The following pictures were taken during 3 weeks spent in Greece, (Athens, Crete and throughout the provinces of Messinia and Calamata for Operation Joshua.)  

We were a group of about 150 people from all over the world (SA, America, Canada, Romania, China, Greece, Australia, Holland etc.) delivering 44 000 New Testament Bibles to more than 300 villages in  2 provinces of mainland Greece.  Some Bibles were received with gratitude, but a lot with distrust and we got thrown with Bibles at places and some just ended up in the trash.  We pray that the people will have open hearts to the truth about Jesus and be set free, as the Word that landed on fruitful ground will come alive and spread like wildfire!

For more information visit

 www.operationjoshua.net

Little refugee boy at the Love Meal, Athens

Man at a Café

Our friends from the mountain village

In the morning we read from Isaiah that the Lord will let it rain upon His thirsty land etc.- (I will just need to find the exact scripture again). A thick cloud followed us to our first village of the day.  We hardly started handing out Bibles before I heard the shouts of an angry priest.  I quickly got back to our car as the first drops started falling.  The priest also got in a car and stopped behind us.  He didn’t want to hear a word from us and tore the pamphlet inside the Bible to pieces, for a moment hesitant to tear the Bible as well.  Our Greek speaking guys calmly spoke to him, but he was shaking of anger and ordered us out of the village.  His younger companion also got really worked up and started taking down our number plates and calling the police.  By this time the rain was storming down.  So we left the town and searched for where to go next, as the angry priest sped past us towards the next village.  We ended up driving around a bit in circles and found ourselves on a little road between olive groves.  In front of us a big olive branch lay directly in our path.  We immediately suspected an ambush, but saw that the branch had just broken off by itself.  As the guys got out to remove the branch, a farmer on a tractor came up from behind.  Our guys had a little chat with him and he gladly received a Bible.  So we continued up to the mountain village, where we met Panagiotis (who went by another name because of a story that 3 previous men with the same name died in a row in the same village, and he was trying to trick the angel of death).  Panagiotis and his friends treated us to strong coffee before we went our way and the kids guided us through the village as we continued delivering Bibles.  When we got back to our camp at the end of the day, we learned that we were the only group out of 13 that got rained on that day. 

Dimitri, our young Greek friend

It was the end of the day and we were a bit behind schedule.  We got a bit lost from our group and finally found our Greek speaking guys at the church, speaking to the local priest.  It seemed quite peaceful, which was unusual in our experience.  So we just hung around at the car waiting for them to finish.  This could be a very valuable conversation, because the priest was very reasonable and actually gave our guys the opportunity to tell him more about this Bible (which carries the stamp and signatures of the Orthodox church and should be in no means a threat to them, although many people perceive it as exactly this).  Anyway, in the meantime, young Dimitri kept us company, and although he didn’t speak a word of English, he was very happy to see us, and was quite interested in the 2010 happening in South Africa.  Blessed is this boy.  

The gift of fresh mountain origanum

This day was rather peaceful.  We got thrown out of a village by a priest, who told us to go and collect all the Bibles that we just handed out.  We didn’t, of course.  At another village we met 3 lovely old ladies who received us gladly and were all smiles.  That’s were we also met the friendly English speaking man who drove a taxi (although he wasn’t a taxi driver) and gave us directions.  When I asked to take a photo of him, he quickly got this bunch of fresh origano , that he picked in the mountain, and gave it to us, as well as another big bunch to our other car.  

A heavenly sunset at Kyparissia

At a village cafe

Goodbye good people!

