The Athens Missions Team safely returned from Greece in mid-July. The team was able to see many sights and enjoyed connecting with Stonebridge Global Partners, Larry and Jill Couch. Most importantly, they were able to experience God working in them, and in the people they connected with and ministered to.
Team member, Glenn Vosatka, wrote: “During the hot weather we experienced, we did a service project involving cleanup work at a park. Before starting, Jill Couch said that we might encounter neighbors who wondered what we were doing. Sure enough, I was able to talk to a curious man out on his balcony nearby and tell him we were helping Couch's Church with the project and came all the way from the USA!”
Larry Couch recounted the interaction with more context: “The team did some hard community service work doing cleanup in the park across the street from our apartment – and God opened a surprise door! Two doors down from us an elderly couple live – he had dementia and often aimlessly strolls through the park; she is a gem of an individual and has cut and given roses to Jill on a number of occasions and a half dozen eggs one time. Neither one speaks a word of English, but we did give the wife a copy of Το Αντίδοτο (The Cure) a couple of months ago. As we were about done cleaning (we drew a time limit due to the extreme heat), a man was opening up the apartment above the elderly couple and talked to one of our team members and drew me into the conversation. He is a son of the elderly couple and is preparing to renovate that apartment to be able to rent it. As he and I finished our conversation, I asked him if he could hold on for a minute, and came back to our apartment and got two copies of Το Αντίδοτο (The Cure). As I started to hand them to him, he said “Oh, Το Αντίδοτο (The Cure)! I know this book.” His mother had given her copy to him for him to read and explain it to her! The son, John, lives in another Athens suburb, but will be back and wants to talk to me about the book – he has already read part of it!”
This is such a wonderful example of how God is ALWAYS at work and we just need to remain faithful to our mission to “walk alongside each person we meet as they take their steps with Jesus”. Glenn, Larry and the team were able to walk alongside John in this moment, and while this interaction didn’t end with a decision to follow Christ, we can trust that God will continue to work in the life of John and use others as part of his story.
