The Acropolis

Even though it was only a 45 minute flight from Rhodes to Athens, we spend most of the day getting to and from our destinations. Like I mentioned before that Rhodes is another world, now that I'm in Athens, my immediate reaction is to flee back to the islands. We were met with crowded, dirty streets, crowded metro, and disrepair everywhere. Unlike our time in 2005, when they had just cleaned up the city for the Olympics, we saw a very unorganized, self-centered city.

Their frustration with their economic situation was apparent with a demonstration starting in Syntagma Square ending in the Plaka with police everywhere prepared for a riot. We were standing on the fringe of the crowd  but after singing the national anthem (I think) in one of the market squares, they walked quietly away.

Breakfast was on the roof of the hotel with a view of the Acropolis. What a sight! Standing head and shoulders above the modern city of Athens, it stands as a reminder of a greater, more majestic city with the worship of the goddess Athena at its center. We can not only see the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, but also Mars Hill where Paul preached of Christ in a city filled with temples to the gods.

Today we head to Corinth. It is an hour drive and was the city which developed on the isthmus of land separating the Aegean Sea from the Adriatic Sea. The short land journey would save hundreds of miles of potentially rough and dangerous sailing.  We look forward to seeing the Corinth Canal that was finished 1820 and see the Bema Seat when he stood before Galileo and other sites referred to by the Apostle Paul.

Why Rhodes

After watching Agatha Christie's Poirot:Triangle at Rhodes our heart was tugged towards Rhodes. Last night we watched it again and paid close attention to some landmarks and decided to follow his footsteps. So off we were today to see if we could find them.

Rhodes is situated in the south-eastern corner of the Aegean Sea. It is the largest island of the Dodecanese with an area of 1400 sq. kms. In its interior, Rhodes is mountainous, but has very green, with beautiful valleys. It has a mild Mediterranean climate with warm winters and cool summers with a population of 90,000.

The Mycenaeans arrived on Rhodes around 1450 BC; the Dorians occupied it during the 8th and 7th centuries BC. When the great new power of Rome arrived on the historic stage Cassius conquered the island in 42 BC. In the 1st century AD Christianity spread as Paul went on his missionary journey's.  This peaceful period was interrupted in 1522 when the Turks began 390 years of suffering under their barbaric yoke. In spite of the Greek Revolution in 1821 Rhodes remained under the Turkish yoke until 1912 when the Italians captured the island and held power through WWII until, on March 7, 1948 the Greek flag was finally raised at the Governor's Palace.

We limited our visit to the Old City as we will be here for only one day. The massive walls build and rebuilt and expanded over time still remain. A maze of narrow, often covered streets now filled with shops, restaurants and historical sites all situated on the ancient harbor make it a city one can lose his thoughts and way.

We stayed in a quaint little (and I mean little) AirBnB apartment in the old city. As we wound our way through the allies to get to it, we wondered if we would be able to find our way out. It reminded us, once again, of Poirot's visit.

Tomorrow we head back to Athens.

Old Town Rhodes

May 27, 2016

Today we leave Crete and head for Rhodes. As we walked the boardwalk one more time and had a full English Breakfast I commented that it was like saying good-bye to an old friend. Our decision to stay on Crete for another week was a good one, but now we are ready for another adventure.

After a 45 minute flight and a quick winding taxi ride we arrived in the old city of Rhodes. As we walked through the cobblestone alleyways to our very, very, small accommodations, we realized we had just entered another world.

This island, with the mountains of Turkey in the background, has a more Turkish feel to it then Greek. As was our experience in 2005, they try to get you into their shops in whatever way they can and it gets tiresome.

After a short rest, we head out for dinner: just at the right time 9 pm. We were getting tired of being the only one in the room by going too early.

Tomorrow we explore the Old Town.

A Missionary to Christians

Tuesday, May 24

This morning we had plans to visit a missionary to Christians. Sound weird? Actually a lot of mission work today is to Christians. In Greece, over 90% are officially part of the Orthodox church yet in a city like Chania with over 100,000 people only 200 or so have read the Bible or come to a personal faith in Christ.

