Conferences, Birthdays, Easter, and Food
So sorry once again to keep you all waiting for an update. I think it’s safe to assume from now on that this is not something we can keep up as often as we would like. So without further ado, here is the latest on our lives….get comfy…and you may want to grab your coffee otherwise it will get cold!!Well, our youth conference was a huge success. We had around 300 people over the course of the weekend and everyone had a blast. Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of it, but it was totally worth it to see all these young people come together. Unfortunately in Cyprus (like everywhere I guess), we have many small Evangelical groups with about 10-30 teenagers each. Most of these kids believe that they are alone and isolated as there have never been any efforts to get them together in the past. We wanted to show them that there are others, maybe even people they know, who understand where they are coming from and who share the same beliefs as them. When we began planning this event, we thought only a few churches would respond and perhaps we would get an attendance of about 70 people. We were stunned and amazed at how many people were excited and eager to help and get involved. We had to hire three buses to bring people from other towns!! What was really cool were the stories we heard from the weekend. I want to share one in particular with you guys. Two girls have been attending the same private lessons since September and have been sitting next to each other in the classroom. They discovered this weekend that they both attend an Evangelical church and shared the same faith. They were so excited their parents couldn’t wait to call their youth leaders and thank them for organizing the event.
It was John’s birthday on the 22nd. (Thanks to those who sent birthday wishes and gifts!) I’m not at liberty to say how old he turned- it’s a touchy subject!!! I had a lot of fun spoiling him and planning lots of fun things. I secretly ordered him some things off his Amazon wish list which he was excited to receive. Also, Mum offered to make him a cake but as we were fasting chocolate for Lent, we were stuck thinking of what to make him BUT brilliance prevailed and we created a giant peanut-butter cookie cake. Needless to say there wasn’t much left of it after about 24 hours so I think that means he enjoyed it! We popped by my parents’ in the afternoon and we surprised him with the ‘cake’ and my family were able to give him their presents. In the evening, John and I went for a romantic dinner to a Polynesian restaurant which was gorgeous! If any of you manage to visit us (and bring mint Oreos!!) before we leave we will take you there. So, all in all I think he had a nice day.
Tele, my brother, was here for two weeks and we loved having him around. He had his birthday here with us as well so we all went out to a Syrian restaurant to celebrate…have you noticed that we all we do is eat in Cyprus?!!
I am off work from the 30th March – 16th April for Easter. We don’t have a spring break and Easter is a big deal in Cyprus so we get two weeks vacation. I’ve been enjoying relaxing a bit. John unfortunately has been working frantically to finish the last two chapters of his book. Almost at the end now and I think it’s beginning to sink in. It’s unbelievable how much he has worked on it and I’m very proud of his achievement.
Easter has arrived here in the East too. Everything is closed from the Friday to the Tuesday of Easter weekend, and the Orthodox churches are packed out for services every night. The Saturday night service is particularly important because just before midnight, the Archbishop chants the resurrection liturgy and at 12am the church bells ring announcing the rise of Christ and the celebration begins. It’s televised on EVERY channel and no matter if you haven’t been to church all year, this is the night that everyone goes. On Sunday, people get with their families, buy a lamb and roast it all day on the spit and eat it all night. (Yes guys, that scene from Big Fat Greek Wedding is there for a reason!) Of course this explains why this is the busiest day in the ER because they have been fasting for 50 days and some gorge on cheesy-egg pies and meat!
Today, we had the pleasure of going to the mountains with my family to my grandfather’s village, called Lofou, and ate Meze (a Greek version of Tapas) at a traditional old little taverna. (again eating!!) It was lovely and yummy…we had all kinds of Greek dips and bread and halloumi cheese, and meats and sausages. Everything on the table is home-made/grown…and I mean EVERYTHING! Good stuff!
So a pretty packed month as you can see and I’m sure I’ve even forgotten some things. We have an awful lot on our plates (not just food!) and on our minds at the moment. Please keep us in your prayers as we are very overwhelmed. Perhaps I will post some of it later in the week if enough people post comments (hint hint!!).
posted by John and Leia @ 1:55 AM
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