Athens!

On Friday we took a bus & walking tour of Athens including all the usual tourist spots. We went to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon & the temples to Nike,
Athena, & Poseidon, to the Aereopagus or Mars Hill where Paul gave his famous speech to the Athenians, & to the agora which was the ancient marketplace - the center of the ancient city. It is remarkable to believe that those buildings (or what's left of them) were there well before the time of Christ. I could just imagine what it must have been like for Paul to be in the city at the time with all the temples to pagan gods & idols all over the place. ( click my Athens link on the left to see pics!) Unfortunately almost all the buildings on the Acropolis have scaffolding around parts of them as they are working on restoring it as best they can. It will be wonderful once all that is done.
On Saturday, we went to the new mall that has been open about a year. I guess it's the only American style mall in this area (probably in all of Greece). It had 4 floors, but still considered a small mall compared to some of our larger ones. It had a cinema so Vann & several students went to movies (most English w/ Greek subtitles). The girls & I were shopping for something to wear on our Nile river cruise, but didn't really find what we wanted.
On Sunday, we had the priviledge again of worshipping with the Omonia church of Christ. It is truly an international congregation!! It has grown so large that it meets in 4 groups/ Sunday. (small building - holds about 100 at the most at a time). The Greek speaking congregation meets at 10:00, the Russian at 12:00, the Bulgarians at 4:00 & the English speakers at 6:00. The English crowd is the smallest with our group making up 50 of the 60 or so people there. There were also people from the Phillipines, Sudan, Iran, Ghana, & a couple of Greeks (the preacher & 1 other). Vann preached & several students helped with song leading, communion, & prayers. It's really a blessing to be with brothers & sisters from all over the world!
Today we've been in classes & are finishing laundry/packing to leave in the morning for Egypt! I'll post again with more pics once we get back. Please pray for a safe trip for all of us!!