The journey took us 165 kilometers West of our resort to Chania, the second largest city in Crete.  The road was an amazing path along the sea and at the same time through the sea. At times we were only meters from the sea and then we'd climb to passes through the mountains often seeing the remains of snow high about us.

Entering Chania we were impressed with the volume of people, many tourists from the large cruise ship sitting in the harbor. Finding a place to park, we followed our map to 13 Ionias street, an address we had been given for a missionary to Christians.

It appeared to be a small coffee shop yet no one was visible. Hearing voices from the basement, we hesitantly moved on and discovered a small group of 8 engaged in listening to the testimony of a Greek man saved 47 years ago.

This is the ministry of Ilias and his wife Nelly. Having spent 10 years in the US, Ilias speaks a respectable English but it is obvious his native tongue is Greek. His winsome smile and gracious hospitality are immediately evident.  Sensing a need to share Christ with his homeland, Ilias left Brooklyn and is attempting to reach others with the Gospel.

Since "prosylitizing" is constitutionally illegal, he has a coffee shop which offers free coffee, wifi, laundry, clothing and hospitality, all as a way to simply be with others and open them to the Bible. Today they had gathered to pray but since an unsaved person joined they had the man share his testimony. Like Ilias most of the others also came to Crete to be a missionary to Christians. One, for example, is a US worker who is able to do his work from anywhere with internet. He decided to do it from Crete and see if the Lord would use him to reach others.

These reflect a huge trend in missions. Rather than joining a mission agency and requiring support, men and women have simply found a job in a needy place so they can be used of the Lord in making disciples. What a novel thought! !

Lynette and I were quite struck with the dedication of these and the goal of being a missionary to Christians and realize its what we all can do anywhere God plants us.

Sunday

Today was a very special day. We looked on the internet and typed in Evangelical Churches in Crete: We found two. So this morning we headed to the church in Herkelion. It said it was near the McDonald's Take Away. We found the McDonald's; but where to go from there? Many don't speak English so getting directions is difficult. Finally Rich went into McDonald's and he met a couple from Ireland who was looking for the same thing.

What a joy to meet other christians in a strange land and we headed down the street together. According to Greek custom, we were invited to lunch at someones home. Fun! Fun! Fun! Great message from a young man and we felt a kindred spirit with them all (However, first time we had wine with communion).

On an island with 500,000+ people, there are only a handful of christians. Most are connected with the Greek Orthodox Church, but have never heard of the Bible or a personal relationship with Christ.They asked us to tell others to pray for them.

Second Week

We decided to stay put in Crete for another week: We have a nice quiet secluded condo with maid service for a very reasonable price, and we reevaluated our island hopping ability. Last time we were in Greece we were 10 years younger and we are noticing the difference. We are eating a lot of greek yogurt with Cretian honey; greek salads which consist of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and olive oil, and gyro's. We could get a meal plan at the condo, but eating locally is so much more fun. We've rented a car so can still drive around when we want to.

We've been in touch with a missionary in Athens. They are in the states now so we won't be about to connect with them, but they did say that there was a church plant in Crete so that will be our goal this week - to try to connect with them.

The island of Crete was first occupied by the Minoans from 2600BC to 1000BC; these are some of the ruins we say in Knossos. In 1450BC the volcanic eruption of Santorini destroyed much of that civilization with it's tidal waves. Crete entered its Greek period with the arrival of the Dorians around 1100BC and there was a progression towards the worship of the Greek pantheon. The Roman attacked the island in 71BC under Mark Anthony. Christianity developed and spread and many churches were built. The Arabs attacked in 824AD and occupied the island until the Venetians took the island in 1204AD who tried to dissolve the Orthodox Church. In 1669AD the Turks invaded and ruled for 200 years with unprecedented and annihilator oppression of the native inhabitants. The Greek revolt began in 1821 culminating in 1913 with unification with Greece. With the exchange of populations the last Moslem inhabitants left the island.

Because of its topography the mountainous areas were not effected by many of the invasions, leaving a tough, rugged people, who have learned to survive in the villages with small gardens, goats and sheep.

