Libertas Classical Christian School

Welcome to Athens!

Καλώς ήρθατε στην Αθήνα!

On our way we passed the Corinth Canal, a 4 mile wide canal that connects the Corinthian Gulf, and the Saronic Gulf.

The Canal was built and finished 1893. In the days of Paul, cargo was brought from one side to another side and even ships were dragged over land. This made Corinth big. It was located perfectly.

Hiking

We hiked to the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite and enjoyed a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.

Enjoying Greek food for lunch while overlooking Ancient Corinth

Jonathan shared about the Bema (judgment) seat that Paul was at in Acts 18 when Sosthenes brought Paul before the proconsul Gallio

This is the exact place where the apostle Paul stood. The pillar in front of the Bema seat. In the background the Akrokorinthos. The bema seat is all about honour and shame. One day we will all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.

After Corinth, Paul set sail here to Syria. He shaved his head and made a new commitment to God. Some of the boys went swimming. It was a great day in Corinth. Time to go back to Athens and enjoy a good Greek meal.

We ate at one of our favourite restaurants, the food was overwhelming and we had a view at the Akropolis of Athens through the window.

We walked back through this area called little kook. It is full of lights and decorations. Beautiful.

We ended with a team meeting, sharing highs and lows from the day

Today on our way to our partners church we took a few seconds to look inside the Greek Orthodox church. It was crowded. For the orthodox it is Palm Sunday.

The children of the church played out the story of the resurrection. Beautiful.

Libertas was asked to sing a few songs of worship. Wilson introduced the school and we were so happy to be part of the worship of our new found brothers and sisters of our partners from Athens Christian Center.

We had several worship songs sung in Greek and also in English. It is a small church with people from many different countries. Pastor Altin did the sermon in Greek and his wife Eirini translated everything in English.

We joined in a beautiful potluck luncheon hosted by the church. Lots of food and good conversations!

We climbed onto the top of Mars Hill and Jonathan shared with us about the Apostle Paul and how he stood in front of the Areopagus and shared about the “unknown God”

You can read this story for yourself in Acts 17:16-34

Pictured is Omonia Square

Our group has divided into two groups and today half of our group is exploring Athens while the other half is helping with a ministry

Waiting at the metro for the rest of our team

We’re prepping for a youth outreach event with games and pizza for the local community.

Team two went to the Good Samaritan. A place of many different Ministries under the wings of Hellenic Ministries. We are preparing for Easter. Tomorrow there will be many children and mothers coming.

We did several different things. Hanging balloons, gift bags, decorations, and cutting Easter eggs.

She showed us around the building. She is from Kenia and working het for 11 years. We saw women ministry, second hand cloths, lessons writing for women, language lessons, children groups, clothes washing, doctors, dentist, and workers from many different countries.

After the lunch the two teams joined again on the way to Athens Christian Center for a youth rally.

No pictures to be taken when the children arrive. They are from multiple different countries including Muslims.

The children are all upstairs and we give them time to meet each other. Including our students there are about 60 kids upstairs at the moment or maybe more. They make a lot of noise and have lots of fun. This is the same church we visited yesterday and they invited many from the neighborhood. Big success. And they are planning to do it more often.

The adults connected with the women. Many from Nigeria, some also Kurdish and other countries. We played games, did crafts, introduced ourselves and talked with them. Also we saw the Jesus video and shared the gospel. We celebrated Easter. They were very happy.

At Good Samaritan the girls did children's programs. They, for example sang, did face painting, dancing, and crafts in different age groups. There were about 40 children. According to the workers of The Good Samaritan it was a great time, and the girls of Libertas did a great job.

After the work we went to local farmers market.

Today part of our group helped with a ministry center near a refugee camp. We couldn’t take pictures throughout the day out of safety for the refugees, some who could receive death threats if associated with a Christian organization.

Here the students were learning about the space and what to expect throughout the day.

Inside the refugee ministry center, there’s a children’s play area, where they’ll play games, read stories, and share Jesus’ love with the children who come

After ministry in the Good Samaritan, our half of the group did a small tour through Athens. Over 150 years here is the meat market, a big area where everyone sells meat. Around the block is fish market and yet a bit further the spices market.

On our tour we visited this ministry. They empower refugees and have their own professional brand, selling clothes made by the refugees.

In the 1830s this trilogy was established: library, university and research centre.

The tour ended at the Greek Olympic Stadium, 100% marble, rebuilt for the 1896 Olympics on the foundations of 2500 years ago. There were torches of many Olympics in the museum. A historical peace of art.

Before dinner both teams rejoined, and with the debrief we had again a lot to share about what we noticed during the day and all the great things we were involved in.

Today we traveled to Northern Greece and spent some time exploring an old monastery in Mount Olympus.

Today we hiked on Mt. Olympus - the boys stepped right up and helped us all cross a stream

We ended our travel day with a nice dinner and some parea (a Greek word - roughly meaning to have fellowship and just enjoy being together)

During the hike we stopped at the waterfall and two of the boys went in. It was not cold, only the water in the bottom. The mountain was beautiful, covered with trees and flowers and the top was full of snow. Almost 6000 feet high. We didn't see the 12 so called gods that were said to live here. Our God reigns.

We started our day by setting up tables at a refugee care center. We will help serve a hot meal and visit with refugees later in the day

Stuffing croissants with chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella) to be served with lunch for the refugees

Libertas sang some songs and after that we were introduced and the gospel was shared in Greek and Arabic.

One of persons we met was Athanasei from Georgia . We connected with him in Russian and he was so happy to know we Christians like him. There were about 180 people maybe, and most of us shared the love of Christ with some people and served them, doing dishes, and cleaning

Before we allowed to go they wanted a picture with us. It was a blessed time.

George took us on a walking tour. These are from the Roman times.

His brother in law established the city, naming it after Alexander's sister, Thessaloniki. Victory over Thessalia, because she was born on the day they conquered Thessalia.

The Walking tour led to the waterfront, where we saw Mount Olympus.

Still, after dinner and debriefing, there was small group that went up to the upper town. We saw the old city walls, which dates back to 4th century B.C.

The monastery gave us great views, and we saw a glimpse of the Akropolis of Thessaloniki.

We visited the port village of Kavala (Neapolis), where the Apostle Paul came on his way to/from places such as Philippi and Thessaloniki

See Acts 16:11 for mention of Neapolis, which was the ancient name for this city of Kavala

Baptismal site of Lydia

We all gathered at the site where it’s believed that Lydia was baptized (see Acts 16:14-15) and Jonathan shared a brief devotional with us

The ancient theatre of Philippi

We had a small devotion on the subject. Bringing the gospel has a risk. Yet, Paul was singing in prison , because he knew that God would work it out for His glory.

Follow me, as I follow Jesus.

Paul obeyed the calling on his life.

Greek cooking lessons with Dora and two grandmothers. We made our own tzatziki, salads, pastitio and halvas. Great experience.

Michaelis was helping with instructions and gave us history lessons about how fantastic Greece is and was.

Their daughter taught us how to make tzatziki. A famous Greek recipe. It was great fun.