Live in Unity

A Letter from Nadia Ayoub, mission co-worker serving in Greece

Fall 2024

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“How good and pleasant it is when siblings live together in unity.” (Psalm 133:1)

Dear friends and families,

I greet you with the Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. I continue to give thanks to the Lord for he is wonderful and has done wonderful things among us. Thank you, my dear siblings of the congregations, local and international partners, and ecumenical friends for your pleasant gathering in unity during the 226th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). I am very grateful to the technology team who live streamed the event and enabled me to watch many of the meetings. Thank you all for your partnership, for your encouraging words, for your prayers and for your support of God’s mission to share the love of Jesus with people near and far.

Celebrating the end of the school year with joy and anticipating meeting again in September, Lord willing.

Praise the Lord for he is faithful and is with us during all seasons. I thank God because he has kept us safe here in Greece during the summer when intense heat and wind caused many fires. This year, I especially thank God for the firefighters who were able to extinguish the fires by using helicopters and extra firefighter crews.

My summer schedule was lighter than it had been during the rest of the year. I thank God that I continue to visit regularly with a few Ukrainians. Every Tuesday, I meet with Linda either in my apartment or at the park to read the Bible in Russian. We finished reading the book of Ruth and Esther and then we started reading the Greek Word of Life calendar. With the help of “Google translate” we were able to improve our Greek language, increase our Bible knowledge, and enhance our faith in Christ.

Every Friday we meet at the school building for English conversation on various topics. One day, we talked about faith, belief and trust and on another day we talked about fear and freedom or joy and happiness. Then we shared coffee and talked about family news from Ukraine or the summer crops and the available foods at the Saturday open market.  

Enjoying time with Linda after visiting the open-air market

Recently, we helped with the HUG program that prepares hot meals in the kitchen of the school building for 30-40 needy people in Katerini who either do not have houses or have no electricity because they cannot pay the bills.

Most of the other Ukrainians and the few Iraqis have summer jobs. I continue to communicate with them as I am able.

Nazera, is from Iraq. She is working in a restaurant near her home, she was very happy in the beginning and the owner of the restaurant respected her. The original agreement was that Nazera would be working in the kitchen. This worked well until recently when the owner started asking her to serve the costumers. First my friend Nazera thought this is a promotion, but then the owner started to ask her to smile and be nice to the costumers and that made Nazera uncomfortable and worried. When she shared her concerns with me, I encouraged her to refuse to do the things that make her uncomfortable and to talk with the owner and to remind her that the original agreement was to only work inside the kitchen. And then I thought it was time for Nazera to search for another job. Please pray that God will protect Nazera and provide a better and safer job for her. 

I started the process of extending my Greek residency. They have changed the law, and all processes will be online only. The church had to issue an invitation letter. Originally, the Synod lawyer in Athens was going to process the paperwork. I prayed that God would encourage the lawyer to complete the job in time. This was very difficult. For nearly two months, we were not able to submit the application. Finally, 10 days before the deadline, by God’s grace, with the help of the chairperson of Perichoresis, we found a lawyer in Katerini and submitted the application to renew my Greek residency in one hour. I trust God’s love and mercy and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven for God to be the glory forever and ever.

The HUG program prepares 40 meals, twice a week.

The summer break is almost over, and the Education Center will resume operations on September 2, 2024. The Education Center is the only place in Katerini that offers free Greek and English lessons for adults who cannot attend school. Refugees, displaced people, and even Greek people, who lived abroad and returned to Greece, who can speak some Greek but do not know how to read and write Greek, attend. Please thank God with me, for providing funds for the program from the PC(USA).

A while ago, I was sharing with one Syrian friend about how Christ died on the cross to save all the world. My friend said, “I understand things about Mary, the mother of Jesus, because we have a whole chapter by her name in Quran, but I am not sure about Jesus. With one ear, I hear Christians say that he died to save us, and with the other ear, I hear the Muslims say God rescued Jesus and sent some one like him to die on the cross in his place. Whom should I believe?”

Recently I posted on my Facebook, “Do not be afraid, nothing will separate you from the love of God that is yours in Jesus Christ,” my friend and many others liked that post. Please pray with me that many will come to the saving knowledge and accept God’s love for all in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

 I pray that the Lord will bless you and encourage you to love God and love one another.

In Christ

Nadia