koronos, naxos. ATL.

Hey fam!

So for our final month(actually 2.5 weeks with timing of things) we have been BLESSED by the opportunity to go to the island of Naxos, Greece for ministry. The question I know a lot of people are going to frequently ask is HOW?! How did Team WakaWaka end up here, and honestly the story is incredibly wild… with an exceptional dose of confirmations upon our arrival. 

When first arriving in Athens from Romania, it began what is called ATL. ATL stands for Ask the Lord. Throughout the race thus far we have had set ministry hosts that have organized what we will do within the community or for their organization. Ministry that has included manual labor, refugee support, kids ministry, sermon teaching, prayer vigils, street evangelism; to name a few. The hosts will organize the details of housing, food, transportation, and ministry. Our role as racers is to simply be ready and be flexible. So, when we arrived to Athens it was different. We took the first three days to ATL, ask the Lord, where it was that He wanted our team as WakaWaka to go specifically. We were responsible to coordinate how to get there, where to stay, and what to do.

For myself, before even leaving Craiova I saw a lotttt of stairs in a vision from the Lord when asking Him what he wanted for us here. My first thought was OBVIOUSLY GOD, it is literally Greece, there are stairs everywhere. From there though, Addie was compelled by Acts 4 with the boldness of the believers. YES, all about the boldness. I saw another vision of Caroline standing and looking out of a cove of water, seeing this vastness of water. Open water, the open sea. From there, by the sea, was a theme for each of us. Even talking with the locals in Athens, they continued to mentioned things in this context. 

Things were aligning for all of us, but our budget was NOT. Obviously a Greek island in the prime time of June was going to be expensive, but we did not realize how much. However, we trusted… big time. We messaged over 40 AirBNB hosts to explain our budget and what we were doing, but received only denials. One after another. 

Personally, I began to doubt what I saw, heard, read. BIG TIME. I realized that I started tightly gripping the “idea” of going to the island rather than the focusing on the things God was asking and inviting us to do. So I personally, I retreated from any logistics, and laid it back at God’s feet. 

AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! … My teammate Anna received a message from an airbNB offering less than our budget for her space, and no questions asked. Whirlwind later, and we were on a ferry *cruise ship* to our new home of Koronos, Naxos. 

Upon arrival we received confirmation from the Greek Grandma Matina that welcomed us in right away, the English speaking doctor we met at the local market, the many many stairs, the overlook into the cove of the abyss of the ocean, the mountains surrounding us, a school teacher Ana accepting Addie’s help… just to name a few. 

We are in fact living in a fairytale. Learning a lot about Greek Orthodox, milking goats at the local farm… then making it into literal goat cheese, simply loving the people of the village, and shattering the perspectives of the locals and their confusion as to why we are here. 4 young American gals choose to “vacation” in a small village town rather than the party island of Santorini or Mykonos? Yup, that’s us… we love it here. 

Take a look at the views. 

Less than a week. yikes. 

xoxo 

d. 

p.s. travel day video coming soon.