monday and tuesday in corfu

monday morning we enjoyed for breakfast fresh bread and homemade jams and marmelades--there was cherry, peach (my favorite), apricot, fig, and orange. they were delicious. today we were going into town to get a feel for life in corfu during the "off-season". corfu is a tourist town, and when it's not tourism season, much of the town closes--for example, almost all of the hotels and many shops and restaurants are closed for about 11 months. greece, well at least in corfu, moves at a slower pace than in the US, so after breakfast we were able to relax and visit with one another and play around the world--several of the people in the church put together a ping pong table at the youth center right before we arrived--we decided to help break it in. it was a great time of being able to incorporate our team and greeks together.


we went into town to get familiar with the layout and, as some of you will not be surprised, i immediately began photographing the architecture. the island of corfu has many different styles present because of the varying influences it has received throughout its history. it has been under rule of England, Italy, and was even independent of Greece for a time. though the styles do vary, most of the buildings are painted one of the four distinct colors of corfu: a dark red (pictured to the right), two different shades of yellow, and pink.

that evening, we had a service with the youth of the greek evangelical church. in greece, "youth" is considered teenager to non-married, really anywhere between 12 to 29. this service looked very much like a typical ruf large group that we would have at baylor--we sang songs and my co-intern Tyler spoke. but we also sang several greek songs, which we were able to get the hang of, and three of our students shared their testimonies about God's faithfulness in their lives and how, though they were raised in a Christian home, God continued to grow them in the truth and knowledge of who they were as sinners, and who He is as Savior and Lord. i was encouraged both by their stepping out in faith to share and hearing how God is at work in their lives. after the service, we ate dinner with the greek students and played games--both around the world (it was a huge group) and a variety of card games. we ended up playing until midnight, at which point we realized it would be good to get some sleep...

we spent tuesday morning at the music building of the university on corfu. the building is located inside an old venetian fortress--it's spectacular! several of the students who attend the greek evangelical church are students at the music school and were able to give us a tour of the building and the surrounding grounds. several of our students studying music immediately connected with these students and a common bond was formed that brought them closer to our group and us closer with them. we walked up to the top of the fortress and could clearly see the city and surrounding areas (we also could see albania from this point--less than two miles away!)


that afternoon we took a driving tour of the island (the weather was frequently raining, but this day the sun was shining) and were able to see the varying terrain, the olive groves, several towns, and the closest point to Albania. it's a beautiful island, and we had a great tour guide (the pastor) who not only told us of the history of the island, but also the spiritual history and their church's efforts to reach out to their community on corfu and in the towns of albania. when albania's borders were opened, the church began helping with an orphanage and then realized that most of the children there were not, in fact, orphans, but that their parents sent them there so that they could be cared for and given food. during the summer months, these children would return to their homes. so the church decided to help out these families by adopting the family and negotiating with local markets that these families could use a coupon-like system where they could receive food staples and essential needs in exchange for these coupons and the church would cover the cost of these items. the pastor was able to arrange so that the families in the church were able to go into albania and meet the family that they had adopted. it was a blessing to hear how God was working in the church to reach out to the global community. (the photo above and to the right is of albania--and i was using a standard lens!)