More new beginnings!

This week has continued along the same way as the last ones since we’ve been here in Greece. New learning experiences, new challenges, new glimpses of the power and glory of God.

Let me share some of the good things happening first:

We are building relationships with some new Greek friends. We are able to drive (OK Mike is) around without getting lost most of the time. We are privileged to be partnering with you all to serve Christ here in Greece. It is an awesome responsibility and an awesome joy (most of the time!)

We are where we KNOW God wants us. We are uncomfortable but not without cause. We are SURE that God is working in our lives right now to mold and shape us into instruments that He can better use for His purposes.

Think of the roads you drive, very few of them are totally smooth. There are potholes and curves and hills and valleys along the way. We know what that’s like. We’ve just left the familiar and comfortable for a new road. It has bumps as all roads do. But we are confident that God is leading us and is very present by our sides each step of this new drive. In fact, we are much more aware of His presence and His provision for us here each day than we were when we felt so self-sufficient back home.

We are trying to learning THANKFULNESS in all things. While this feels strange, it does shift our focus from our circumstances to the sovereignty of God. It reminds us that HE is in charge and that we are not merely just wandering aimlessly. We know the character of our God is good and that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

So on with the week:

Monday: Calling customs agent only to find the truckers’ strike was still on and would most probably continue all week. Spent the day helping do some “spring cleaning” at the HM office. In the evening we served the weekly Love Meal to refugees and homeless. This week was a challenge because we served a beef dish and the people were so excited for it that they wanted, begged for, endless refills. Some even tried to trick us, by hiding bowls under the tables 

Tuesday. Ministering to the refugee women and children as they come to the hall to take showers and to do laundry. While this might not seem to be such a challenging thing, it is for me. There are always too many clothes to wash and not enough time in the day to get them all done so some sort of system needs to be put into place. The question is how? I’ve given out numbers now which seems to work somewhat but then there are always the exceptions. Women who have five children and one load is not enough for them. Ones who stay there for 5 hours waiting to do one load. Those who attempt to sneak in a load while I am out getting more towels. The ladies arguing with each other about who is next, etc. It doesn’t help that I can’t distinguish well between them as many are wearing head scarf’s and I can’t tell one from the other very well. The constant begging, please please, in languages I don’t understand.

Then the showers: if the ladies take too long we run out of hot water for the others. So this week, I finally had to try to peek in the showers and tell them to turn off the water. 10 minutes is what I try to tell them. One woman, very pregnant, was in for almost 30 minutes. She would turn off the water when I asked and then turn it back on again when I left. How does one handle this situation, am I going to drag a naked woman out of the shower? It’s quite stressful for me and I am trying to respect their privacy in the shower and yet they are not doing what I’m asking, what to do? As I mop the floor, I pray, “God please give me wisdom to know how to handle this, I can’t even do this simple job without your help.”

In the midst of this chaos, and it is chaos, I had the opportunity to spend about 15 minutes combing out a young girl’s hair. Her mother was busy bathing her younger siblings and this girl had already showered and was struggling to get a fine toothed comb through her thick dark hair. I motioned to ask if I could help her and spent the next minutes gently working through all the knots in her hair. (Girls, I remembered how you always complained that I yanked yours, so I was trying to be real gentle!) It was such a joyful experience of showing her the love of Christ as I served her. She was smiling and I was smiling and I just loved on her. I must tell you my heart just swelled as I was able to spend this time giving this little girl, who has seen too much of the world and its pains and struggles, some special attention. That 15 minutes made this whole week worthwhile. In the midst of chaos, God brings joy!

More chaos this week:
Going to a Greek hospital this week for a chest x-ray and TB test for our visa application here. Two days: 4 hours. I felt very vulnerable putting my physical body in the hands of strangers whose language I did not understand and submitting myself to procedures I did not comprehend beforehand. When the lady approached my arm with a needle (and not wearing gloves) I thought, OK God if you want me to get AIDS it’s in your hands. Dramatic, I know, but what I was experiencing at the moment. After she stuck the TB test under my skin, I finally was brave enough to look and was surprised that she had not drawn blood which is what I thought she was supposed to be doing, wrong again-a common occurrence for me here!

Calling daily to the customs broker to see if we can get our container. The truckers have been on strike for two weeks now. Neil Macris went to the port again (4th trip) for us on Friday, we paid a lot of money that we weren’t expecting to pay (for storage since it’s been on the dock almost one month because of their strike) and we think it will be delivered to our house on Monday. We’ll see.