My first friendly family in Greece

The end of a long day, Kyparissia

Christ, a good bye portrait

Christ, my friend welcomes me to Kyparissia

One afternoon in Kiparissia, I walked past another restaurant with 3 men sitting outside.  The older man invited me over for a biera, so I said, mmm frappe.  His name was Christ and he explained to me in his broken English that him, his mom and dad were all born on 25 December!  Anyway, we sort of understood each other…  The younger guy, Napollos, weren’t much interested in our conversation and I assumed that he didn’t understand any English.  Christ asked me about the ‘grande tente’  that he saw by the camp site.  I explained to him our operation of packing 44 000 Bibles that we were to distribute to 140 villages in the next couple of days.  So they started asking me about my beliefs, it turned out Napollos understood English very well and he translated a bit for me and Christ.  So Christ asked me what was my ‘image’ of Jesus.  He got up and fetched his ‘ikone’, the little picures on wood, that are to be found all around Greece.  So I explained to him that I didn’t have an ‘ikone’, because Jesus was alive and I had a living relationship with Him, so I didn’t need any pictures to pray to.  Napollos reckoned that every man is his own God, and I said well I surely can’t save myself.  So he asked if I was ‘fanatika’ religious and I said no ‘fanatika’ Jesus!  Anyway, Christ wanted a Bible, so I went back to the camp to fetch him one, and took an extra one for Napollos.  Which he received gratefully and said it was a nice gift.  Later in the week we had supper at Napollos restaurant, his Bible was lying next to the till. 

The Acropolis, our view from the rooftop

A musician at a restaurant in Athens

A typical apartment block in Greece

A friendly villager in Greece

A church roof in Calamata, Greece

Sunday at a beach in Chania

Gergana, my other little Bulgarian friend

Zumbilka, my little Bulgarian refugee friend, in Chania

One of the evenings at ‘the shelter’ in Crete some Bulgarian refugees came over to the house for Bible study.  There were these 2 little girls.  They were used to playing in the room that we were staying in, so they looked quite confused when they couldn’t go inside.  As the Bible study was about to start, Brian ushered me outside with them and asked me to keep them busy.  I thought, wow God knows me so well, I’d love to rather be outside with the kids!  So anyway, I got some paper from my journal and pens and we sat by the table on the porch, drawing practising some writing.  They could not speak a word of English, but I soon learned that they were 7 and 8 years old.  I had a kids song in my head that I started singing to them, Acts 16:31, from a kids Bible verse songs CD, that I bought before for my kids in Zambia.  By the end of our somewhat 2 hours outside, they were both singing with me in English and we all had some sort of ‘instrument’ we were playing and having lots of fun.  The best part of the evening was right in the end when Gergana had already left , I took my ipod and played the song for Zumbilka.  Just watching her face as she recognized the song and started singing with was worth a million.  When it ended she just shouted Bravo!! 

Antonio from Samaria Gorge, at Chania Port.

I walked down one of the alleys around the Chania port, when the owner of this café, Nikos called me over to have a drink.  My first instinct was to carry on walking and say, no thanks.  But something made me turn around and ask him if I could use their toiletta.  He said, sure and I don’t have to feel obliged to buy a drink.  I decided to have a drink anyway and ordered a frappe, (which is about like the national drink in Greece).  Nikos showed me the pictures hanging inside, he collected them, Chania in the 1940s and 1960s.  I took a picture of him and a girl working there.  I went to sit outside and started a conversation with Antonio, who was at first a bit unfriemdly and sceptical to let me take a photo of him.  He told me in his very broken English, that he sailed from Holland to Cape Town 15 years ago and stayed in the city for 3 days.  He got quite excited at his memories and told me I would be welcome anytime at his restaurant “Tara” at the Samaria Gorge.  Just before I left, and he paid for my frappe, I took a last chance and asked if I could take his pic.  He very shyly agreed and I quickly took it, before he could change his mind again. 

6am Arriving on the ferry, at Crete

View over Monastiraki square, Athens

Inside a small temple, Athens

Tourists at the Acropolis

Temple of Zeus, Athens

Refugee Mother and child at Monday Love Meal, Athens

Maggie and Albert

I met Maggie and Albert on a visit to Khayelitsha, during my work for the Niall Mellon Housing Initiative.  Maggie is one of the beneficiaries of NMHI and is expecting to move from her shack to her brick house, hopefully by the end of this year 2009.  Currently she lives in this one roomed shack with her boyfriend Albert, as well as several adopted children.

Mafutha Tsotso

Mongezi Mkhosi

Mongezi is also a beneficiary of NMHI, waiting for his house to be built.  He lives alone in his little shack and collects tins and other rubbish on his home-made trolley that he sells to the scrapyard at R40 a trolley.  He manages to fill 2 trolleys a week.

Washing

Shady

Ice Cream

Three Guys

Brothers

Boys in blue

Girl and bicycle

Sunday Washing

Boys on a wire

The girls..with cool stockings!

Girl in Imizamu Yethu

Cheeky

Ha! Girls...

Playing in the car

School boy