Coffee Talk with Marc & Denise Atchley
Like February, March has been unusually busy, including four Sundays away from our home church. It began with attendance at a missions conference at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church (Knoxville, TN). The next weekend we were at our old home church, First Presbyterian (Columbia, SC). Marc spent the following weekend in Baltimore, MD at a coffee industry trade show (while Denise was home with sick kids!) And this past weekend we celebrated March 25, a Greek double holiday, at St. George Greek Orthodox Church (Knoxville).
From our perspective, missions has been a constant theme throughout March ... even St. Patrick's Day. Across the globe millions of folk (whether of Irish ancestry or not) love this holiday for its fun and festiveness. If thought is given to this patron saint of Ireland, he might be remembered as a powerful priest who drove the snakes from the Emerald Isle (not true, by the way). A little time on the internet, however, reveals that St. Patrick's real story is more compelling than the myths. Kidnapped as a teenager from Roman occupied Britannia (c. 405 a.d.), he was sold to a cruel clan chieftain in northern Ireland. The young Patrick clung to the Christian faith of his family and upon his escape several years later returned home to study Christianity further. Responding to a vision (similar to the Apostle Paul's), Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary and spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel and organizing Christian communities.
God's work in the life of Saint Patrick and in Ireland during the 5th century is indeed worthy of celebration, and will be for eternity. Similarly, God's work in the Apostle Paul's life and in Greece in the 1st century is and will be a great cause of celebration. But times and circumstances change, and God is once again sending missionaries like us to Greece and Ireland (and to other "Christian" nations) because once again people need to hear the Gospel. What a privilege, to those who send and to those who are sent, to participate in God's work! And together with all the saints we'll celebrate throughout eternity the great things that God has done!
Missions Conferences & Celebrations
Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church (Knoxville, TN) -- which planted our home church nearly 24 years ago -- has an incredible legacy of supporting global missions. At this year's mission conference (March 4-7) the principal speaker was Pastor Giotis Kantartzis of the First Greek Evangelical Church in Athens. It was so good to see and hear Giotis again. He is a charismatic preacher who we first heard at the PCA Global Missions Conference in 2013. Little did we expect then that God would eventually call us to Greece to work with Giotis and other pastors and missionaries who are involved in a tremendous church planting work. Giotis spoke at Christ Covenant's missions conference in 2014, and Marc has been able to visit with him briefly several times since then, both in the United States and in Greece.
What an incredible weekend (March 9-11) we had with old friends at First Presbyterian Church (Columbia, SC). Even though it had been 15 years since we'd left (to take a position in Nairobi, Kenya with Samaritan's Purse), coming back to First Church was like coming back home. God had used this congregation to shape Marc's spiritual formation while he was in graduate school at the University of South Carolina. And later God brought Denise to First Presbyterian through a friendship. It is at this church where we met and started married life together, and it will forever hold a special place in our hearts! We returned to tell them how God has worked in our lives since we left and to share the vision for ministry in Greece that he has laid upon our hearts.. Over the course of the weekend we had meals with church members (some serving on the missions committee) and old college friends. We were also given an opportunity to share with the Sunday school class that meets in the Frank C. Hill World Missions Center (you can access a video of that presentation at https://vimeo.com/262488116). We are truly blessed to have so many South Carolina friends who will be partnering with us through prayer (and perhaps finances) in this ministry.
This past Sunday (March 25) we participated in a very special celebration at St. George Greek Orthodox Church (Knoxville, TN), where we attend Greek school. In the Greek calendar, March 25 is a dual holiday -- Annunciation (the day marking Archangel Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary) and Greek Independence Day. As we have learned in our Greek culture class, it is not coincidental that these two holidays fall on the same day. Greek revolutionaries chose the day of the Annunciation to announce their own message of good news -- a proclamation that freedom would be won from the enslavement and tyranny of the Ottoman Empire.For the second year, our children had an opportunity to participate in the celebration. Nita had the part of Mary. Then she and the boys joined the other children in singing the Greek National Anthem and reciting important poems. A pastor-friend recently noted that while everyone seeks "freedom", it is only by abiding in the words of Christ that we know truth and are truly set free (John 8:31-32). We pray that we will be an encouragement to our Greek friends -- and to all -- to pursue the eternal freedom that only comes through an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Marc & Denisely Atchley
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