Doug Serven's MTW Vision Trip to Greece

Note: North Texas Presbytery's MTW Committee provides Teaching Elders and key Ruling Elders of our presbytery with monetary assistance to go on MTW's Vision Trips. See here for information on MTW Vision Trips.

Last week I returned from Athens, Greece. I went there with a group of RUF campus ministers and with some MTW workers.

We arrived in Greece on Saturday night after the long flights on KLM from Atlanta to Amsterdam to Athens. We were picked up by Yodis, one of the Greek pastors in Athens. We stayed in a church near the port, and we had excellent accommodations there, especially the food from the woman who cooked for us - Vicki.

Unfortunately, my bags didn't arrive until Sunday afternoon, so that put me out of sorts for a time.

On Sunday, we worshiped with Yodis at his church, the biggest in the Greek Evangelical Church. It was a blessing to worship together with these dear brothers and sisters. The church was full, and it was Reformation Sunday, so we sang A Might Fortress Is Our God in Greek. To think of the worldwide church in every tongue and language, did my heart good.

I preached on Sunday night in Pastor George's church, which is nearby. They were excited to have just finished a project at a nearby town where they had planted thousands of olive trees to replace those burned in a huge, devastating fire. There was a passion for service there, a heart for people, a love for the gospel.

One of the days we were there, we trekked up to Volos, a mountainous port city in the north. We met Pastor Melatus there, and he took us to an excellent lunch while we discussed his work, his church, and his need for help. There are 5000 college students in that town, and they're trying to reach out to the city in love and service.

I might mention that these three pastors (George, Yodis and Melatus) all went to Gorden Conwell Seminary in Boston. All either have or are working on their PhDs, this is is a well-trained, educated pastorate. They are sending two more to seminary, and are wanting to plant churches in Athens - one to a university part of the the town and another to an immigrant community.

We toured two of the campus with the man who has been heading up the campus work there, Tim. He showed us around, explaining his heart for Greece, Athens and the university. We were able to meet many students, all of them who were passionate about the gospel and about getting together in fellowship. service and outreach.

We also had fun. We were able to tour the Parthenon, Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Gate and Mars Hill. The historical value of Athens cannot be understated. To stand where Western Civilization began was truly breathtaking. Perhaps my favorite part was on Tuesday, when we were able to go to Aegina, a Greek island only an hour's ferry away. We rented mopeds and tootled around the island, trying not to get lost. The Aegean Sea always on our left, we circled the island until we stopped at a restaurant for one of the many great Greek salads I had.

I'd recommend you consider going to Athens and joining in what God is doing there:

* Church planting

* Campus ministry

* The faithful preaching and teaching of God's word

* Training and sending men to seminary

* Works of good for the community - food shelter, clothes, ministry to prostitutes, helping the city

* Involvement in a Bible college in Athens

There is much good to participate in. To learn about more opportunities, please contact Opal Hargrove: opal.hardgrove@mtw.org