Post from Nate

Yesterday I had the blessed opportunity to preach in two churches, the second of which was in downtown Athens (Greece).   There were approx. 150 people in attendance and less than 20 of them were Caucasian: Sudan, Syria, The Philippines, Somalia, Indonesia, Nigeria…so many countries were heavily represented.   One man stood and introduced his two guests as fresh from Afghanistan.   Heaven does already and will someday consist of such a gathering.

I preached on Job 42:5 wherein Job says to God, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”   I explained that our team was in Athens to teach the attributes of God to bi-vocational pastors in ethnic neighborhoods in and around Athens, not only to those who understand English, but to Arabic, Farsi, Romanian, and Albanian peoples as well.   As Job walked through Satan’s (God sanctioned) trials he comes to some conclusions that he finally shares in 42:2-6: God is sovereign; God works in “wonderful” ways; we need to listen to God and not just question; repentance is a good idea when presented with a bigger, clearer view of God!

Also, yesterday, our team spent the early evening worshipping with approx. 40 Iranian Believers –how humbling it was!   We heard stories from those who had been persecuted for their faith in while in Iran, testimonies from those who desire to perhaps plant a church among their people, and from at least one man who intends to return to Iran to spread the good news about Jesus Christ there.   In Iran Christians can legally receive the death penalty for expressing their faith.

To worship with these people is unforgettable: we do not understand their language, hence lyrics, and the music is so strange to our ears.   In Bosnia last May, while worshipping with Serbian Believers there, I would describe their style as “Beauty & the Beast” like; now, among people who insist they are “Persian” (not Arabic!), I would describe their style as “Aladdin”.   Your kids or grandkids can help explain the differences J

The food is great –plenty of gyros!   Interestingly, while our team expected to eat lots of lamb, the Greek gyros are inevitably pork or chicken, scrumptious regardless.   From our hotel, where we are living in the Presidential Suite on the seventh floor, we have an awesome view to the west over the city of Athens, which is surrounded, for the most part, by mountains (see picture).   We see the water -just barely- to the south.   Unlike American cities, inevitably grey, Athens is cement-colored, making it more white –brighter- which is relatively more cheery.   The alleys are tight; people double-park here also!   And pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way here, so we must be careful of cars and motorcycles.   We have been past the parliament building (where the riots have occurred and have plans to visit Mars Hill as well as Corinth later in the week.

Last night our Albanian team taught its first session, 16 people in the room.   And here is something for all to pray for: the difference in translations between English versions and the other versions of other languages in the world.   We are so blessed to have the level of scholarship poured into our English versions –American & British Isles- that we do!   But sometimes the nuances of other languages or translations may not be in sync with the original languages of Hebrew and Greek the way that English versions have (hopefully) been.   Please don’t take this as provincialism.   We are so blessed to have the NIV, NASB, NEB, ESV…and so blessed to have had the King James Version in 1611!   It is humbling to ponder.

Well, I should wrap up for now.   All teaching teams will engage their groups tonight at 6:00 p.m. local time, teaching for four hours straight tonight and every night this week.   We have approx. 70 pastors from approx. 15 countries, mostly countries where Christianity is severely oppressed.   At church services yesterday, as 4 team members preached at 5 separate churches, congregant leaders from all churches were invited to attend the week’s sessions each night.   Men and women, pastors and leaders, will now attend.   One young woman from Indonesia asked me after church yesterday if she could attend the “English speaking” session tonight and was encouraged to do so; she was part of the worship team at the International Church just up the road from our hotel (The Oscar Hotel).   So, it’ll be a mixed but expectant crowd.

It is 5:00 a.m. EST in the States, noon here.   Have a good day, everyone; we’ll write again soon.

For Christ, and on behalf of the team (Craig Skurcenski, Ben LeClair, Kyle Stuckey from PA; Jens Paulson from MN; Josh Hutchens from KY; Tom Diecks and Dave Winters from IN)

Nate Winters (from PA J)