by Andrea
Always looking for ways to encourage our kids' faith and make mission connections, we decided to squeeze a trip to the Mediterranean Christian Conference between other summer activities. It is held near Athens in the city of Marathon which is about a 9 hour drive from our home in Berat. We were richly blessed by attending. Both James and I made strong connections with people from our AIM field time, met new friends, found surprising connections to Alaska, met people from India, Iran, Ukraine, Uganda, Russia, Greece, Albania, and Nazareth. We sang songs in English, Ukrainian, Russian, Greek, Albanian, and dialects I don't know the name of. Gideon came out of his shell, and we barely saw him. He ate most meals with other families with kids. Clara was commended in her new crochet hobby by interested Ukrainian grandmothers. Lydia vacillated between upstairs and downstairs, between the kids' and adult programs. It's hard being 13. We heard powerful and convicting lessons and the stories of how God had redeemed so many in that room. We also witnessed one of the goofiest talent shows I've ever been blessed to see. It was amazing and just made everything feel like what it was, a great big family reunion. I am so glad we made the decision to go.
On our drive down, we began to have a bit of trouble with our car. Specifically with our back tire losing pressure and showing signs of extreme wear, then also with squealing brakes. With some help from a Christian brother, we found a shop in Athens to work on our car before attempting the drive home. So we are staying a few days longer in this city and plan to worship with the local church on Sunday. It's funny this life we have made for ourselves being in one of the most famous historical cities in the world, where instead of visiting museums, we are visiting tire shops. Instead of picking up souvenirs, I'm looking for stores selling hard to get medical supplies. I hope on Monday, we can have time to show our kids some more of the history here.
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