Our short month in Greece was truly the best way to end my time on the Race. Team Happy Team had an incredible month of ATL (Ask the Lord) with one of our squad leads, Jackie! Our days were filled with shared meals, new friends, coffee shop adventures, Bible studies, and bringing a ministry mindset wherever we go whether it be to the kids of Streetlights or our sightseeing trips.
We started with a two-day travel extravaganza from Romania to Greece filled with plenty of trains, buses, and metros. We had an amazing afternoon in Vidin, Bulgaria where we were able to explore the town and have lunch on in a cute boat restaurant in between trains.
We love a good spontaneous adventure.
To kick off our ATL month, the whole squad got three days in a hostel in Athens to spend time praying, resting, and discerning how our teams would spend the month. We also had some time to do some sightseeing and shopping around the Plaka, the main market in the heart of Athens. After the three days were up, the three teams dispersed around Greece. One team headed to a small nearby island, another to a town near Corinth. Team Happy Feet threw around lots of different ideas, but we struggled to find a plan that made sense and fit into the vision the Lord had given us. We spent an extra day in the hostel to give us some more time to figure things out. The afternoon that we had to leave; our path was made crystal clear – stay in Athens.
I’m so freaking obsessed with this girl. Love you, Clauds! I’m so glad we got to go on a little adventure together before our teams split up.
Wow! We found an arch!
We even got to celebrate Addie’s birthday with her! We went up to the acropolis, ate some baklava, and took some fun photos. Later in the month, we celebrated Sav and Stewie’s birthdays as well!
Jackie ended up finding us a little apartment in the north of Athens through a YWAM contact. The apartment belongs to an organization called Streetlights which works with refugees from Afghanistan. They have a community center on the floor below the apartment which allows refugee families to connect with each other and kids to hang out in a safe space. We spent a few of our ministry days downstairs with the kids, playing games, doing puzzles, and drawing pictures.
Here’s to hoping that we didn’t get paint on the table…
We got to know some of the families pretty well. Two of the moms and their three kids moved in with us for the last few days, which was chaotic, but also a very sweet opportunity to give the three girls some extra love. They were some of the regulars that we had often spent time with at Streetlights, so we already knew them quite well.
I’m not sure why the apartment had a collection of diving goggles but here we are.
One of the other families that we became close with invited us over for a traditional Afghan meal. We got to enjoy an incredible meal with them, play with their two young boys, and learn some new card games. Before we knew it, we were waddling home with full bellies and hearts. Another family invited us to a beach day on one of our last days which was a wild adventure.
This meal was incredible!
On days that we weren’t hanging out with the kids and their mothers, we planned other ministry opportunities. We set aside plenty of time for prayer and made sure that each time we stepped out of the apartment, we were intentional with every interaction and completely interruptible.
We became regulars at a coffee shop called Taza and were able to form a friendship with the barista. It was a sweet and simple way to be a part of the community and invest in someone.
The muffins were amazing!
Steph, Sav, and I signed up for a two-day sightseeing bus tour. We took one day to go to a beautiful beach where we spent the day resting, worshiping, praying, and building sandcastles. We were all waiting for the Lord to call us to act, but He just told us to stay put and enjoy the day. In the evening we met up with the rest of our team and went out to dinner in the Plaka. We met the most incredible waitress named Eva who I immediately clicked with. She taught us some Greek, joked around with us, and sent us home with plenty of leftovers and a new friend. I’m still in contact with her and so grateful for her friendship! Afterwards, we ran into a group of short-term missionaries who had just flown in and were able to swap stories and give them some advice. It was amazing to see how the Lord prepared us for a full night with a wonderful day of rest.
Question of the day: am I a bucket hat girl?
The second day of our tour was filled with more adventures and more amazing people. One of the tour guides, Terry, was super kind and told us where to find the best ice cream while we waited for the bus. We saw the major sights in Athens and spent the evening at the port. We met more waiters and tour guides and bus drivers who we got the chance to intentionally have conversations with.
So fun! And of course we sat on the top deck every time!