Language school began Wednesday! Now we know why older people like us don’t do these kinds of things-we don’t like feel so stupid at this time in our life. When we’re young, we expect to not know many things, but once we’ve hit middle-age we think we have a pretty good handle on things, but let me tell you-it’s difficult!! The first day our teacher called on each of us (only 5 in the class) to READ GREEK WORDS!! This is particularly hard when you don’t know the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. I was praying not to cry as I was so nervous and uncomfortable. Another tip: when one is nervous and scared, the brain does not function at its best!

We came out of our 3 hour class with our heads spinning. We walked to where we had parked our car and found that the license plates were missing and there was a parking ticket on the windshield. To make a two and one half hour saga short, after many, many tears and trips to two different police departments, we paid a 40 euro fine and were able to get the plates back that same day. We heard this is quite unusual as they normally make you wait 20 days to get your plates back. Thank you Lord.

Wednesday evening: as if we hadn’t had enough, we then came home and were trying to negotiate terms of agreement for a buyer with our house in Wheaton. We were trying to communicate with our realtor and our attorney through a very slow dial up speed connection on the internet. As it stands right now, we signed a contract, BUT it is with a 30 day contingency that the buyer has to sell their house in, so we are cautiously optimistic.

Thursday: Another trip to the hospital, Greek homework and studying. Doing laundry, having it get soaked in the rain (a 15 minute downpour while we were away) and having to bring it in, wring it out and re-hang it only to get it caught again in the rain the next day as we were out for a walk!

Friday: Language school again. This time Mike said after class that he’s not much of a crier, but that he was working hard not to cry in class that day. We are the oldest and slowest students in the class and the others are able to grasp the material much quicker than we are. Two of the young ladies are fluent in at least two other languages; one even works as a translator! School has been the hardest thing Mike has had to do here in Greece. I experience this same sort of being overwhelmed in almost anything I do here: helping the refugees, trying to drive and park the car, at the grocery store etc. I can’t believe this is the first time Mike has felt this way here.

Phone saga: We applied to get a home phone and internet Dec 15th. Still no word. We keep making attempts to connect with the right people through our landlord, the builder of this house, etc. and are still trying to get connected. We spend a couple of hours a week on this process. We are so grateful for the generosity of our downstairs neighbors who enable us to share their network card with them and thus are able to use the internet most of the time. So if we are slow in communicating with you all, please forgive us as we are not up and running yet on our own.

Thanking you all for your love and support. We value your partnership more than you know.
May God continue to richly bless each one of you.

A story for another time: trading the riches of home for the riches of Christ.

Horrible Holidays!

I laugh as I type this and realize it will be a shock for some of you to read, but that was the reality for us. As exciting as this whole adventure seems (to some) the reality is quite difficult, especially for a hometown girl like me who has never been away from home for the holidays. Here are some of the highlights and the lessons learned.

Christmas Eve: We had planned on going to the International Church for a candlelight service and then to walk around downtown Athens to see the lights and to ride the carousel in the main square. We had bought preparations to make a nice steak dinner to eat before we headed out for the night. At 2pm, Peggy got the flu and spent the rest of the day vomiting and in bed shaking with a fever. Mike was left by himself, at home with no TV and a sick wife. A great new tradition!

Christmas Day: Peggy was better. Began the day skyping with Mis and Paul and new granddaughter Amelia in Guatemala in my bathrobe in our car at the Bible school parking lot (we don’t have a land line phone or internet yet but can connect to the net in the parking lot of the school!) Read the Christmas story together, went for a walk, had our first fire in our fireplace, shared dinner with 3 other families from the mission. Skyped with Mike, Nisha, Jackson, Michele and Jeremy who were together in snowy Colorado.

Lesson learned: Christmas is not a matter of traditions kept but something we live in our hearts: the joy and wonder of the birth of our Savior Jesus who left heaven to come to earth because of God’s great love for us.

New Year’s Eve: We gathered with many of the other HM missionaries at the home of Johnathan and Miriam Macris. There were about 25 of us there and we had dinner, sang some Christmas songs, shared prayers requests and then were praying when the clock struck midnight. Peggy spent a lot of this night trying to fight back tears as she looked around the room and saw all the families together and was aching for her own. For some reason this night was even more difficult than Christmas.

New Year’s Day: We lit a fire in our fireplace and watched the DVD which was made to celebrate Peggy’s Dad’s 80^th birthday Dec 23, 2007. Needless to say, another day spent in tears. Poor Mike, you can imagine how fun all this crying is for him. Then we spent the night babysitting for other missionaries here. The only problem was that the kids were more awake than the babysitters!

Blessings (among other things): Spending some great times with other missionary families during this season which made us realize and appreciate “our family” in the body of Christ both here and back in the US.

We are grateful that the holidays are over and are hoping that the first time away is the hardest!

