Philip Newton&#39;s journal

I've never asked you... Which cities did you visit while being here?

And btw, if you tell me that you visited Kavala and that it was you the uh missionaire? (sorry, not sure about the terminology..) that had scared me, then I'll come after you :p I think I've told you about this, no? :)

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Also, just out of pure curiosity, how "successful" were usually these missios? I don't mean to judge the missions, btw, but the Greek culture that's kind of stuck to Christianity. Especially the old people, as you most probably remember.

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Also, just out of pure curiosity, how "successful" were usually these missios?

Not very, or so I felt. (It's a bit difficult to measure since you never know what result you really had... perhaps someone needs to encounter missionaries ten times during his life before he'll really listen to them, but each of the ten times might be significant in preparing him for the eventual encounter... so you never know.)

the Greek culture that's kind of stuck to Christianity.

Indeed -- specifically Orthodox Christianity. (We consider ourselves Christians, too.)

I think part of it might be the Turkish occupation -- the religion was, as I understood it, one of the few things that kept them specifically Greek, so being X.O. became pretty important as a part of national identity.

Some people also wondered why we bothered teaching in Greece, the "birthplace of Christianity", and suggested we go to Africa where the heathens are rather than staying in a Christian country.

Especially the old people, as you most probably remember.

Oh indeed. Especially the old women.

And many, many people thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. Even when we told them we weren't (if they were still listening), some people kept saying, "Yes you are!".

"Γεια σας. Είμαστε ιεραπόστολοι από την Εκκλησία του Ιησού Χριστού των Αγίων των Τελευταίων Ημερών." - "Δηλαδή, είστε Ιεχωβάδες;"

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Not very, or so I felt. (It's a bit difficult to measure since you never know what result you really had... perhaps someone needs to encounter missionaries ten times during his life before he'll really listen to them, but each of the ten times might be significant in preparing him for the eventual encounter... so you never know.)

*nods* I just meant.. Did they actually let you talk about your religion? I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even let you explain anything.

Indeed -- specifically Orthodox Christianity. (We consider ourselves Christians, too.)

Ooops, see, I'm really not familiar with religions, so sorry for my ignorance.

I think part of it might be the Turkish occupation -- the religion was, as I understood it, one of the few things that kept them specifically Greek, so being X.O. became pretty important as a part of national identity.

Yeah, exactly. During the revolution in 1821 and all the wars, later, the church played a very big role in regaining our freedom, so it's considered something very important and a part of the Greek culture, you could say.

Some people also wondered why we bothered teaching in Greece, the "birthplace of Christianity", and suggested we go to Africa where the heathens are rather than staying in a Christian country.

Haha I'm sure that you heared this a lot. Some times Greeks think so high of themselves.

Oh indeed. Especially the old women.

I can so imagine their reaction.. "Εγώ παιδάκι μου είμαι Χριστιανή Ορθόδοξη! Δεν ξέρεις τι σημαίνει αυτό; *κύρηγμα για τους Χριστιανούς Ορθόδοξους*"

And many, many people thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses. Even when we told them we weren't (if they were still listening), some people kept saying, "Yes you are!".

"Γεια σας. Είμαστε ιεραπόστολοι από την Εκκλησία του Ιησού Χριστού των Αγίων των Τελευταίων Ημερών." - "Δηλαδή, είστε Ιεχωβάδες;"

Yeah, there is this misconception here that anyone who represents a church that isn't X.O., then they're Jehovah's Witnesses. That's mainly because there used to be a *lot* of them in Greece, so the church was all like "They are evil, they're lying!". Mleh.

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I just meant.. Did they actually let you talk about your religion?

Not often.

Another linguistic problem we sometimes encountered was when we had a little exhibition in a plateia with little boards with pictures and texts and tried to talk to passers-by, at first I would sometimes ask people, "Έχετε δύο λεπτά;" and they thought I was asking them for money. (Even though "Έχετε δύο λεφτά;" makes no sense to me AFAIK, even if they misheard it that way.)

it's considered something very important and a part of the Greek culture, you could say.

*nods* To be Greek is to be Orthodox... once or twice, we met someone who was interested in principle but didn't want to change because leaving his religion would cause major problems with his family and possibly his job - as if they were renouncing their whole identity.

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I've never asked you... Which cities did you visit while being here?

For most of the time I was in Greece, there were missionaries only in Thessaloniki and in "Athens" (meaning the entire built-up area, not just the actual city of Athens), and I was "stationed" in both of those places for various parts of my mission. (For part of the time I was there, there were also missionaries in Patra and in Kavala, but I wasn't assigned to either of those cities. I don't know which cities have missionaries right now, though I imagine at least Thessaloniki and Athens.)

