Day 3 & 4

We have had two full days here in Athens.  We have had great discussions and activities related to strengths and personal values.  We always start each day with several games to get everyone energized and for entertainment for Jeff and me. J Emma presented her chapter from Covey “Begin with the End in Mind” and Andrew presented “Be Proactive.”  All of the students are doing such a great job leading out both in presentations and discussions. Today Ryan also presented on Friendship and the Relationship Bank Account.  All of the students read a great piece on Friendship which addressed what Aristotle had to say about the three varieties of friendship:  (1) pleasure oriented; (2) utility; and (3) a true friendship based on goodness and not usefulness.  The friendship based on "shared commitment" and "...friends for the sake of what is right and good - and because the right and the good will endure, so also will our friendship." 

The day just got better when we went to Mars Hill and heard the very words that the Apostle Paul preached from Acts 17:16-34, from Kyle in English and from Adi (our interpreter) in Greek, in the very place he spoke them.

My favorite part of that passage is ....Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’^[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’^[c]

I think we all feel blessed to be able to leave the routine of our lives to come to a place outside the boundaries of our imagination and reality and see the evidence of God at work.  We join in for just a short time for something that began before we arrived and will continue when we return home. It causes us, just like the Athenians many centuries ago, to want to hear more, follow more faithfully and believe deeper.

Here are a few photos from the last two days of activities. Don't forget to view more on the facebook page.

Hard at the work of consideration and relfection.

The New Acropolis Museum

The Parthenon

Jeff teaches everyone how to get set up for the Sic 'Em

The Temple of Zeus

Am I imagining it or have these guys only known each other for 3 days??

The Guys.

The Gals

Kyle and Adi reading from Acts.

Reflection from Ashton:

 Hi friends, this is Ashton! My partner is Kisla, she is a 17 year old student who has lived in Athens for most of her life, but she still has a lot of family in Albania. From the first day of Patjeter, we had an instant connection. We have very similar personalities and a lot of commonalities. I have LOVED getting to know her in the past three days. While I am here to share wisdom with her, I feel as if she has taught me so much more. She has a huge heart for service, and she is very eager to learn more about how to use her gifts and talents to love on others. I really admire her strength to endure hardships and her reliance on Christ.  Athens is a very difficult place for young believers. Christians are definitely a minority, and there isn’t a support system or a community of believers. Today we had the opportunity to pray together for the first time, and I am excited to see how the Lord is going to continue to work in each of our hearts.