Lesson in progress: Our Needs + Christ’s Riches = a Perfect Fit.

God didn’t make us to be self-sufficient. He carefully crafted our longings and feelings of incompleteness, to point us to Him. We are to rejoice in our neediness which enables us to find intimate completion in Christ. We're learning how to seek Christ to meet our every need and are grateful that He is faithful in all things!

GOD’S BEST TO YOU ALL IN 2008!

We love you and miss you all dear family and friends!

One of the best days of my life

Mike and I were privileged to serve with the Hellenic Ministries team to provide a Christmas dinner to over 400 less fortunate people on Monday December 17th. The meal was a special time of hard work and sharing the love of Christ with people who don’t have homes or the safety of their own countries any longer.

The day started early. Peggy spent a lot of time in the kitchen washing the lettuce, tomatoes and onions for the Greek salad. Mike was busy setting the tables on the main floor. There were many helping hands that joined together to make this day possible. The china was used and a five course dinner was served. After dinner, oranges and Greek sweets were passed out as well as a gift bag for each family container food, a blanket and a devotional calendar for 2008. The story about the birth of Jesus the Savior was shared during the meal in many languages. It was amazing! The presentation of this meal and the many, many hours of work and preparation so practically demonstrated the love of Christ through His people to all who attended.

As we worked throughout the day, preparing food, serving the meal, doing dishes, one thought kept coming back to my (Peggy’s) mind: this is one of the best days of my life! Words cannot express the joy I had as I served others in His name. It was particularly fun for me to see and greet some of the refugee women (whom we have met through the Tuesday laundry and shower ministry) who came with their families that night. It was the first time that we shared greetings with a kiss, 3 times on the cheek! Mike and I sat at the table and spoke to some of the families. It was hard to see them dressed in their finest clothes, telling us about their life in Afghanistan where both the men were doctors and how they cannot find any work here. Oh the plight of the refugee-it breaks our hearts.

After a very long day, we reflected together what a great time we had serving others. We pray that we will become better servants of the Lord with each passing day. This day truly was the highlight of our holiday season here in Greece.

Our new home

Working with refugees

This last week Mike and I have had the privilege to serve in refugee ministries with HM. On Monday nights we serve a “love meal” to the homeless and refugees. The number of people attending this dinner has increased significantly since we were here in 2006. The number of families, women and children is eye opening and heartbreaking. The people seem desperate for food as they reach out to receive the soup or other dish that’s been prepared for them. Looking at the faces of the littlest kids, like one year olds, breaks my heart. Their looks of desperation and despair make me think, “God, I’ve never been hungry.” How is that depending where one is born, one either has a life of abundance and freedom or of squalor and oppression? The inequities of the situations are hard to justify. And I wonder why? Why did I never have to have someone else provide food and clothes and diapers for our children? Why were we always able to live in a nice warm house with bathrooms and a kitchen? Why did I grow up experiencing the best of freedom-to work, to go to school, a home and a family etc? Why are so many people without these basic things?

On Tuesdays, the hall is now open to women and children for showers and to do their laundry (the men come on Mondays). Even though we try to make it as nice as possible, a stranger never had to tell me to hurry up my shower nor did I ever have to ask for feminine hygiene products from a stranger. I never squatted to nurse my babies, nor had to sit in a hallway for most of the afternoon and wait for my clothes to dry outside. The boredom and monotony of it were depressing for me. The children range in age from toddlers to teenagers. It’s hard to watch the face of a teen as her mom asks me if I know of any work for her husband. They have six children and no work. I am like a deer in the headlights. I am speechless. I can’t even begin to understand what this feels like, and I am ashamed that I can’t even begin to understand her situation. The teenage girl seems bright and somewhat embarrassed of the situation and I think of teens in the US with so much who are rude and just demand more from their parents. I look at the faces of the women and they look tired, hopeless. I can’t communicate well with them other than to smile. So I try to treat them with respect, share smiles with them, change their laundry, clean up after them in the showers. I know Jesus is the peace and hope they need but how do I share this with them? I cannot rescue them, I cannot give them work. I cannot financially support them or give them housing. It’s overwhelming to me and yet I just do what I can at that time.

Thank you for helping us help others in the name of Christ. Too often we Americans want to see solutions; we can usually fix things quickly and efficiently. But here we are left to just love the best we can, for the short time we have contact with these people. Please pray for the needs of these refugees and the strangers and aliens among you. They are there if we just open our eyes beyond our own needs to see those around us. Look them in the eyes, let them know you see them and that you care. The answer is not up to us, just the responsibility to help when we are shown the opportunity to do so.

Thanks for letting me share my heart with you.

