Victory Youth

The team safely arrived in Athens yesterday! They went on a walking tour to see all the sites. 

Today we were blessed with the opportunity to visit the archeological site of ancient Corinth. Paul visited the church in Corinth on two of his missionary journeys. The first he stayed for 18 months and the second for 3 months. He left behind several hundred followers of Jesus. We had a special time of devotion here while thinking about Paul's ministry to the Corinthians. 

After ancient Corinth we visited the ancient port of Cenchrea. This is where Paul sailed from to go to Ephesus.

Acts 18:18

Our group baptized 5 participants here today. 

What an amazing blessing!

(You can see the remains of this port in the background of this picture)

This morning, we had the blessing of attending 1st Evangelical Greek Church in Athens. 

We had the privilege of joining the local church in Athens in worship and hearing the Word in Greek. Luckily we had audio headsets for translation in English. 

The team arrived at camp safely. The camp is situated on a peninsula which can only be accessed by boat. It's an unbelievable breathtaking way to go to camp!

We are blessed to be serving at Hellenic Ministries Camp Porto Astro. This morning we all woke up to a breathtaking sunrise. What a beautiful spot for morning quiet time with God. 

We are looking forward to serving the children that will be arriving at camp later this afternoon. 

There's lots to do to prepare and everyone has their rolls assigned. 

In preparation for the kids camp to begin, the team met to talk about all their roles to make the camp run smoothly. 

After each meal we have a team that collects and washes dishes for over 80 people here at camp. 

Our team has been so diligent to help out in each of their roles without any complaints. Everyone is is happy to help and also loving and encouraging to those around them. 

Our seaside activities team has been helping the campers with life jackets, paddle boards and canoes. 

Our dinner prep crew are busy slicing and dicing to prepare for another delicious meal tonight.

In preparation for swim time, we organized the life jackets before the campers did their swim test and had swim time. 

We've had so much fun and have been enjoying our time together while serving and seeing the beauty of Greece. At the camp, we are not allowed to take pictures of the children per EU rules but we've been able to have a lot of interaction with the children as we play with them and encourage them. 

Morning craft time was fun and almost as fun was had by the clean up crew!

We were able to enjoy some early morning coffee with Hamza, our camp chef, friend and man of God. He told us many stories of God's provision for the camp and his family. 

Our team all wore their t- shirts today. 

As we wrapped up our final evening of camp events, we had an opportunity to pray for our church pastor and the other ministry leaders. 

They do an awesome job of ministry here at Camp Porto Astro and back in Athens at Kypseli church. 

This morning, we thoroughly cleaned up the camp and packed up to leave after seeing off the campers. The boat took our luggage and then us. 

Thank you for coming so far from home to serve with us in Greece. We loved serving with everyone on the team and getting to know you all. We will be praying for safe travels and blessings as you arrive home.