Today they cater to tourist, like us, driving through the villages selling honey, coffee and herbs. It's typical when driving through these villages to see older men sitting in the coffee shops or just sitting around. I wonder where the women are; probably worn out from doing all the work.

Also, one of their claim to fame is that Zeus was born on this island, so it must be special.

Crete

After two days in Athens we settled into our timeshare on the island of Crete.It's very nice, quiet, and relaxing. We rented a car so we have freedom to get away when we want to go exploring.

We are still trying to get acclemented to the time change. But since we have no reason to worry about it, we don't.

The island of Crete is situated between 3 continents. 100 kms from Europe, 175 kms from Asia Minor and 300 kms from Africa. It is the largest of the Greek islands at 260 kms long and 60 kms wide. With a population of 650,000 it is sparsely inhabited. With mountains rising to over 7000 feet and dropping down to the sea, it is limited in farmland yet is noted for its olives, goats and honey.

Yesterday we drove through the mountains and small villages to get to the south side of the island to find the port of Fair Haven. Acts 27 says this is where the apostle Paul landed on his journey to Rome. We soon found that no one, not even the Greek Orthodox church, knows of this event.  When I showed some of them the reference in Acts 27, it became clear they did not know what the Bible is, who the apostle Paul is nor that Paul had landed in Fair Haven. We looked at a place where it could have been. Then we stopped at a family restaurant in a small village for a Greek Salad and gyros.

Today we headed to Knossos which is where the Mineon Palace ruins are located. Dating back to the time of Abraham (2000 BC) it is evident they had a developed culture with large, 3 and 4 story buildings primarily made of Cyprus wood. The site's religious ruins reminded us that all cultures have sacrifices to appease their gods. As we watched the multitudes of tourists from the cruise ships docked a few miles away, we realized how few then or now have looked to the lamb of God, the one sacrifice that truly pays for our sins.

At night we took a drive to Agios Nicholas. It's a quaint marina town with narrow streets, sail boats and in July and August will be packed with people from the mainland. Glad we came in the off season.

As you can see from the pictures, NJ Blue Bear is having a great time, too.

Athens: A City Rich in History

Our second day in Athens allowed us to walk in the shadow of a combination of Athens in the height of its glory with the worlds leading philosophers, mathematicians, political figures as well as the remains of their works, the Acropolis with the Parthenon, the ruins of so many temples. We also walked in the shadow of the early church figures and saw the Agora where Paul preached as well as Mars Hills where he was summoned to explain his new teachings to the philosophers of his day.        

Finally we were able to walk in the shadow of modern Athens, a city attempting to deal with a host of financial problems and and unemployment rate of 25%. I kept telling Lynette I should bring my power washer! The streets are littered with actual garbage and walls covered with Graffiti. This reminds us that no culture has survived over time and that the best that man can produce returns to dust. It reminds us that our only hope is in Jesus Christ and someday we will be ruled by the Eternal One, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Athens

When the Apostle Paul entered into Athens, “his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.” This is the Athens that we bumped into today, “a city full of idols.” As we walked the streets today, our heart was touched with a people who were trying to survive in an evil world.

But it didn’t take long and we felt at home and began to wander. Picking up the Red Tour Bus, we were able to hop on and hop off as we were able to pick and choose what we wanted to see. Of course, coffee and a greek salad were high on the list, ending up at Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul spoke to the philosopher of his day, proclaiming Jesus and the Unknown God that they were so curious about.

You can hear Rich's message by clicking on this link: tinysa.com/sermon/72706133711

Ready to Depart

We are packed and anxious to get on the road. Just a few housekeeping items to touch up. Last night we realized that our hot water tank has rusted out and therefore no hot water shower this morning. It was a disappointing setback, but then, that can wait until we get home.

Murphy said goodbye at the door and since he was not able to go with us, he talked his cousin NJ Blue Bear to tag along and remind us of home.

We take off at 4:25 p.m. and arrive in Athens at 9:25 a.m. (direct flight).