2024, Greece

Introducing The Team The Calvary Team Introducing our Team Leader, Abby: I’m blessed to be able to lead this team to Greece! My husband and I were able to go on last year’s trip so when the Lord presented the opportunity to go again and lead, I was thrilled to have the opportunity! I really feel a connection with the people there and am excited to continue building the relationships. I’m an elementary teacher in Grand Rapids and love to do anything social with friends on my free time. My husband and I have been at Calvary Church 3 years now and we love all the ways we can get connected! Introducing our Spiritual Leader, Sheri: I’m excited to take this step of faith, following God’s leading to be part of and serve The Church in Athens this summer! I know He has gone before us and will be with…

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2024, Greece

Super VBS! Day 1: Superhero of the Day: Joseph We were excited to get the week started, though Monday, we had the smallest number of kids. We introduced the kids to 5 songs and dances that we practiced each day, including our VBS theme song, “Jesus You’re My Superhero”. Freda shared the story of Joseph with the kids, some of who have not heard stories from the Bible before. She talked about his coat of many colors, his brothers betrayal, and his time in Egypt. Through the week, we had the kids create pieces of a superhero costume. To help the kids remember Joseph’s story, we had them create a cape of many colors. Day 2: Superhero of the Day: David The kids learned the story from Anderson about the bravery of David and how he defeated Goliath. Anderson (in fully protective armor) then invited each kid to try to…

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2024, Greece

A Day of Service Greece has late starts to their Sundays with church not beginning until noon. It gave us all a chance to rest after a late night at the festival before the church service and preparing for VBS. We had the opportunity to experience a Greek Church service and hear their beautiful language praising God. While we couldn’t understand their words, you could feel God in the room. Luckily, we did have a translator to interpret the message for us. The rest of the day was spend preparing crafts, games, and snacks for VBS. The church is now decorated in superhero decor to fit the theme. We took time to coming up with super hero names for the whole team. We can’t wait for this opportunity to share the gospel with the kids of Pangrati! Daily Prayer Requests: Continuing prayers for health and safety throughout the whole trip….

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2024, Greece

Let The Festivities Begin! We began the day with team bonding, exploring the city, learning how to utilize public transportation, and resting. We had a wonderful evening helping The Pangrati Project with their kids festival for the children in the neighborhood. Between face painting, tick-tac-toe, football throw, soccer, balloon animals, and more, we had the opportunity to meet and experience the wonderful people of Pangrati and promote VBS. Daily Prayer Requests: Continuing prayers for the health of our team. Prayers for many kids to sign up for VBS because of the festival. Prayers for our upcoming VBS week and that God works not only through us, but in us.

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2024, Greece

Discovering Athens Through The Word We made our way to Mars Hills to stand in the place while Paul preached to the Athenians in Acts 17:22 almost 2000 years ago. The Pastor of the Pangrati Church, Emmanuel, shared a sermon on this passage giving historical context and applying it to our lives today. Just like went Paul shared his message to the stoics and epicureans, we can see these two groups of people in our everyday lives and especially here in Greece. He reminded us the importance in living a Christlike way in a way to raise questions. Stephen also shared an encouraging message about radical faith while on Mars Hill. We spent time as a team bonding and building relationships with the Pangrati Chruch team. In the evening we assisted with a game night, put on by The Pangrati Project.   Daily Pray Requests: Continuing prayers for the health…

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2024, Greece

The Voyage to Pangrati Noor and Holly made the most of the layover with games and a photo op. Wednesday and Thursday felt like one rolling day with our 9 hour flight as the only indicator separating the two. The flight “flew” by as we attempted to rest before our arrival. Once we arrived in Athens, we were graciously greeted by Sean and Liz Thelen. Greece welcomed us with the hottest day of the year, so we spend the morning getting to know each other in the cool ac at the Pangrati Church. The Pangrati Church also runs the community outreach center, The Pangrati Project, in the same space. Once we could check in, we made our way to our Airbnb via, foot, car, and scooter. The ladies end the long day+ with at WOW (Women’s Only Workout) at the Pangrati Project using what remaining energy we had left. Needless…

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2024, Greece

Prayed, Packed, and Departed And we’re off! We took time this Sunday praying for each member of our team members and the short-term  mission trip as a whole. Elders, Jason and Herb, anointed us and lead the prayer. On Monday, we finished up our packing, including 8 bags of candy to give out to the kids. This morning, we met nice and early at the church to head over to Detroit for our first flight. We are excited to see how God uses us and works in us.   Daily Pray Requests: Prayers for safety, on-time flights, and a spirit of love with each other and those we interact with while traveling. Prayers for our time in Greece that we may show others the love and grace of God.   

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