A Reluctant Servant

A week ago, when most of your were enjoying your Thanksgiving holiday, eating leftovers and putting up Christmas decorations, Mike and I had the opportunity to spend the night out at HM’s seaside camp, Porto Astro. On Saturday, I spent the day cleaning a boat on shore while the rest of the team did repairs on the Morning Star (HM’s 67 ft. sailboat). The five hours or so that I spent cleaning the boat by myself gave me a lot of time to speak and to listen to God and to learn more about myself.

While I was washing the boat I kept thinking how much I didn’t enjoy doing this task. I was thinking of everyone at home shopping and celebrating and feeling somewhat sorry for myself. I was rationalizing that I was too old to be climbing up into this little dinghy and cleaning it, after all, I am a grandma! I couldn’t picture any of my friends back home doing it or even any of my kids doing it. Then I told God “I am a bible study teacher, not a boat cleaner. Did you forget that I just graduated with a degree in Biblical Studies from Moody?” And God said to me, “Do you think you are too good for boat cleaning?” And I answered, “Yes, I think I am.” And He said, “Was Jesus not too good in His perfect holiness to come to earth and take your filthy sins to the cross?” And I was silenced. He said “You say you want to be my servant, but now you are complaining about the work I have given you today. You are telling me what you are willing to do to serve Me.” And I was humbled. He said, “Peggy, in order to use you to do anything here in Greece, I need you to come before me in brokenness, not in pride.” And I was quiet.

This was a shocking, painful day of self revelation for me. How is it that we say we will serve God with all our hearts, mind, strength and soul and then we put parameters on that service? How easy it is to speak words, how much more difficult it is to surrender to God’s plan not our own. I still have so much to learn, but am trusting The Teacher! I won’t quickly forget this lesson in boat cleaning!

We're in Greece!

Contact info:
Cell phones: Calling from the US dial 011-30 then our cell phone number
Mike 698-169-4082 Peggy 697-966-1835
For international calling card try www.callingcards.com
Temporary mailing address:
c/o Hellenic Ministries, 12 Lydias St, Athens 11527, Greece
Skype name: mikeandpeggy79
Email: mikeandpeggylowe@gmail.com
Our web albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/mikeandpeggylowe

We arrived without incident in Greece and have been busy acclimating to this new place that we will call home.

We are staying in the most beautiful house that I have ever seen here. I especially love this view from the living room out into the courtyard-more green than I ever saw here last time. We are enjoying the peace and quiet and beauty of this location while we spend most of our days running around trying to get settled.

Our friend and fellow Greek missionary, Alex Macris, has been our personal shopper and chauffeur these last 10 days. So far we have purchased cell phones, registered for Greek tax numbers, bought a car (although we don't have it yet-waiting for the government papers to be done), begun the process of applying for a resident's visa and have been apartment shopping.

It is good to be back in Greece. It's not nearly as disorienting as it was last time we were here. It's nice to remember things, streets and some Greek words.

Hard to believe that it was just two weeks ago today that we were loading our house into the 20' container in our driveway. Today Mike and I took a walk around the neighborhood looking for places for rent. Imagine someone dropping you off in downtown Chicago and telling you to find a place to live, either there or in any of the surrounding suburbs. How does one choose? We don't quite know. We're considering all the possibilities. It's easier to get around downtown Athens (HM office) by foot but very difficult to find a parking place. It's noisy but there's always some action to be had just by walking the streets. Or do we live in a quiet suburb outside of Athens. A long drive (40-50 minutes to the office) but a quiet neighborhood and plenty of places to park and even some green spaces. Or by the sea-a long car trip to the office, but an incredible view!
Adding to our confusion is that everyone we talk to has a different opinion about it! We feel it's like looking for a needle in a haystack BUT we are certain that God knows just the place that's best for us. So we go through the day, reading the classified adds (in Greek), searching but mostly just trusting God to lead us. It's quite a combination of action and faith. Personally, I'm all for Him just sending me an email with our new address!

We are so grateful to God that everything went so smoothly getting us here, for the gorgeous temporary accommodations (with DSL), no sicknesses etc. and we continue to wait on Him to sell our home back in Wheaton and to provide us with a new one here. These words, sent to us from our realtor, have been an encouragement to us this week:

To be related intimately to our Father is to trust him when things are difficult, the money is short and the future unknown. He has promised that he will see that we have all we need. He commanded that we not dishonor him by worry, murmuring, grumbling or self-pity like the pagans do. For the fruit of the Spirit is love of God, joy in trusting him, and peace, which is freedom from anxiety. Remember Phillipians 4:6-7

Thanks again friends for partnering with us in this ministry. We look forward to the days when all the "settling in" is done and we will be more able to participate in ministry