Euro Voices - GreeceScot Bower - 25 Jun 2010
There are few European countries that can boast a richer Christian heritage than Greece. It was the launchpad for the message of Jesus in Europe. Paul visited back in the first century and planted churches along the coastline which inevitably spread the gospel both inland and seaward along merchant trade routes and Roman military roads. Greece has a wonderful historic and cultural heritage, they’ve made a contribution to the development of humanity that belies their relatively small size. Greek culture values family ties incredibly highly, as anyone who has seen ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ will know (I first saw the film in Greece with Greek friends who laughed harder than anyone largely because of the truth in the comedy!)
More recently the proud nation of Greece has been in the news as the world economic crisis hit their emerging debt-laden economy hard. Strikes disrupted nearly every area of life and it took emergency loans from the EU and IMF to halt the desperate slide.
Perhaps this recent crisis is softening the proud hearts of Greece. Certainly that was the opinion of a friend of mine who grew up in the Greek city of Thessaloniki and visited his home town last week.
Thessaloniki is a modern city with an ancient heart. At the centre of the shopping district under the old bus station is a well preserved Roman archaeological site which stands as a reminder of St Paul’s visit to the city where he urged the church to 'pray without ceasing' (1Thes 5:16-18). The church of Thessaloniki take that encouragement just as seriously today as the original hearers of Pauls letter did nearly 2000 years ago.
Amy French is an American who has been living and serving the church in Thessaloniki for several years . Amy is a talented singer/songwriter and artist. Her creative encouragement to the small but growing church in the city has certainly helped shape their growth as well as their insistence in establishing a strong foundation of prayer.
Amy writes:
Prayer is an integral part of The Thessaloniki Church and is has fuelled many small breakthroughs. We did a night of prayer involving both Greeks and Macedonians that really changed the atmosphere in the church.
Our heart is for our love for the city to grow and this can only be accomplished through intimacy with God.
Please join us this week in praying for Greece:
Pray for Greece as it seeks to recover from the crushing impact of the global economic crisis, that its leadership will have wisdom to know how to rebuild the shattered economy, and to safeguard the poor.
Pray that the land that gave birth to the gospel in Europe would do so again. That the message of Jesus would be heard, responded to and carried by Greeks.
Pray for the Orthodox Church of Greece. There is a very strong and often unhelpful link between church and national identity. Pray for a strong and spirit filled Orthodox church that might choose to embrace other Christian traditions/churches.
To join with Christians all over the world in praying for the prodigal continent of Europe visit the website 24-7prayer.eu where you can sign up to pray, for weekly newsletters and prayer resources. You might also like to read Ian Nicholson's article Restoring the Romance or watch our excellent European Prayer video.
If you've missed our earlier posts in the European Voices series you can catch up: