CEE Story From The Mission Field
An Olympic Encounter
August 30, 2004
A true, short story by a worker in Athens, Greece ...
I sat under a shade tree in the middle of a large square in downtown Athens. It was about a week into the Olympics games and about 100 degrees in the sun that day. As I sat, I began thanking God for all the contacts the volunteer team and I had collected that morning. That morning I had prayed that God would bring me into contact with those He wanted to reach.
As I sat, two girls came and sat down close to me. I really didn't pay much attention to them. I was in a conversation with the Lord and was enjoying the moment. They started talking to me and we started an interesting conversation sharing where we were from and what we were doing in Athens. Their names were Angela and Stella, and they were from the Greek area of Cyprus. They were volunteers working with the Olympics. This small talk eventually led to a discussion about spiritual things and before I knew it, I was giving each of them an Olympic sports edition of the New Testament. They were very open to receiving the gifts and thanked me for them, but God was not finished with our encounter. He was just beginning.
The girls then asked if I wanted to write in a journal they were making containing spectators' experiences in Athens. As I wrote in their journal, I shared that God had a plan for their lives. I included the Scripture reference to the "Roman Road" evangelistic method of sharing the Gospel among my remarks. After writing, the girls said, "let's see what you wrote." I was surprised that they wanted to read what I had written right then, but sat and stared as they both silently read over the lines I had just penned. I didn't know how they would respond. Would they be indifferent, or turned off?
When they finished reading, they seemed surprised like they were enlightened by what I had said about God. I then asked if they wanted to read the Scriptures I told them about in the journal and they agreed. I helped them find the table of contents in their new Greek Bibles and we eventually found our way to the book of Romans. We read each verse together in Greek and then translated it into English afterwards. My heart grew with excitement with each line of Scripture as it was being read and digested into the girls' hearts and minds.
We reached the last Scripture passage and I rephrased the Greek text of Romans 10:13 into English, "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." At that moment, I looked up from the Bible we were reading out of. I was immediately floored. There, in Angela's eyes, were tears welling up and, within seconds, streaming down her face.
Right then, I knew I was on holy ground and I felt like Moses must have when confronted with the burning bush. These same Scriptures, which are read with indifference by lost people and rushed over by Christians stunned this girl into verbal silence. She was communicating, straight to God, and I was there to witness it! I truly believed at that moment, God had spoken directly to Angela's heart and she responded and was saved from her sin and eternal judgment.
All she could say after a moment was "wow." She was in awe (and I was too, witnessing the event first-hand). Stella, the other girl, couldn't understand what was happening to Angela and exclaimed, "what's the matter?"
I mentioned to Angela that, if she wanted, she could talk to God out loud and tell Him that she wanted her sins forgiven and for Jesus to come into her heart and save her, and she did.
After the prayer, we shared Angela's experience with some of my fellow teammates. They had witnessed the moment unfold and were praying silently for us from a distance. Before saying goodbye, Angela and I hugged and I told her that when God saves you, He adopts you into His family.
"That makes you my sister and me your brother in Christ." She thought that was neat.
As they eventually walked away, I almost broke down right there in the middle of Athens. The world was a blur around me and I felt as if I had been kissed by God. Angela was the first person that I have personally been able to lead to the Lord since I have been in Greece. I praise God that he allowed me to see some fruit in this oftentimes dry and barren land.