Reports from our team in Athens
*******
Dear Praying Friends,
We have completed our first day at the Athens Refugee Center, where we had a chance to serve more than 400 refugees. Everyone there has a heart-breaking story that simply takes a long time to sink in. I'd ask that you take the time to read through Scott McCracken's e-mail below, which describes the story of just one refugee at the center. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Joseph today, and his story leaves me speechless. His experience highlights the struggle many of these refugees are enduring, and the doubled danger for many of them if they choose to follow Christ. Would that my faith would be so great.
So, please keep praying for us! And especially for the refugees that we and the team will be ministering to this week. The totality of the human need is overwhelming, but God asks us to take one step at a time and reach out to one life at a time. Pray that God gives us the strength, wisdom, and courage we need.
In Him,
Phil Hajduk
Stop for a moment and REALLY give this some thought...
* If your father rejected you as his child, and would have nothing to do with you or your family, because you had different political/religious beliefs, how would that make you feel?
* If your political adversaries burned down your house, forced your wife and small children into constant flight to find refugee in the homes of a few friends and relatives willing to risk sheltering them, how would that make you feel?
* If your political adversaries were seeking to kill you, and put a price on your head across the national media outlets, how would that make you feel?
* If you received REGULAR reports of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who were being killed in terrorist attacks, how would that make you feel?
* If you were stuck in another country (with unfamiliar language, unfamiliar culture, and no opportunity to legally work), trying to find a safe place for you and your family to live, separated from your wife and small children for more than a year and a half, how would that make you feel?
* If neighbors, relatives, and others in your home country were gossiping and slandering you for "deserting your family to have a good time in the west", how would that make you feel?
* If you tried several times a week to talk to your family on the phone, but you could only squeeze out a few sentences in a 20-minute call because you and your wife are crying so hard neither of you can speak, and your children won't even talk to you because they are angry that you have left them, how would that make you feel?
* If your initial request for asylum was rejected because you were viewed by the authorities as an economic migrant or a "tourist" (in spite of SUBSTANTIAL evidence to the contrary), how would that make you feel?
* If no other countries were willing to consider your case because your file in Greece is still considered "open" (until your appeal is answered), how would that make you feel?
* If you became a follower of Jesus, worthy of disownment, torture, and/or death in your own culture, yet God seemed silent when you prayed to Him about all your difficulties, how would that make you feel?
NOW...if ALL of these things were true in your life (all at the same time), how would that make you feel?
Angry? Bitter? Frustrated? Furious? Depressed? Confused? Discouraged? Hopeless?
Finally, imagine...after experiencing all of these circumstances and emotions...you choose to FORGIVE! You forgive your adversaries for how they have destroyed your country, your culture, your family, your life. You forgive your father, your friends and relative who will not help your wife and children. You forgive your wife for the anger she is projecting on you. You forgive those who are gossiping and spreading lies about you. You choose to forgive because you have experienced the forgiveness of God! You find it such a revolutionary and powerful "weapon", you want to share it with others. You want to translate books about forgiveness and have them distributed in your country, because you believe the forgiveness and life-changing power of God through Jesus is the only answer to the devastatingly evil destruction of death and violence that you grew up in.
Thank you for your part in helping us reach the nations for Jesus, one refugee at a time.
Grateful,
Scott and Vicki
*******
Greeting from Greece!
Today our team helped serve at Persian Fellowship - a time of preaching, a meal, and simple fellowship for Farsi-speaking refugees in Athens. These refugees were truly our guests, as we prepared the food, set the tables, personally served them, and simply hung out with them afterward. There were more than 150 Afghan refugees today - men, women, and children of all ages. There was a message given in Farsi by an Afghan missionary. While I don't speak Farsi, he shared with us beforehand that he would be giving a message on the Sermon on the Mount. What a powerful passage - how the poor, the meek, the mourning, and the persecuted all have access to the Kingdom of Heaven right here and now even in the midst of their circumstances. Based on the animated conversations afterward, the preacher hit a nerve with many, and the missionaries boldly shared the Gospel with any who were interested, Go back and read this message from Jesus (Matt 5:1-11). Imagine reading it as a refugee, without country or home, living in destitute conditions in Athens. The Good News of Jesus transcends borders, heritage, language, financial status, or other worldly circumstances!
Since we don't speak Farsi, our team was a support network - working in the kitchen, helping with the children, serving tea, picking up dirty dishes, cleaning bathrooms, and other glorious tasks. But we sat back and knew that, in our small way, we were enabling the missionaries to go and visit with our Afghan guests and not worry about all the logistics. And we want to thank *you* for supporting *us*, and enabling us through your prayers to practice this "ministry of presence."
