The last part of my trip...
It’s been almost 2 weeks since I returned from the US and I feel like only now I am adjusted to the time difference. Going to the US I adjusted from the second day, but coming back was a whole other story. Of course I also had 2 months of travelling on my back and so the exhaustion I felt was probably related to that as well. And right when I was getting back to a daily schedule I’ll leave again in a couple of days to go to Greece for my older brother’s wedding. (It is a very pleasant event though so I am not complaining! 😛 )
I wanted to update you on the last couple of weeks of my trip in the U.S. because I interacted with some more great people and it would be a shame not to mention them. After Indianapolis I took an 8 hour bus drive to Chattanooga, Tennessee where Pat & Traci Regan greeted me and hosted me. I’ve never met them before personally, but we did communicate through emails seeing as they also are members of AMG ministries. For people who I’ve never met before they sure made me feel really comfortable in their home and embraced me with open arms. The same goes for their daughter Hannah. 🙂
While I was in Chattanooga I visited the AMG offices and met some more people in person; including Meredith who we’ve been emailing back and forth for the past 2 years. On Monday morning I got to share with them about the ministry work in Cyprus but also about my personal testimony. Later on that night I was given the opportunity to share again on the same topic, but to a different group of people and I was given more time to elaborate more on what I had to share about Cyprus. It was a truly blessed time and I wanted to thank all of those who were praying for me because I really felt like God was giving me the words and I just spoke straight from my heart. The people who attended seemed to be very interested in what God is doing in Cyprus and a lot of them expressed how they will definitely keep us in their prayers and maybe even partnering with us.
After Chattanooga I headed to New Jersey where I stayed with Tim and Julie (a lovely couple who I met in 2010 when I was helping out at the summer camps in Greece). They gave me a tour of New York and also went all the way to Ocean City (so that means I’ve seen both the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.) 🙂 It was great seeing them again after so many years and getting to meet their cute 2-year old son.
After New Jersey I got on another bus and headed towards Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There I stayed with Bruce & Margaret Hemphill. It was the first time I met them and they did a great job at hosting me and showing me around Pittsburgh. They also took me to see Geneva College. Also while I was there I got to reunite with some family friends from Cyprus and it was REALLY nice seeing them again.
I was given the chance to share at one of the RP churches on the Sunday morning and then at one of the youth groups of another RP church in the evening.
As much as I enjoyed sharing about God’s work and what He has done and is doing in my life, by this point I felt like I was reaching my limits and the fact that I had been travelling for almost two months and constantly sharing and meeting people had started to hit me and I felt my body lacking strength. But I prayed about it and asked God to give me more strength because I had one more week left in the U.S. and I was to return to Ohio to help out with some close friends’ wedding preparations.
So I got on the bus and headed towards Dayton, Ohio where the Gossard family welcomed me again. I woke up the next morning to find that God had really restored me strength and was able to help out the next few days. I was really grateful for that and sincerely enjoyed helping with this wedding. I absolutely loved my time there and also met some more great people who also showed great interest in Cyprus and the ministry there.
Overall I had an amazing time on this trip and loved reuniting with so many familiar faces but also getting to know new ones. The thing that amazed me the most though was the fact that I kept on seeing God’s hand in everything. Not just the big things on this trip but also in so many details. When I started planning this trip last September, I had asked God to guide me each step of the way and show me what the best way is to go about things. And not only He did that but he seriously took care of every detail (at some point I will have to write down some of those stories just so you get an idea).
I want to thank each one of you who have been praying for me but also anyone else who might be reading this now and who showed interest in what God is doing in Cyprus and in my life. It’s truly a blessing to call people your “family” even if you’ve just met them for the first time, because the fact that we all belong in the body of Christ unites us on a whole other level. Also I want to thank those who supported me financially on this trip, I honestly couldn’t have done it without your support, but all those who chose to partner with this ministry knowing that we are all in this together now.
Hope you have a wonderful and blessed day,
Lot’s of Love,
Anastasia
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