The laidback ATL schedule also gave us plenty of time to work on our personal ministry things and pour into each other. As a team, we would start our days with a Bible study. We decided to go through the books of Thessalonians together a chapter a day. Thessaloniki was heavy on both mine and Sav’s hearts as we were trying to figure out a plan for the month. For a while we thought that we would go up to Thessaloniki for at least part of the month, but then the Lord called us to stay in Athens. We decided that the Bible study would be the best way to stay connected with the city even if we couldn’t physically be there.
Studying 1 and 2 Thessalonians together was really cool.
We also took time in the evenings to share our testimonies. It’s one of the best ways to get to know your teammates and know how to support and love them in the way they need to be.
I got to share my testimony on the roof!
Our easy-going schedule also left time for fun cooking. Sharing meals together is such a great bonding experience especially when you get to be together for the whole process – the grocery shopping, cooking, eating, and cleaning up.
Sav surprised us all one nice with a beach themed dinner – so cute!!
These crepes were everything… Jackie is truly a master chef.
Besides getting to share incredible meals as a team, we also would share little adventures together throughout the day. One of the most memorable ones for me was when we went for a sunset walk and found a beautiful spot that overlooks the city. We all quietly took in the beauty on our own while enjoying each other’s presence without a word.
I could have sat there all night.
Both Sav and I have the storytelling internship with World Race, which means that I always have plenty of blogs to write and she has tons of photos to edit. We often took our work as a chance to check out coffee shops and enjoy the town. On top of all the World Race stuff, Sav also started writing a book during our first month in Costa Rica and asked me to be her editor! It’s been quite the exciting process and I can’t wait for the day when I get to invite you all to read her finished work!
I can’t even believe I get to be in the same room as this future best-selling author much less that I get to help her edit her book!
My personal goal for this month was to really learn to embrace the whole idea of “ministry is life and life is ministry.” Instead of having set times for ministry, Sabbath, and adventures every day, I really wanted to be able to do them all well at the same time. I wanted to work on organically going through life while keeping my ears and eyes open to whatever the Holy Spirit calls me to.
I got to practice this a lot when we took an overnight trip to Aegina, the closest island to Athens. We took an early ferry to make sure that we would have as much time as possible to enjoy everything on the island. Steph and I started our morning sitting by the sea and painted rocks. As we wondered about for the rest of the morning, taking pictures under the umbrella street, doing some unnecessary shopping, and eating way too much food, we placed the rocks around the port to hopefully bring some extra joy to anyone who stumbles on them.
Hopefully these rocks are enjoying their new homes!
Steph, Cass, and I then took the afternoon to bike to a beach and soak up the sun. We had a great time enjoying the clear water and getting sand in our Bibles. We also put a bubble machine I bought to good use and took some hilarious selfies.
There’s just something about a beach that really allows me to feel and see God in every way.
We ended our day with an amazing dinner and a sunset walk. We made our way to an old lighthouse and had a fun photo shoot while taking in the beauty of the coast.
Our feet sure were happy!
Sav is really getting this photography thing down!
On day two of our island adventure, our team started the day with the biggest breakfast ever. Sav and I got our own dishes and also shared an enormous pistachio crepe. The island is known for its pistachios, so we tried all sorts of pistachio butters, pestos, and treats. Cass and I then rented an ATV and spent the day seeing the sights. We checked out the Temple of Aphaia where we became friends with the security guard and a lady from Germany.
The lady from Germany was kind enough to take some pictures for us.
We then made our way down to a little fishing village called Perdika where we sat on a rocky beach for a while. We talked, prayed, listened to music, and read our Bibles together. On our way back to port to catch our ferry, we tried to find an ancient olive grove which resulted in lots of pushing the ATV up hills, tripping over rocks, and getting lost. We laughed the entire way.
THIS VIEW!
Overall, our time in Greece was an incredible way to end the Race. We got to practice what it means to live on mission even when you’re not an established missionary. We got time to rest and process and enjoy the beautiful world that the Lord has created.
Cheers to Greece!
Yesterday, we flew back to the States and man, it’s good to be back! We had some issues with the airline… mainly that they took off our bags because the plane was too heavy. So please be praying that we get our luggage soon! We have a week left of the Race in Georgia where we’ll be getting some lessons about adjusting back to life in America and doing some more debriefing. I can’t wait to be back in Colorado!