Serving in Him,
Phil Hajduk
*******
Kalimera!
I think that's how you spell it anyway. It means "Good Day" in Greek.
We started a study for the trip called "God's heart for the Nations," which takes a detailed look at how God's heart is (and always has been) for all people, of every tongue, and from every nation to come to know him as the Only God and to praise Him alone. We read of passages in Revelation where it talks about people of every race praising God in unison, but this has always been difficult for me to imagine. Well, our team got a little taste of that today. We went to church at the Internation Christian Fellowship (ICF) and worshipped with people from Jamaica, the Philipines, Albania, Nigeria, Canada, Kenya, Ghana, Russia, Romania, and many more (the USA was cerainly a minority there). So many different voices and tongues, all singing the same songs of worship to a God who is no respector of borders.
The message was also on Acts 17. Go look that up and tell me it was not more than appropriate! We saw the place mentioned there later in the day.
Please continue to pray for our strength and courage. Everyone is holding up well so far.
Thank you all!!
Serving in Him,
Phil Hajduk
*******
Alpiners and Friends,
Well, today was a day of going deeper with smaller numbers of refugee friends.
Ed and I spent close to seven hours talking and doing a Bible study with a Sudanese and Pakistani man. Having a former Catholic, a Jewish beliver, a former Baptist, and two former Muslims made for some of the most interesting discussions of the Bible that I have had in many moons. We were also able to share our testimonies with these men, to pray for them, and to encourage them. The Sudanese Mr. Ali is a highly intelligent man who knows the Quran better than most Muslims, the Bible better than most Christians, but does not accept either faith. He respectfully challenged us in many areas, but in the end he is waiting for God to show him that Christianity is true. Our Pakistani friend Dr. Joseph (from a previous e-mail), is a new believer to whom God has spoken through visions and dreams. Very challenging to our Western view of God, but an awesome demonstration that God is alive and well deep in the Muslim nations. So, please pray for Mr. Ali, that God would soften his heart to the Gospel, and for Dr. Joseph, that God would protect him and his family from the Taliban (who have put a price on his head).
Kathy, Sara, and Roberta spent 6 hours doing "shower ministry" with some women refugees. This is time when the refugee center is open to only a small number of women and their children (no men!), which radically changes the relational dynamic. The refugee women took over the kitchen and made a traditional Afgan dish (that took 4 hours to prepare!), the showers were available to the women and children, they played with the kids, and I heard there was even some dancing going on. To be able to offer this time of respite for these women and their children was a true blessing and a powerful ministry. Please pray for these refugee women that they find the love and support they need during their time in Athens, and that they come to know the love of Jesus through this ministry.
Please also continue to pray for our team, that we have the strength to finish the race well. We have two more days of serving until we come back stateside!!
In Him,
Phil Hajduk
*******
Friends,
This morning, we held our grocery giveaway. Some of you may recall that we hosted a luncheon link at Alpine several months ago, with the donations to be used to meet a particular need when we arrived in Greece. The missionary team here decided that the most urgent need at the moment was an allotment of food and groceries for some of the most desperate refugees. On Monday, Roberta spent a good portion of the day shopping. On Wednesday, our team spent the morning packing. And today, we gave it all away.
Consistent with the missionary philosophy here of going deeper with fewer, 30 different refugees families who were without homes and living in parks were personally approached by a missionary here and invited to come to the ARC (the Athens Refugee Center) to receive a special gift of food. They came up the center family by family, where we personally greeted them (by saying "Salam" in Farsi), and gave them a pull-cart chock full of rice, beans, milk, oil, tomato sauce, salt, and other basic groceries. We walked them to the door, and said goodbye with "Khoda Barakat Shomah," which means "God Bless You" in Farsi. Through the gifts from Alpine, we were able to present on behalf of our Church family a tangible gift of food and blessing to 30 families in need here. In addition, we were able to buy enough groceries to almost completely fill their cupboards, so that even more families will be helped by the gifts you provided. So, thank you! You are a part of what we're doing here in Greece!
This evening, Ed and I served at the "Men's Shower" ministry, much like the women yesterday. We were particularly moved by one man's story - Hassan. Ed and I were able to spend some time talking to him and praying with him about his situation and his hopes and desires. God has placed a real burden on our hearts for this man, and we are prayerfully considering how else we can encourage him - all to the praise and glory to Jesus. Please pray for Hassan and our ability to follow the Spirit's leading as we share God's love with him.
One more day to go...!
