We are enjoying the home we are renting. We have cedar trees, orange trees, lemon trees, a bougainvillea, two large bird of paradise plants, rose bushes, a sago palm, several tropical hibiscuses along the fence line and various other plants.
The property has a small “lawn” on two sides of the house. We have always enjoyed working on the yards of our homes in the past. So, we are enjoying the opportunity to be outside working on the “lawn” which is made of fake grass. You may ask, what work needs to be done on a “lawn” of fake grass? The “lawn” has been neglected for a while. So, we are having to pull up the wild grass that is growing up through the fake “lawn.” We are motivated by the image we have in our minds, of the great potential for this garden.
That is the same approach and mind-set we have for serving Jesus where we are on Crete. We see the great potential for God’s kingdom, as we work with each of Jesus’ disciples in this community of faith. We also see great potential for God’s kingdom, as we meet and interact with our neighbors, store owners and restaurant owners. In every interaction with the people God has put in our path, we strive to be deliberately redemptive.
After our worship on March 16, we enjoyed visiting with each other over a shared meal. After the others left, Mario & his friend Vangelis stayed for 5 hours as we played a board game they brought. We are looking forward to our next fellowship meal this week or the next.
Throughout the week, there are those in Gouves village we try to regularly visit with. To welcome us to Crete, our neighbors Dimitri & Sophia took us out to eat. In typical Greek fashion we went at 7:30 pm and finished at 11:30 pm. They were blessed with the birth of their first child this past Monday. Her name is Zoi. We look forward to serving them in this time of their life.
Harry and Maria are a friendly couple who own and run a mini-mart here in the village. We are trying to get to know them and visit with them as we regularly stop and pick up a few items.
We look forward to building a relationship with our immigration attorney, Eleni, and her family. As we spent several days at her office working on our papers, she shared how most Greeks in her life mock her for her faith in God. She told us that we are very different (in a good way) and she would like to hire us to work with her English speaking clients from other countries. With the documents I presented to Eleni… she determined that I have Greek roots. Those documents were the Greek citizenship papers my dad and I started to accumulate in 2000 when we first lived in Greece. They sat in our closets for 24 years. We found them as we cleaned out our houses as we prepared to move. Whimsically we brought the documents with us to Crete. On the off chance, we took the folders to our attorney. As she read them she got emotional and said, “Steven, these documents are most precious!” So, the department of immigration has our digital “precious” documents as they consider our status.
On His mission,
Steve and Deborah Stamatis
