Crete..This is a place to return and explore its wonders

Crete…we arrived into this beautiful island full of anticipation. As we had been praying for Crete a few weeks ago, we had felt that this would be a week of abundance and that doors of opportunity were to going to open to us all.

Being close to the end of the lecture phase, abundance often means that the students and staff are praying in their finances for the outreach and we have continued to see our resources multiplying. It is always amazing to watch as we pray together for God’s provision that miracles begin to happen.

In the midst of the old city of Heraklion, there is the ancient Orthodox Church of St. Titus. As one walks into this church, there is a small relic room that contains the head of the apostle Titus. One feels the difference between the casual way that so many of us Westerners approach God to the way that the Orthodox young people came in the church quietly reverent. It is helpful to see how another part of the world is worshipping God in the mist of their traditions and know how much God loves the diversity of styles.

This has been our final teaching week with an outside speaker flying in to join our merry band. Emmanuel came bearing the mail from the Oval and so was warmly welcomed! His subject was on the Character and Nature of God and how we are all being challenged to be wonderful reflections of the Father. On the third day, we stuck on the aspect of Knowing God intimately and how God is always yearning to draw his children closer to Him. The challenge is so often how much space I will give to God to be in charge of my life and ultimately how much of His love do I pass on to my neighbors.

As we prepared to sail for Cesme, Turkey, a winter storm came blowing in, and so we are staying here in this safe harbor until the 20th. Then on to our last port, hopefully on a calm sea.

Sailing into the Greek Islands

Kalamata lies at the southern end of Greece in the province of Peloponnese…home to the ancient culture of Sparta. Arriving in December, it is a lovely town quietly awaiting the influx of next summer’s tourists. It is our first port of call in an Orthodox community. On the first day off, Lidia and Elias arrived back at the ship carrying a huge, round loaf of bread that they had been given at the local church. They had arrived at the church towards the end of the service as people were being given the bread. So the whole ship feasted on the bread of this ancient church.
On our first day off, Remaliah and Erika were approached by a man on the street asking about their visit to Kalamata. It turned out that he was a reporter and he came to visit the ship and encouraged us to visit the mayor’s office which we did. As the week unfolded, many of the students made friends with local people. It just seemed that doors of friendship opened up as we went about our daily lives. Dan and John Paul went to buy a morning snack at a local grocery store, and this lead to Dan being invited at the end of the week to have dinner with the shop owner and his son.
The teaching this week focused on looking at Gods heart for reconciliation and justice. Working in Belfast and seeing young people trained to work as peacemakers. He challenged us to begin to engage with the gospel at the level of Jesus’ concern for the injustices of our world. We looked at the issues of the church’s lack of response to apartheid in South Africa or the unfortunate tendency that often we back one side of a conflict as if God is for one side and not for the suffering people on both sides. As we discussed these issues, God impressed on all of us how important it is that we understand how to walk out the truth of what Jesus taught. The world has seen the gospel often controlled by our nationalisms and power but perhaps in this generation, we will see more followers of Jesus arising who want to live out the challenges that Jesus presented us to bring his kingdom values to help the oppressed, poor, and needy of this world.
Now on to Crete and the ancient world of the Minoans……..