Phil
*******
*******
Dear Praying Friends,
We have completed our first day at the Athens Refugee Center, where we had a chance to serve more than 400 refugees. Everyone there has a heart-breaking story that simply takes a long time to sink in. I'd ask that you take the time to read through Scott McCracken's e-mail below, which describes the story of just one refugee at the center. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Joseph today, and his story leaves me speechless. His experience highlights the struggle many of these refugees are enduring, and the doubled danger for many of them if they choose to follow Christ. Would that my faith would be so great.
So, please keep praying for us! And especially for the refugees that we and the team will be ministering to this week. The totality of the human need is overwhelming, but God asks us to take one step at a time and reach out to one life at a time. Pray that God gives us the strength, wisdom, and courage we need.
In Him,
Phil Hajduk
Stop for a moment and REALLY give this some thought...
* If your father rejected you as his child, and would have nothing to do with you or your family, because you had different political/religious beliefs, how would that make you feel?
* If your political adversaries burned down your house, forced your wife and small children into constant flight to find refugee in the homes of a few friends and relatives willing to risk sheltering them, how would that make you feel?
* If your political adversaries were seeking to kill you, and put a price on your head across the national media outlets, how would that make you feel?
* If you received REGULAR reports of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who were being killed in terrorist attacks, how would that make you feel?
* If you were stuck in another country (with unfamiliar language, unfamiliar culture, and no opportunity to legally work), trying to find a safe place for you and your family to live, separated from your wife and small children for more than a year and a half, how would that make you feel?
* If neighbors, relatives, and others in your home country were gossiping and slandering you for "deserting your family to have a good time in the west", how would that make you feel?
* If you tried several times a week to talk to your family on the phone, but you could only squeeze out a few sentences in a 20-minute call because you and your wife are crying so hard neither of you can speak, and your children won't even talk to you because they are angry that you have left them, how would that make you feel?
* If your initial request for asylum was rejected because you were viewed by the authorities as an economic migrant or a "tourist" (in spite of SUBSTANTIAL evidence to the contrary), how would that make you feel?
* If no other countries were willing to consider your case because your file in Greece is still considered "open" (until your appeal is answered), how would that make you feel?
* If you became a follower of Jesus, worthy of disownment, torture, and/or death in your own culture, yet God seemed silent when you prayed to Him about all your difficulties, how would that make you feel?
NOW...if ALL of these things were true in your life (all at the same time), how would that make you feel?
Angry? Bitter? Frustrated? Furious? Depressed? Confused? Discouraged? Hopeless?
Finally, imagine...after experiencing all of these circumstances and emotions...you choose to FORGIVE! You forgive your adversaries for how they have destroyed your country, your culture, your family, your life. You forgive your father, your friends and relative who will not help your wife and children. You forgive your wife for the anger she is projecting on you. You forgive those who are gossiping and spreading lies about you. You choose to forgive because you have experienced the forgiveness of God! You find it such a revolutionary and powerful "weapon", you want to share it with others. You want to translate books about forgiveness and have them distributed in your country, because you believe the forgiveness and life-changing power of God through Jesus is the only answer to the devastatingly evil destruction of death and violence that you grew up in.
Thank you for your part in helping us reach the nations for Jesus, one refugee at a time.
Grateful,
Scott and Vicki
*******
Greeting from Greece!
Today our team helped serve at Persian Fellowship - a time of preaching, a meal, and simple fellowship for Farsi-speaking refugees in Athens. These refugees were truly our guests, as we prepared the food, set the tables, personally served them, and simply hung out with them afterward. There were more than 150 Afghan refugees today - men, women, and children of all ages. There was a message given in Farsi by an Afghan missionary. While I don't speak Farsi, he shared with us beforehand that he would be giving a message on the Sermon on the Mount. What a powerful passage - how the poor, the meek, the mourning, and the persecuted all have access to the Kingdom of Heaven right here and now even in the midst of their circumstances. Based on the animated conversations afterward, the preacher hit a nerve with many, and the missionaries boldly shared the Gospel with any who were interested, Go back and read this message from Jesus (Matt 5:1-11). Imagine reading it as a refugee, without country or home, living in destitute conditions in Athens. The Good News of Jesus transcends borders, heritage, language, financial status, or other worldly circumstances!
Since we don't speak Farsi, our team was a support network - working in the kitchen, helping with the children, serving tea, picking up dirty dishes, cleaning bathrooms, and other glorious tasks. But we sat back and knew that, in our small way, we were enabling the missionaries to go and visit with our Afghan guests and not worry about all the logistics. And we want to thank *you* for supporting *us*, and enabling us through your prayers to practice this "ministry of presence."
