Wrapped Up...

Hi everyone,

Sorry that this post is so delayed. I wanted to post one more time to show you what we did as a team at the end of our trip, but was too busy or didn't have wifi after we left the camp. So here are a few pics of our final days together as a team in Greece

(Here's a quick pic of our campsite, just so you have an idea...)

We packed up camp and left Isthmia Campground to head to the Acrocorinth. We drove about 3/4 of the way up the mountain, and then hiked (in extremely hot weather) to the top and marvelled at the ancient ruins and beautiful views.

After that we were running out of time to catch our ferry to Poros, so we skipped Epidavros. We headed straight to the port and took the 10 min ferry ride to the beautiful island of Poros where we had some down time to process and debrief.

 After Poros, we took the ferry to Athens. Melissa lead us in a service where we talked about some of our God moments of Operation Joshua and had some time in prayer.

We landed in Athens and headed straight to the Acropolis. We checked out the Acropolis Museum first, and then wandered around the ruins.

Unfortunately while we were parked near the Acropolis one of our group's cars was broken into. Everything was taken, including cameras, a jacket, toiletries, cell phone chargers, and Ellen's passport :(.

That night we spent on the Morning Star, Hellenic Ministry's boat, and the next morning we were off on our own!

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It was truly an incredible experience to be a part of Operation Joshua. I think everyone learned a lot about themselves as well as how God can work through each of us. I'm sure many of you will be hearing about the individual stories that each of us have! Thank you so much for following along with us and I know that I can't wait to return to Greece someday!

-Anna

Operation Joshua comes to a close

We have completed Operation Joshua! Over 100,000 bibles were distributed to more than 800 villages! It was an amazing experience and has been really cool to hear about the different God stories throughout the week. We are praying that we will have had a positive effect on the people of Greece and were able to touch the hearts of at least a few.










And we were able to witness the baptism of one of our own! Yesterday Linda was baptized in the Aegean sea!



Now we have packed up camp and are heading to visit the Acro Corinth and then the ancient theatre at Epidavros. We will take the ferry to Porosity and stay there for two nights, and then one day in Athens. I'll post more pics of those places!

I hope everyone is doing well at home! We send our love from Greece!

Anna


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Location:Isthmia, Greece

Day 4 of Bible Distribution

Yassas!

I am blogging from the dining area of the campground as we wait for breakfast. It's already feeling very hot and it's only 8:30am! Yesterday the teams headed out over the province of Achaia to go to remote villages and towns. Our car was mainly up in the mountains again today. These are the villages we visited:



We are finding the people who live in these small villages to be so friendly! Many invite us to their porch for a drink of water or coffee, or offer us carpouzi (watermelon). At one vert tiny town, Livadio, we went to deliver a bible to an elderly couple who herded goats. As we came up to them we were very curious and began speaking to us. Olga was able to explain What we were doing and what the bags were, and they were thankful for the gift and the woman even asked us to pray for her daughter with cancer. Then she noticed Francis eyeing the goat cheese hanging from the tree, so she offered to let us taste it. She took it off the tree and cut a huge slice off. We were expecting her to cut that piece into 5 little pieces so we could each try it, but she held it out to francis to take the whole piece. Se then did the same with the rest of us!






We also gave a bible to a man in the town, and as we waited for the rest of the team we caught a picture of him reading the bible. When Olga explained that the orthodox church gave the bibles their stamp of approval, he said, "I don't care who approved it. It is the Word of God so I want to read it".



We are off to some new villages today. We are just hearing from Jonathan Macris about yesterday (a priest was very angry in one town and was threatening him and his son, but was able to give bibles to everyone in the town and was well received). We will get our assignments afterwards, and then we're off!

-Anna










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Location:Province of Achaia

Sunday in Ancient Corinth

This morning we woke up and loaded up onto buses to go to Ancient Corinth where we listened to Jonathan Macris speak. It was a really neat experience to be where the apostle Paul once stood.



We ended with communion and then too about half an hour to wal around the ancient ruins.



Then we headed back to the camp to pack up with bibles and head out to our towns. We were in the province of Achaia in the mountains, sometimes on really small roads!






The people in the small towns were so friendly! One family came out and shared loukoumi (Greek Turkish delight).






Our group of 5 handed out over 200 bibles in four villages.










We then met up in Diakopto for supper.


We nada great, if not a little crazy, day climbing mountains to get to the small towns. We are about to get our assignments for today, So we'll see where we go today!

Everyone is doing great here! Any messages you'd like passed on, just post a comment!

Anna

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Location:Ancient Corinth

It begins...

Kali mera!

Yesterday was our first day of distributing bibles! We were put into teams of four or five, and that will be our group for the whole outreach. We are then designated a car and each day given an assignment to distribute a certain amount of bibles to a few towns.



It was so cool to be in these remote Greek villages and to see what their everyday life is like. We had good reception to the bibles for the most part, although Olga (our Greek team member) had a few enthusiastic discussions with some locals. But overall, it was a tiring but super awesome day!










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Location:All over Achaia and Argolida - the Peloponnese

Safe and sound, if not a little jet lagged...

Kali spera (good evening)!

We made it though our transfer at London and customs without any problems. Everyone was tired but happy as we arrived at our campground, Isthmia Beach camping around 5 am this morning. We couldn't set up our tents yet, so most of the team tried to get some rest in a grassy area...




I couldn't sleep, so I took pictures around the campground instead.









Today has been a day of basically trying to get over jet lag and adjust to the hot climate. Most of the team took the opportunity to nap or dip in the ocean to rejuvenate. Then the team helped put bible packages together and we had lunch.






It's been a long couple days for us, but the excitement is tangible. We are all really looking forward to starting the bible distribution tomorrow! It was HOT today, 42 degrees or something, but we are all making sure to stay hydrated. We just finished a delicious supper of spaghetti with meat sauce (with a hint of cinnamon!), and the speaker is about to start. It's been weird trying to adjust to the time change (it's 10pm here, so 1 pm at home), but we're getting there. It's so cool to actually be here, almost surreal. Anyways, thanks for all of your comments on the last blog. I'll be sharing them with the team tonight! Please keep them coming!

Anna

P.s. My mum is doing great, hopefully will be going home in the next day or two. Thank you so much for your prayers!

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Location:Isthmia campground- near Corinth

On our way! Here we come London, then Greece!!!

So here we are as a team at the airport!



We all arrived safely through the crazy storm of rain, lighting, thunder and hail. Now we have made it through security (without any issues :)) and are waiting to board the plane. Our flight has been delayed, but only by 30 min. Luckily there is a Starbucks and we have home baked goodies and candy!



We are all really excited and it great spirits. I want to say thank you to all who have heard about my (Anna's) mom and have been praying. It was a tough decision to decide to come, but I know she is in great hands at the hospital and in the Lord's hands. And she is doing better, although she will be in ICU for four days or so. Please continue to hold her up in prayer for absolute and speedy recovery. I love you mum!

And here are some pics of us hanging out waiting to board:











I will try and update again from Heathrow! Thanks for rechecking out the blog, and please post comments. We'd all love to hear from family and friends!

Anna

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Location:Calgary Airport