Koukaki Ministry May 2012

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Soup Kitchens Overwhelmed

As the crisis continues in Greece soup kitchens are overwhelmed. At the Second Evangelical Church in Koukaki we now feed over 130 people two days a week and are  seeing lives and our community transformed by the power of God. This article is form a Greek News Paper.
By Ingrid Melander & Daphne Papadopoulou

In front of a rundown building in central Athens, four men and a young woman pull a huge pot and bottle of gas from the trunk of a car and set them up on the pavement.

Oblivious to their crumbling surroundings, they fill the pot with water and bring it to a simmer by the side of a busy road, stirring in pasta to feed those driven to poverty by Greece’s debt crisis.

They are stepping in where the politicians have failed, they say, even though they, like one in five Greeks and half of all the nation’s young people, are unemployed.

Every day, through an informal group they call ”O Allos Anthropos”, or The Fellow Man, they feed all comers – mostly immigrants and others without jobs – thanks to donations, whether from a pensioner handing over half a loaf or market vendors stumping up unsold vegetables.

A few blocks away, workers are building a stage to hold campaign rallies for the May 6 elections. The pasta crew shake their heads in scorn.

”Those who are running in the election will just be wasting money to make campaign posters. They should be ashamed of themselves,” said Constantinos Polychronopoulos, 47, a jobless marketing man in a black apron, as he added zucchinis and onions to the mix.

”They have never gone hungry in their lives.” Like many of the people they feed, he lost his job in a deep recession, now into its fifth year, that has claimed hundreds of thousands of jobs. Many in this new army of the destitute, angry with the tax hikes and wage cuts that were a condition of the international bailout that saved the country from bankruptcy, are likely to abstain or back small parties opposed to austerity measures.

”The new poor will vote in great anger and disappointment for smaller or protest parties,” said Costas Panagopoulos, at ALCO pollsters. ”It’s a vote against the system.” The election will decide who steers the nation through the tough times after an emergency government secured the rescue funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, but it is not expected to change much.

Parties who object to the bailout also mostly object to each other, so there is no prospect of them coming together to rule.

That leaves a renewal of the fragile coalition between the conservative New Democracy party and PASOK, the socialists, as the only viable option.

It is likely to hold only a weak majority, while the growing ranks of the disaffected split their vote between as many as 10 opposition parties.

The bitterness towards politicians was shared not far away in a quiet churchyard, where a few dozen men and women queued up clutching empty plastic bags and boxes.

They arrived one by one at the yellow-stone Aghia Zonis Orthodox church to pick up a warm meal of potatoes and peas to take home to their families. There were no smiles, barely any talking and even less hope.

”I will be homeless in a few days. Does any politician have a solution to that?” said Costas Smaragdis, 60, a carpenter whose public sector job disappeared in 2010 when the state stopped renewing temporary contracts to save money.

He has just found a job at a funeral home, but that pays only 400 euros a month, not enough to avoid eviction. He will vote for a small party — it’s his ”democratic duty” — but believes the election will solve nothing.

Most of those gathered in the churchyard, old and young, were shocked to find themselves in such circumstances.

They used to be taxi drivers, shop owners or public servants, before their lives were sucked into the country’s deepest economic crisis since World War II. Now the basics are beyond their means.

After collecting food, a young mother also facing eviction took the black-robed priest aside and asked him softly if he could help her and her two children find a place to stay.

The Aghia Zonis church has seen the numbers coming for food more than double to over 100 a day since the crisis began. Three quarters of Greeks say they are struggling to keep up with bills, a Eurostat poll showed.

Pensioner Costas Yiakouvakis had owned a shop and driven a cab in his 67 years. Now his social benefits are lower than the rent for the flat he shares with his unemployed son.

He is angry to find himself depending on charity to eat.

”I am disgusted by politicians. I will not vote,” he said.

He was once a Socialist party official, too, but lost faith in politics when wages and benefits were slashed to plug the fiscal gap. Pensions have been cut by an average 25 percent since the beginning of the crisis.

Average private sector wages have also tumbled, falling by nearly a quarter last year alone.

”There can be no hope from politicians, even after the elections,” he said. ”I have no reason to go vote.” He knows that whoever governs will have to find another 11 billion euros of spending cuts to satisfy lenders, and the economy, 16 percent smaller than when the crisis began, will shrink again this year and next, and maybe beyond. [Reuters]

ekathimerini.com , Friday April 27, 2012 (17:44)

Happy Easter! Χριστοs Ανεστη!

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd"

Two phrases that have become very familiar to every Greek are “The Troika” and “Memorandum I and II”. The Troika is a three part committee led by the European Commission with the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund that organized the financial rescues of Greece.

“The Memorandum” is the economic package the Troika offered Greece — a salvation plan for the Greek economy.  There have been two financial packages in the past two years and the “Troika” hasn’t ruled out a third, each one with stiffer austerity measures that are choking the Greek people and drastically reducing their economy. The Troika has not been much of a savior for Greece.

