Athens-March
ALEXANDER & ELENI MELIRRYTOS
OMONIA CHURCH OF CHRIST NEWSLETTER
*******
P. O. BOX 70260 ATHENS 166 -10 GREECE
TEL. & FAX 011 (30 – 210) 960 – 7453
Alexander: amelirry@aol.com Eleni: emelirry@aol.com
MARCH 05, 2007
WEEKLY SERVICES
WORSHIP IN GREEK WORSHIP IN BULGARIAN WORSHIP IN RUSSIAN
SUNDAY 11:00 – 12:00 A.M. SUNDAY 12:30 – 2:15 P.M. SUNDAY 4:00 – 5:30 P.M.
BIBLE STUDY IN BULGARIAN BIBLE STUDY IN GREEK BIBLE STUDY IN RUSSIAN
SUNDAY 3:00 – 4:00 P.M. SUNDAY 10:00 – 10:50 A.M. WEDNESDAY 7:00 – 8:00 P.M.
& WEDNESDAY 7:00 – 8:00 P.M.
WORSHIP IN ENGLISH
SUNDAY 6:00 – 7:10 P.M.
Dear Elders and beloved Family in Christ,
Greetings and love from the saints at Omonia in the name of the One Who has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We pray that you and yours are doing great, blessed and secure in His mighty hands and His endless love, thanking our Father daily for your love and care for the lost in the Biblical city of Athens.
“… AND THE LORD WAS ADDING…
In the last report we had mentioned one more “one-to-one” Bible study with a Greek brother’s wife, as well as a series of studies with two Russian visitors. The Lord poured His blessings on us once again to a great reward and rejoicing. MARIA VERVERSAVVAS was immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of her sins, having joined her husband Manolis (Emmanuel), her son Vassilis and daughter Sophia in salvation through Jesus. Following Lydia’s principle, Maria has now opened her home to the Gospel, where friends and visitors have an opportunity to be introduced to God’s word, as we visit them on a weekly basis for home group study. Three more precious souls were immersed into Christ recently: NATASHA OSTAPENKO, NADYA KOLTUNOVA and NADYA TSERNISOVA. We rejoice for their decision and pray God’s richest blessings on their new life.
Also in the last report we had mentioned two young men from Iran, having studies with. SHAHIN and SAMMY have recently placed membership at Omonia; zealous and dedicated to the Lord and His redeeming work. Our Lord God, who works in mysterious ways always, has also helped them to be acknowledged by the Greek government as political immigrants.
ALEXANDER’S LESSONS AND BIBLE STUDIES
Alexander is engaged in teaching and preaching God’s word at the Omonia Church on Sunday and Wednesday evening. He also leads the Bible study at home groups around the week – while periodically he is invited to bring God’s message either at a congregation of a neighboring country – such as Bulgaria – or at a Bible Lectureship in the States and other mission points until now. Alexander preaches regularly for the Greek assembly, the Russian one and the English-speaking one. At the present time and until completion of the lessons, Alexander has turned the Sunday Bible study in Greek – on the Book of John – over to a beloved brother and an effective teacher of the word, Kostas Koutsioumbas.
CHURCH EXCURSION TO STENI, EVIA
Honoring the tradition at Omonia to say a hearty “good-bye” to the winter season in a special way, we took a daily excursion to Steni, Evia, due north of Athens, on Monday, February 19th. “Kathara Deftera” means “Clean Monday” in Greek and this holiday is no different than the well-known Ash Wednesday – marking the beginning of Lent for Catholics and Orthodox alike. Fifty brave participants enjoyed brotherly fellowship and a good meal with seafood, as the holiday demands.
UNIWORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP AND OTHER CHURCH AND FAMILY NEWS
The four assemblies at Omonia meet quarterly for a combined worship hour and eating fellowship, as they worship regularly on a different time schedule on Sunday. Members had the opportunity once again to share a word and enjoy great fellowship time.
Eleni invites at home Omonia Church members invariably, from all four congregations, and shares her love for the love with a number of sisters.
On the second Sunday of the month we keep having special fellowship for Greek members only, while Eleni also prepares a treat for the English brethren, following the worship hour.
Every Saturday Eleni conducts a women’s Bible class and prayer hour, either visiting our sisters over at their place or inviting them at ours.
We rejoiced to see Orestis worship with us at Omonia, as he visited home on a very short leave from the island of Limnos, where he serves the Greek Armed Forces on drafting. While we still do not know if he will finally serve for six months or twelve, we pray for God’s will to be done in his life and career.
Danae is currently involved in a research project at “Helena’s”, a major state maternity hospital in Athens, under the guidance of Dr. Varla, an internationally known Professor of Immunobiology of the Athens University. Danae will return to the Pepperdine University in May for summer courses.
Eleni and Danae are currently working to establish a blood bank at the Omonia Church. This, we believe, is a “strong” approach to influence and benefit the local community – Athens – and let the name of the Church be heard more distinctly and the Lord’s name be glorified.
Please pray as we face certain problems regarding our church meetings place – there is a court case coming – while it is also true that because of lack of space we need to find a functioning meeting place and this is why we are constantly in search of a new building or a lot to build on. If you are interested in funding this project, we will notify you in due time of the contact church family who will help us raise and collect funds from sources in the United States.
Our annual Church family retreat is scheduled for the third consecutive year to be held at the Kalamaki Beach Hotel, close to Corinth, on June 20-23, 2007. Brother Doron Claiborne of the Smyrna Church of Christ in Smyrna, TN. will lead a group of members of the congregation who will help with the teaching of classes at the retreat. The theme this year will be “A Purpose Driven Church”. Please pray for its full success.
ELENI VISITS HUNTSVILLE, AL. – NASHVILLE, TN. AND JACKSONVILLE, FL.
“Time flies” we use to say and by the time you read these lines, Eleni is in the States already, having arrived on February 27th. She will be visiting Huntsville, AL. – being invited by the women’s committee of the Twickenham Church of Christ to share a number of cultural issues of concern to Christian women today at the Annual Women’s Retreat. The theme of her class will be “Human culture vs. His absolute truth”. The event will take place on March 9th and 10th, 2007. Eleni will then return to Nashville, Tn. to visit and fellowship with the sisters of the Hillsboro Church. By the way, if you don’t have any better to do on March 12th, around noon-time, you may want to tune your T.V. on Nashville Channel 5 – C.B.S. – as Eleni will be the guest at the “TALK OF THE TOWN” show on March 12th. The program will be aired between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. Now please join me in prayer to the Lord of all cooks that Eleni may not fall in love with T.V. cooking, as the trend is today – as there are more cooks out there than eaters! Following her time in Nashville, TN. Eleni is also invited to share her thoughts on “Human culture vs. His absolute truth” with the sisters of congregations of Jacksonville, Fl. (March 16-17).
Living by faith, I am convinced that the good Lord will finally lead her back home in Athens where she belongs!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In His loving name Alexander Melirrytos a servant of Jesus