On Thursday, June 19th, our team of young adults traveled to Athens, Greece to spend time with Emmanuel and Bethany Tsoustas at their church, Pangrati Church. Our church is committed to cultivating a relationship with Pangrati Church. Two years ago, a group of young adults visited Athens to serve at Pangrati Church, and Emmanuel has visited our church several times. It was lovely to reunite with the Tsoustas and meet new members of their team in Greece- another missionary couple, Liz and Sean, and a family from Campus Outreach, Nate, Roxy, and their four kids.

There are two main groups of people in Greece: those in the Orthodox church and those who do not care about religion at all. Because the Orthodox Church is the state religion, evangelical Christians are viewed with skepticism by both groups. In order to reach out to the community, Emmanuel and Bethany’s ministry philosophy is made up of service and invitation. Through their church, they run the Pangrati Project, which is a small community space that houses a little library and several different events throughout the week, including art camp, workout classes, study space, and prayer nights. This space allows their church to serve their neighborhood and in doing so is a small invitation for people to join in their beautiful community of faith. As relationships form, people begin to ask questions, and slowly, transformation is happening.

Our main purpose on this trip was to help run their second “Summer Camp” (VBS, but without the word school in it). We started our trip on Sunday, attending the service at Pangrati Church and then began transforming the space into a garden themed camp. We made giant flowers, decorated the ceiling with crepe paper, and made a green accent wall look especially lush with a balloon arch. From Monday through Friday, around 20 kids showed up and filled up the tiny space! Four kids were missionary kids, but the rest were neighborhood kids, who knew nothing of Jesus. Throughout the week, word of mouth spread about how fun camp was, and a few additional kids showed up.

We started each day with a welcome activity, like bracelet making, carnival games, or coloring, but usually a significant group ended up just playing Uno (easy game to play with a language barrier!). Then, we sang some catchy songs in Greek about God's love and care. Each day, a different person from the church taught about a garden in the scriptures: the Garden of Eden, the fall in the Garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, the resurrection and the garden in the new heavens and the new earth. The kids were not perfectly engaged, but they were comprehending some of what was taught. They had craft time, game time, snack time, and then we sent them home.

By the end of the week, we knew their quirks, which ones would be disengaged five minutes into craft time, and which ones would be the most into the songs. We sent them off at the end of the week with their very own plant in a pot they had decorated themselves. In our team debrief, Bethany made a point to tell us that the parents were vocal about their thanks (which was not the norm!). Summer Camp was a success!

We ended the week together with a quintessential meal of gyros as we reflected on the week. Our team got the chance to affirm Liz and Bethany for their incredible planning and thoughtfulness, and process through the whole experience for the kids. We were able to recognize their faithfulness in children's ministry and neighborhood ministry as they use their resources so efficiently. We thanked them for their example of ministry and their hospitality.

As I (Katie) reflect on this trip, I am moved by the fact that so many on this team were able to return to this place again (and again in their 20s!). It is not lost on me how special it was to experience a place that means so much to us a second time. We were grateful to be invited and even more grateful to actually go. Thank you all for your support and prayer!

Please continue praying for Pangrati Church in Athens with Emmanuel and Bethany Tsoustas.