was Christian and wanted her to be Christian. Militsa led them through a great conversation about how your family doesn't decide for you, you need to make a personal decision about what you will do with the message of Jesus. Maria explained what the message of Jesus was to the others. I prayed.

I read a quote from Charles Stanley recently that commented on Psalms 33:15 "He fashions their hearts individually, He considers all their works." God has a kingdom niche carved out just for you. There are people He wants you to meet, lives He wants you to influence. He is tailoring your personality in such a way that you will hit it off with unsaved men and women who otherwise would never have the opportunity to experience a relationship with a believer. You are the instrument God wants to use to change someone's distorted perception of Christianity. You will be the one God uses to reshape someone's thinking and thereby perpare the way for salvation....

As I think about camp, I think about moments. Playing in the sea every afternoon trying desperately to keep track of my girls in the crowded water (we created our own crowd, by bringing 39 campers). Playing Greek playground games similar to "London Bridges" and some of the clapping hands sorts of games I learned as a child while we waited for the next activity. Dancing in the room late at night (before curfew) to music on Maria's cell phone. Those were times of laughter and silliness that seemed so healthy and healing...hopefully changing their distored perception of Christianity...Christians really can have fun even together with Muslims. The song times were really loved. Their favorite song was "we can know that God loves, we can know that God loves us, because He gave us His son, Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sins, His great love brings peace within..." One night there was a mutiny and they kept singing at the top of their lungs, acapella, after the musicians stopped playing. Watching Sabina and Adam whom I met 7 years ago on their first day in Athens, who have now spent time in prison with their mother for passport violations grow up. Sabina seems OK. Adams seems fearful when she is out of his sight for more than a few minutes. I think about Shamissa, Mariam and Zahra all who have parents who boycotted camp last year because of the Christian influence it had on their children the year before, but relented and let them come this year because the children were so sad to have missed out. Zahra found a Bible one day during song time and read it in a rebellious moment. She was surprised when I gave it to her. She spend most of map reading it in her spare time--even on the bus on the way home. I have no idea if her mom threw it in the trash when she got home. I pray not.

Camp really ends not when the kids go home on Friday, but at the reunion party, the following Tuesday. The kids perform their skits of the parables for their parents and sing their songs. We give them back the scrapbooks and frames they made at camp, but fill them with pictures taken at camp. At 7 pm, only Maria was there and I was concerned about how we were going to do our skit. At 7:30 I had two girls. By 7:45 when the program started, I had 3. Zahra walked in just as we sat. Mariam came in after the first skit. I had all 5 girls! Zahra was the narrator. She memorized the parable we acted out. She was the only student narrator. All the other narrators were adults. Militsa had gone back to Thessoloniki so I was in trouble if Zahra had not shown up. It was a very fun night and it was good to meet the parents. As I measure my success in kisses, this was a very good night as I had kisses from parents and students. I was sad to see them go. My Afghani's don't come to the ARC because of the Jesus film and Christian message.

I think I like camp. Follow the link and "view slide show" to meet my girls.

http://picasaweb.google.com/LDirrim/KidSCamp2007?authkey=HGda86SEWoE

A Typical Tuesday

After a quick breakfast, we walk to the bus stop. It takes 20 minutes for the bus to come and we ride it 22 stops down the hill and exit near the Ethniki Amyna metro station. Next we take the train about another 6 stops and exit near the plaka. From there we walk for about 15 minutes downtown to the the Athens Refugee Center. The morning temperature is around 80 degrees with a cool breeze blowing. It doesn't get any nicer than this.

Once inside we drop our stuff in the office and head to the kitchen. This morning we had 750 kilos of feta cheese donated that needs to be carried up the stairs, so we are a little late getting started. We need to prepare about 700 lunches. Someone has already cut and bagged enough cheese for the day. We place olives and pepperchinis in a baggie and tie it shut. We add the cheese, some arabic bread, a napkin and tie the lunch bag shut. Later someone will hand out a tomato with the lunch and a cup of hot, very sweet tea. Today, I am tying shut the olive bags. Kenn is moving cheese upstairs.

Next the chairs come off the tables where they were placed so that the floor could be mopped by the last person to use the room, which today was probably Persian Christian Fellowship on Sunday night. The games (mostly backgammon and chess) are placed on the tables and inspected to make sure the game pieces are there. The toys come out in the baby room and the craft supplies in the children's room. We take a break to pray for the day before the caos begins. After prayer we volunteer for roles for the day. Some will greet, some will hand out tomatoes. Others will pour tea or work with the babies or the children. I volunteer for the craft room with the older children, Kenn is in the kitchen pouring tea.

My day in the craft room lasts about 10 minutes until S is asking for me. She is my friend from Somalia. She wasn't there on Saturday, I thought perhaps she had found someone to watch the baby while she worked. There is plenty of help today in the craft room, so I leave for the women's area. The tea is served in an open room, but the Muslim men and women never eat together in public. The women have claimed a side near the baby room as their own and there I find S. She lets me hold the baby, who is wide awake. I had my camera on Saturday when she was gone, but don't have it today. She tells me she has found someone to watch the baby for a week...a friend from Somolia who is pregnant and due this week to deliver. Once her friends baby comes, she will not be able to take care of 2 babies, but hopefully by then she will have money to pay someone else. We talk about many things. Her mother is living in Kenya now. She is the 7th of 12 children ranging from age 9 to age 35. She wishes her mother would come to watch the baby, she has never seen the baby. We finally talk about the way she dresses. She is pentecostal and not Muslim (this explains so many things). I tell her I will pray for her. The baby is sick. She leaves early to take her to the doctor.

The craft room is doing fine, but the baby room is crazy busy. The picture of Saturday above shows a few children playing quietly and smiling for my picture. Today we had 5 nursing mothers with babies, 3 older children playing house under the table, 5 toddler boys throwing toys (happily, not with a mean heart), 1 crawling little girl, and 3 other girls coloring and an older boy with a broken arm trying to make the crawling little girl stop crying... all in a room that is 10 x 15 feet. It was absolutely crazy. I was trying to keep the little boys from letting their toys hit other people, but they were giggling and it is so rare to hear a refugee child really laugh that I just could not bring myself to make them stop. There is no common language between the boys, but it makes no difference they can still play and laugh together.

About 1:45 we cleared out the room for English class. We picked up the toys and I headed to the kitchen to check on Kenn. I helped him wash dishes. Later after everyone was gone, I swept the floor. By the time I was done sweeping the mops were all taken, so I didn't mop today, although some days I do. Sweet tea can make quite the mess on the floor by the end of a day.

By 4:15 we are have walked to the metro, taken the metro, taken the bus and walked up to our apartment. We are tired. We put dinner back in the freezer and order pizza. Pizza comes from Pizza hut on a bike, but they do deliver. It has been a good day.