Today someone asked me why we celebrate Good Friday, saying “but this is the day that Jesus suffered and died on the cross.” by world standards, Jesus lost the game.  As a Christian I celebrate Good Friday because it is the monumental event of all human history! When Jesus cried out with his last breath “IT IS FINISHED,” he brought victory to the bankrupt human race. His death on the cross accomplished at least these things:

1. Paid for our sins

2. Freed us from the power and guilt of sin

3. Removed God’s wrath from us

4. Made us friends with God

5. Bought us from the slave market of sin

6. Defeated death

7. Offered man eternal life

Oh what a Savior. With His death he has declared us debt free! Good Friday is our liberation from a debt we could never pay.

The Savior of our souls not only cleared the debt, but three days later he arose to give us life…life abundant! Now this is real life. hope for the future. In the meantime we go through some tribulation, but what can man take away from us that we haven’t already died to? Easter Morning is coming!

Honored to have Him as my King

Χριστος Ανεστη!

Tim and Donna

Generosity

We arrived in the States three weeks ago and have already traveled 2000 miles! We traveled first to Florida were we spent 10 days with family enjoying the sun and had the opportunity to share what God is doing in Greece at Osprey Baptist Church.

We flew back to NJ and hit the ground running.  So far we’ve spoken at woman’s group, a missions conference, a chapel service and tomorrow Donna speaks at another woman’s group and I share Friday at a youth group.

Next week we have the wedding of our oldest son Matt to Emily Adler. What a gift she is to Matt and to our family. Please pray for Emily’s dad who is extremely weak – that he will be well enough to attend the wedding.

Today I had another encouragement from the Lord. I had an opportunity to share about our work and give a challenge from the Word at the chapel service of the middle school here at Hawthorne Christian Academy.  Afterwards, a young girl came to greet me. She introduced herself and then handed me a crumpled up dollar that was in her hand. “The Lord told me to give it to you” she said.

I remember when I was her age how important my quarter was because on morning break I could buy two cookies and a pint of milk; I would never give up my quarter! Alisha sensed God telling her ‘give your dollar’ and she did. Her faith and obedience humbled me.  Like the widow in Luke 21:1-4, this young girl gave everything she had for her lunch. God was also confirming to me that he would build His kingdom through weak, insignificant people- by the world’s standards- that He empowers. Little is a lot in Gods hands!

One of the teachers, an old friend also came and slipped me a note with this verses from 2 Corinthians 9:10-15. God’s generosity expressed through people, even through a young 13-year-old girl, once again overwhelmed me!

We will be busy right through middle of May with many miles to travel. We appreciate your prayers. In April we will be in Massachusetts and Kansas. We are humbled for the love you have for Christ expressed through your generosity.

Be blessed,

Tim and Donna

PS. Our mobile number is 609-577-9725 and the home 973-427-2358 Love to hear from you.

Koukaki Team Report

 

Serving Our Community

January 19, 2012

Greetings from Athens!! May the Lord bless you richly in 2012!  This brief letter is to inform you about our ministries during December and January. We invite you to rejoice and praise the Lord with us.

YOUTH CENTER

The Lord has been faithful! The Youth Center has continued serving the neighborhood children on Fridays and Saturdays. Along with our regular activities, students from the Greek Bible College prepared a Christmas program just before Christmas. Attendance has been high, as always. Children and teenagers keep coming. We are very happy to have among our volunteers, Elina and Lydia from the Bible College, since we also have teenage girls with us. Please pray so that we may faithfully persevere in our ministry to all of them.  During  the  youth conference one of the girls who has been coming since she was very little, gave her personal  testimony to Jesus Christ. We praise the Lord for this!

MEALS

The ministry of the meals is also growing. Lately we serve about 100 people each time! We praise the Lord for the opportunities He gives us 3 times/week. The weekly Bible Study continues very faithfully. Before Christmas we prepared a special Christmas meal inside the Church, which was accompanied by an evangelistic sermon. 95 people attended! Please, pray so that the Word of God will continue to bear fruit. A few of the people who come to the meals have also started attending our Church services. We need more wisdom and compassion for each and every one of them.  Please pray for Angelo, Dimitri and Michael.

 

 

CLEAN – UP & CALENDAR DISTRIBUTION

On January 5^th a group of about 23 people cleaned up a few streets in our neighborhood, while others were distributing Christian calendars to the local shops and those who were just passing by. Once again, we were welcomed by the local people and had many opportunities to share our faith. We pray that as our “presence” is steady, the Lord will give us more spiritual fruit among the people who hear and read His Word.

We thank the Lord for your partnership with us in the ministry of the gospel here in Athens. May our Lord continue to strengthen you spiritually and physically so that you may continue to glorify His Name wherever He calls you to serve Him.

