A Day at the Monastery

Today we had the most exciting day of our trip. This morning, with much apprehension, we approached the gate of the monastery. We weren't sure of what kind of greeting to expect. First we were offered kaffe (coffee) and were ushered into the office of Abbot (the head of the monastery) and were greeted very warmly and served a frappe (iced coffee) by an assistant. The assistant librarian was there for us and was able to interpret for the Abbot who only spoke a little English. Dan answered some questions about DTS and some nice words were exchanged. The Abbot then gave us a gift of a small picture of John writing in a cave which was a special welcome gift. We were then invited to have lunch with the Abbot. Next we were taken to the museum where we saw ancient manuscripts and some of their oldest relics. The assistant librarian then escorted us to the old library area where the manuscripts are stored. Before we knew it we were set up in a back room and photographing the first of the 5 codices that we came here to photograph. Around 1:00 we went to the dining hall and were seated at a long table and served a nice lunch with more food than even I could eat. We didn't sit at the same table as the priests but it was a privilege to have been invited to eat with them. After lunch, we were privileged to visit the archive room where we saw some of their oldest documents. We were treated very warmly and respectfully by our new friends at the monastery, Yanni (the Assistant Librarian) and Antonas (the Museum Guide).

Thanks for all of your prayers. Not only is this a dream come true for our team, it has been a long wait full of planning. Today we really saw God's amazing power and grace.

Please be in prayer that our time here continues to be productive and beneficial. Also that we would be able to get all of the work done, even with time to spare possibly for other manuscript studies and some building of some good relations here.