I was also in Limassol (Λεμεσός) on Cyprus for several months.

And btw, if you tell me that you visited Kavala and that it was you the uh missionaire? (sorry, not sure about the terminology..) that had scared me, then I'll come after you :p

I was in Kavala during my mission, but only a couple of times on my "day off", and not in shirt and tie but rather in jeans and t-shirt -- as a tourist, not as a missionary. (I remember a place where you walk down a bunch of steps and end up on some rocks by the sea, for example.)

So it's unlikely that we met in Kavala.

I think I've told you about this, no? :)

I can't remember off-hand.

BTW, it's "missionary" in English, and we used "ιεραπόστολος" in Greek.

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For most of the time I was in Greece, there were missionaries only in Thessaloniki and in "Athens" (meaning the entire built-up area, not just the actual city of Athens), and I was "stationed" in both of those places for various parts of my mission. (For part of the time I was there, there were also missionaries in Patra and in Kavala, but I wasn't assigned to either of those cities. I don't know which cities have missionaries right now, though I imagine at least Thessaloniki and Athens.)

I've seen a few in Thessaloniki lately, but none in Kavala. I think that the number is much smaller now, compared to 10 years earlier. Because I remember that I used to see a lot of people in Kavala back then.

I was in Kavala during my mission, but only a couple of times on my "day off", and not in shirt and tie but rather in jeans and t-shirt -- as a tourist, not as a missionary. (I remember a place where you walk down a bunch of steps and end up on some rocks by the sea, for example.)

So it's unlikely that we met in Kavala.

Oh, you mean Παναγία! Close to a church and the er... φάρος. I don't remember the word in English. I *love* this place! But yeah, people in jeans didn't scare me ;)

I can't remember off-hand.

Well, I was around 8-9 years old and I was going back home. It was winter, because it was dark. And in Kavala, I live in a very small street with trees. So while I was walking, there were two missionaires close to the trees, but I didn't see them. So as I was walking by, they told me something like "Καλησπέρα, κοριτσάκι". So they scared the hell out of me, because, you know, it was dark, they were dressed in black and all and I didn't know who they were. So I ended up running and screaming and I'm sure I scared them as well :p Now I feel for them, to be honest. But after this incident, for a couple of years, I'd stay as far as I could from your church's missionaires.

BTW, it's "missionary" in English, and we used "ιεραπόστολος" in Greek.

Right. I knew the word in Greek, but not the one in English.

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Oh, you mean Παναγία!

I don't know whether it had a name :)

Close to a church and the er... φάρος. I don't remember the word in English.

Lighthouse?

I think to get to it, you had to walk past a schoolyard. I don't remember a church.

We went there by walking past the house of a friend of the church, who lived on οδ. Μέχμετ Αλί IIRC, on a hill. (He wasn't interested in joining the church but was very friendly to the missionaries and would sometimes give out recommendations to them to visit this or that friend of his.)

...Ah, judging by http://www.detakav.gr/htms/english/oldcityen.htm it could well be Παναγία.

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volantwish

You were in my dream last night!
I was in an elevator, and the doors were closing. Suddenly, they started to open (as though someone had just pressed the elevator button.) And a beanie baby platypus wandered in. (You were awfully short. It took a while to figure out.)

Anyway.

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Dreams about support volunteers can be pretty weird (http://www.livejournal.com/users/pne/449325.html), I suppose.

Thanks for the note :)

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destruir.livejournal.com

http://www.google.com/logos/mlk06.gif

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Thank you! (http://www.livejournal.com/community/google_art/24742.html)

I looked at Google yesterday but didn't see a logo; I suppose it was yet another logo that they only showed to visitors coming from US IP addresses. So thanks for the direct link!

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destruir.livejournal.com

You're welcome :]

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Hi! I'm sorry for coming into your personal journal,
but I do have a question for you.

I'm a member of Mood_mania, and I'm in love with your Kanji mood theme...
I tried to install it with the admin/console (I uploaded the pics to my own server) and it said after I executed:

"failed! you do not own this theme.." and I was wondering, how could I install it correctly?

If you can please help me, I will be eternally grateful.

Thanks so much!

-Jenna

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Me again :)

I apologize again!

I did figure it out. I'd like to credit you, how would you like me to.. will my userinfo be okay?

Thanks :)

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Userinfo is fine; thanks for wanting to credit me!

Perhaps something like "Kanji mood theme by

pne"?

And I'm glad you like it :)

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awesome, will do!

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I'm a member of Mood_mania, and I'm in love with your Kanji mood theme...

Was my kanji theme advertised there somewhere? If so, could you give me the URL of the entry, please?

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oh sure.

http://www.livejournal.com/community/mood_mania/54340.html

obviously under K.

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Thank you very much!

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