 

Prayerfully in Christ

On behalf of the Elders and the congregation

of the Second Greek Evangelical Church of Athens

 

Rev. Georgios Adam

Pastor

 

 

 

The Koukaki Team!

For over 15 years Donna and I have served with International Teams partnering with Helping Hands in Greece to minister to the refugees that pass through this strategic city. International Teams birthed Helping Hands in 1994 and we came in the early building years of the organization. In 1999 God gave us the Athens Refugee Center (ARC) a 480 sq.mt (5,200 sq. ft.) building where we have served hundreds of thousands of refugees over the years by providing food, clothing, showers, language classes, friendship, but most importantly they came into contact with the living God.

Hundreds have put their trust in Christ, were baptized and are following the Lord. Some are in Greece, but many others have moved to other countries in Europe and some have returned to their homelands bringing with them the light of Christ that can transform their families and communities. We praise the Lord for that!

After 12 years in the leadership of the ministry I sensed God’s call to step down so others with fresh vision and strength can take the organization forward. The Helping Hands organization has over 100 members, some more active than others. This year the Greek Christian Artists recorded a CD to raise awareness of the refugees and all the proceeds were donated to our ministry. The first release sold out and a second is in the works. Helping Hands is on a good foundation and by God’s grace is one of the leading Christian ministries serving refugees in Athens.

Since stepping down from leadership Donna and I have been the chefs for the ministry. We cook for over 300 people a week. We serve meals like chicken and potatoes, spaghetti with meat sauce, bean soup and rice with lentils. Along with a salad and fruit, we give our guest one of the best meals in town. We both have enjoyed serving the team and the refugees with the gifts God has given us.

The past three years I have also been serving with my church, organizing and feeding 80 people three days a week. The ministry has blossomed and we are seeing God do some amazing things in our church and community. Early in the fall the church asked me to join them full time to help further their vision.

In November the International Teams President, Scott Olson, and VP, Anthony Jones came to Athens to meet with the leadership and me and discuss IT’s new vision and my role in it. They have asked me to start a new team that will partner with the SecondEvangelical Church in Koukaki, Athens. This is the church Donna and I have made our home.

By the end of the year I will finish my day-to-day work with Helping Hands and focus all my time on the Koukaki Team. Donna will continue to serve at Helping Hands and support me in the work at the church.

We covet your prayers and partnership as we continue to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Christmas Meal @ Koukaki Church

Christmas Meal @ Koukaki Church, a set on Flickr.

It was amazing to see all of our friends, this time INSIDE the church. The day started at 7:00 AM two of us made the salad and cooked the chicken at Helping Hands and two prepared the orzo at the church and our local bakery cooked it.

The meal came together at the church were the rest of the team had set up the back room and welcomed all of our guests. Pastor George Adam gave a powerful message and then we shared the meal.

All were grateful and some asked if they could come to the service on Sunday. A Polish man came to me and asked for help. He shared how his wife and he are separated, but he loves her and with tears flowing asked for prayer.

God is doing amazing things in our community and in our church. Thanks for praying. If the Lord leads you to take the next step and support this ministry you can send to:

International Team
422 West River Rd.
Elgin, IL 60123
The “Koukaki Team.”

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Food Box

Christmas Food Box, a set on Flickr.

Today we delivered the first of the 20 boxes and tomorrow we’ll deliver the rest. Each box contains some basic food and cleaning products, a New Testament and a calendar with a daily devotional. We pray that this gift will fill a need, strengthen our relationships and help guide them to Jesus. Thanks for praying with us.

Helping Hands Christmas Party

Sirinides’ photostream on Flickr.

This past week we had five Christmas party’s at the ARC. Each one was sponsored by one of the local churches. They bought, cooked and served the food. We are grateful for their support and for standing in the gap with us to share the love of Christ.

Born into Bondage

There are places in the world today where people are born slaves. The Osu caste system in Nigeria and southern Cameroon, can be traced back to an indigenous religious belief system, practiced within the Igbo nation. It is the belief of many Igbo traditionalists that the Osus are people historically owned by deities, and are therefore considered to be a ‘living sacrifice’, an outcast, untouchable and sub-human.

Many people arround the world today are bought and sold as slaves. Looking around our community in Koukaki I see people who are in slavery. People enslaved to sex, drugs, alcohol…SIN.  Jesus said  “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Jon 8:38. We don’t think of ourselves as slaves, but we are and the closer we come to God the more sinful we see ourselves. Isaiah and John when they came into contact with the glory of God fell to the grownd as dead. Who can stand before a holy God? Jesus has entered the holy of holies mediating for us forever; the only way to stand before a holy God is to stand before him in Christ.

All have the same need for food, freedom and forgiveness! Becoming a slave of Christ one will never hunger, will find freedom  from the fear of death and forgiveness from sin. This is our call.