greece project group shot

John enrolled in a Gardening 101 class this summer similar to Angie’s.

Yet so different. His class just happened to be held in Athens, Greece.

The “class” goes by another name—the Greece Summer Project. Thirty-eight Campus Crusade college students and staff members embarked upon a five-week mission trip to Athens. There they found a people very similar to those Paul met, almost 2,000 years ago.

“In our time there we didn’t see anyone come to faith and only a handful of students seemed to be interested to hear what we had to say,” says the Texas State student (back row, second from right). “And the long-term staff members have been there for two years and haven’t seen a single person [say yes to Jesus]. This gave us a deeper understanding of what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. If someone wanted an accurate description of the Greeks we met, all they would have to do is open up to chapter 17 of Acts and see. Their mentality back then matches what it is now.”

Greece was the first European country to be evangelized (Acts 16:10), but Christianity is now more cultural than spiritual, with only 2% of the population in any kind of church on an average Sunday. Only 15,000 (0.04%) have a vital relationship with Christ in Greece today.

The need is great.

John continues, “The time in Greece was one of the greatest experiences of my life. We abided in Christ because of our absolute need for Him.”

“Since coming back to the States,” says John, “all I’ve wanted is to be back in Greece, crammed into a tiny room with six other [summer project] guys, walking up to campus three days a week and having cigarette smoke blown in my face while trying to engage students in spiritual conversations.”

Thank you for your prayers and financial investments which enable us to support missionaries (full-time as well as summer students like John) with our behind-the-scenes roles. We love freeing up men and women to plant seeds for others to know Jesus—in Athens and everywhere else, leaving the results to God.