Serving in Him,
Phil Hajduk
*******
Kalimera!
I think that's how you spell it anyway. It means "Good Day" in Greek.
We started a study for the trip called "God's heart for the Nations," which takes a detailed look at how God's heart is (and always has been) for all people, of every tongue, and from every nation to come to know him as the Only God and to praise Him alone. We read of passages in Revelation where it talks about people of every race praising God in unison, but this has always been difficult for me to imagine. Well, our team got a little taste of that today. We went to church at the Internation Christian Fellowship (ICF) and worshipped with people from Jamaica, the Philipines, Albania, Nigeria, Canada, Kenya, Ghana, Russia, Romania, and many more (the USA was cerainly a minority there). So many different voices and tongues, all singing the same songs of worship to a God who is no respector of borders.
The message was also on Acts 17. Go look that up and tell me it was not more than appropriate! We saw the place mentioned there later in the day.
Please continue to pray for our strength and courage. Everyone is holding up well so far.
Thank you all!!
Serving in Him,
Phil Hajduk
*******
Alpiners and Friends,
Well, today was a day of going deeper with smaller numbers of refugee friends.
Ed and I spent close to seven hours talking and doing a Bible study with a Sudanese and Pakistani man. Having a former Catholic, a Jewish beliver, a former Baptist, and two former Muslims made for some of the most interesting discussions of the Bible that I have had in many moons. We were also able to share our testimonies with these men, to pray for them, and to encourage them. The Sudanese Mr. Ali is a highly intelligent man who knows the Quran better than most Muslims, the Bible better than most Christians, but does not accept either faith. He respectfully challenged us in many areas, but in the end he is waiting for God to show him that Christianity is true. Our Pakistani friend Dr. Joseph (from a previous e-mail), is a new believer to whom God has spoken through visions and dreams. Very challenging to our Western view of God, but an awesome demonstration that God is alive and well deep in the Muslim nations. So, please pray for Mr. Ali, that God would soften his heart to the Gospel, and for Dr. Joseph, that God would protect him and his family from the Taliban (who have put a price on his head).
Kathy, Sara, and Roberta spent 6 hours doing "shower ministry" with some women refugees. This is time when the refugee center is open to only a small number of women and their children (no men!), which radically changes the relational dynamic. The refugee women took over the kitchen and made a traditional Afgan dish (that took 4 hours to prepare!), the showers were available to the women and children, they played with the kids, and I heard there was even some dancing going on. To be able to offer this time of respite for these women and their children was a true blessing and a powerful ministry. Please pray for these refugee women that they find the love and support they need during their time in Athens, and that they come to know the love of Jesus through this ministry.
Please also continue to pray for our team, that we have the strength to finish the race well. We have two more days of serving until we come back stateside!!
In Him,
Phil Hajduk
*******
Friends,
This morning, we held our grocery giveaway. Some of you may recall that we hosted a luncheon link at Alpine several months ago, with the donations to be used to meet a particular need when we arrived in Greece. The missionary team here decided that the most urgent need at the moment was an allotment of food and groceries for some of the most desperate refugees. On Monday, Roberta spent a good portion of the day shopping. On Wednesday, our team spent the morning packing. And today, we gave it all away.
Consistent with the missionary philosophy here of going deeper with fewer, 30 different refugees families who were without homes and living in parks were personally approached by a missionary here and invited to come to the ARC (the Athens Refugee Center) to receive a special gift of food. They came up the center family by family, where we personally greeted them (by saying "Salam" in Farsi), and gave them a pull-cart chock full of rice, beans, milk, oil, tomato sauce, salt, and other basic groceries. We walked them to the door, and said goodbye with "Khoda Barakat Shomah," which means "God Bless You" in Farsi. Through the gifts from Alpine, we were able to present on behalf of our Church family a tangible gift of food and blessing to 30 families in need here. In addition, we were able to buy enough groceries to almost completely fill their cupboards, so that even more families will be helped by the gifts you provided. So, thank you! You are a part of what we're doing here in Greece!
This evening, Ed and I served at the "Men's Shower" ministry, much like the women yesterday. We were particularly moved by one man's story - Hassan. Ed and I were able to spend some time talking to him and praying with him about his situation and his hopes and desires. God has placed a real burden on our hearts for this man, and we are prayerfully considering how else we can encourage him - all to the praise and glory to Jesus. Please pray for Hassan and our ability to follow the Spirit's leading as we share God's love with him.
One more day to go...!
Phil
*******
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