Welcome back to the blog! I know it’s again been a second. I need to get back into the groove of getting these out more often. Life has been crazy. Don’t worry it’s good kind of crazy. We are getting into ministry here soon so it should be more consistent. I hope you all are doing well and I’m excited to share more of what God has been doing in my life! The last time I wrote we were in Thessaloniki figuring out where we wanted to go next. We decided to follow Paul’s footsteps and head to Athens.

In Athens we hit a bit of a slow stride. Like I mentioned in my past blog we didn’t have a set ministry going into Greece. A couple days into Athens I got a sweet message from one of my friends back home. She got me the number of a ywam group her boyfriend was working alongside. We got to meet up with the girls of this group and do a prayer walk with them. It was so sweet to be able to talk with like minded people and encourage them in their ministry there.

The Bible and history have come to life. We got to go see some of the old ruins of Athens! What an amazing opportunity!

Not just to see these places but to also be interruptible and have small conversations as we went. To see where Paul walked out his life in Acts 17. Most of our time in Athens was slower. We didn’t find a ministry to partner with or work alongside but we did get some good resources to read and study up on about Islam and the Muslim culture which I will share more about coming up. I know that God is working even when it looks different than I expected.

After being in Athens one week and praying about next steps we were unified in our decision to move onto Corinth. We arrive to our little apartment which had a dryer and a warm shower. Just a couple small blessings that mean a lot. Corinth is such a beautiful place and although the weather was cold for most of the time we were there we had a great time! The sea is so clear and the people are so kind. Before getting to Corinth we searched up churches in the area. One church we found and prayed over. We ended up going there our first day for Sunday service.

Let me tell you about this church! The first thing I am going to say is this place is so spirit filled. The people, the worship, the teachings and even the building itself is so spirit filled. They have worship music playing 24/7 in their building and you know they are praying over this place. The first song we sung, upon arriving late brought me to tears even though it was sung in Greek. It felt like I was home. I know I haven’t been to a church service in so long but it was so nice to be surrounded by so many sweet people! They spoke little English but they all have such a sweet relationship with the Lord that poured out through their actions. These people soon became family. They translated for us, took us on lunch and coffee runs, and spent such sweet time with us! We had the opportunity to have a worship night at their church with one of our other teams! Worship was led by the spirit and we were able to encourage and pray over the couple people who were there! The pastor specifically has such a hunger to want more and it overflows to his church congregation.

God brought us to Corinth to encourage and to be encouraged. We learned to listen to his voice even when it was hard and even when we felt like we weren’t doing much. We were reminded that it’s ok and to continue to act in obedience. His ok and his peace was seen through the sunsets we had, the girl hangouts, collecting sea glass, little conversations with the locals, intercession, and Corinthian readings in coffee shops. Some seasons look slower than others but God often calls us to be faithful in the little to prepared us to be faithful in the big.

Pray for Corinth. That there would be healing restoration and rest over this place and over its churches. That people would be unified in Christ and not overcome by a legalistic rhythm of life and church.

After going to Athens Paul went to Corinth on his journey. We got to just see a bit and imagine where Paul walked. One of these places was the temple of Apollo’s. We all were awestruck by this place and we had such a beautiful day to explore it! We loved it so much that we spent almost 5 hours there! I just loved it all. One thing that had me awestruck was the Bema. The bema is where Paul was said to have his trial in Acts 18. For sure the Bible coming to life!

Another thing we were able to do in Corinth was meet up with one of our teams and have a message and worship session by the water! So so good! I just love worship especially when it’s in nature. I ended up running in the cold water because how can you resist! Erica also gave an amazing teaching on unity within a body of believers! It was so good! Then we went out and met people and shared Jesus love!

As I mentioned earlier a lot of Greece was digging deep into Islamic culture. It felt like God was using what felt like a slower season a a preparation season. One of the books that someone suggested we read is called “Seeking Allah finding Jesus”. I highly recommend this book. It’s basically a book about this Muslim who starts to ask questions and research what he actually believes and what the Bible says. He had a good friend who would ask him questions and also shared what he believed about Jesus. Near the end of this book this man asks God to show him dreams and visions. God grants his request in 3 visions. God met him where he was at in his questions. He answered him in a way only this man would’ve know. Stepping into Turkey my team has been praying for dreams and visions and God has been granting our whole squad dreams, visions and interpretation of both. I am so excited to share some of these with you in my next post!

After two weeks in Corinth we said our goodbyes and headed back to Thessaloniki for our mini debrief with the whole squad. It was so sweet to be back with our squad even though we were in a tight living space. We really made our space into a heart of worship. I truly believe we do that wherever we go and I absolutely love it! It was a sweet time but also a sad time as we said goodbye to our squad leaders. Our squad leaders have been amazing! They have grown us each so much and they chose two people from our squad to take their place. We are so thankful for them and we are going to miss them. Well I miss them already but I know that they are doing good things and will never be strangers.

We have been in Istanbul for almost two weeks. Our travel days are always a ball. After 6hours of bus travel and 3hours stuck at the boarder we got to our little house. I am excited to tell you what’s been happening here in Istanbul but for now that’s all for this blog. I love you all lots and am so thankful for your prayers and love.

In Christ with a thankful heart

Sydney <3