Christian Chronicle (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 15, 1968 Page: 3 of 8
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68
March IS, 1968
CHRISTIAN
CHRONICLE
1
s
— .....
I
..
t-
'■.’J
.....
u
&
use
or
near, the Walls found out to
their dismay that the lawyer
was seriously ill and was un-
The Center also maintains a
full schedule of worship serv-
ices for adults. Qn Friday
nights streets are filled with
the "payday” crowd—-shop-
ping, celebrating, escaping.
with only the services of a
second lawyer hired locally
at Amalias.
Phil Wall describes the situ-
payday-night traffic and in-
(Continued on next page)
mis-
is a
(aid.
be
mts
up
lur-'
ave
t> a
ing
of
am
kch
ny
m-
is
ir
he
‘P
to
er
n.
n-
is
>f
[e
rus-
y of
and
kited —
per-
ex-
lly
th-
his
hot
xo
I he
lor
I
had
pm-
fre
ps-
..
I
at ion:
"There was nothing else to
do but go through with it. So,
we swallowed hard and re-
solved to take whatever lay
in store. We travelled to Ama-
lias planning and thinking
what we would do if such-
and-such would result. We
must have built 10 bridges at
least. The worst that could
happen would be a long term
in jail ... not too pleasant if
you’ve seen a Greek jail. Next
worst, we could be deported
(after only a year on the
field). We could also see large
sums of money being ex-
tracted ’under the table* to
buy our freedom."
The trial was held as sched-
uled before three judges, qne
of them a woman.
The first three witnesses
gave favorable testimony for
the defendants. One witness
was a young "field guard,” a
policeman who watches the
crops and herds, who had
spent the night in jail with
the defendants.
The judge asked him if he bittersweet sadness.
CHANGE TO CLASSROOM
(above) takes place with mi-
nor adjustments. DeRooy and
Ray Albrldge .present a Bible
lesson. For teenagers and
adults, other activities such
as private tutoring and a Fri-
day night "coffee house" draw
community interest In the
gospel.
PORTABLE LOUD SPEAKER
(right) is used by David De-
Rooy to call boys and girts
to the bus.
in California — echoes these
thoughts. “Every new congre-
gation will have the same bat-
tle,” he says, “since the per-
mit is only for a specified
building, not a church."
Shifting politics in Greece
(spotlighted by King Constan-
tine's recent abortive counter-
coup attempt and subsequent
flight into exile) and the om-
nipotence of the Orthodox
Church in the country, cer-
tainly put any evangelical
Christians between the pro-
..... verbial rock and aJtard place.
The Walls’ scrape with the
Jaw began, with a contact
made through an advertise-
ment last summer in an Ath-
ens newspaper. Costas Lingo-
grasp the guiding reins firmly
in their own hands.
■ \ ’
_ 5
poulos, who lives in the re-
mote village of Tragano, 200
miles from Athens on the
Peloponnesos, read about a
meeting in which Arkansas
preacher Mike Sinapiades
was the speaker.
Through this contact the
man signed up to receive a
correspondence course on the
^^by/he Sun Valley church Bible, and a follow-up visit
was made to his villages by
two young Greek Christians,
Chrisenthos JTheoharis and
Dinos Roussos. After further
study Lingopoulos was bap-
tized and prevailed upon
Philip Wall to come to his
village and preach to his peo-
ple. 7
had heard any proselytizing,
and he stammered "N-no sir.”
Had he seen any literature
distributed?
’ “N-no sir.”
The antagonistic witness
was a priest who said it was
a case of 100 per cent prose-
lytism. His main contention
was that the workers were
teaching heretical doctrines.
The judge- read a page from a
confiscated tract. '
“Anything here heretical?"
"Well, no" said the priest.
Another page of the tract,
“Why I am a Member of the
Church of Christ,” was read
to the entire court of about
100 spectators. *
Page after page was read as
the priest shifted his weight
in the witness stand. —
The lawyers were smiling
and exchanging knowing glan-
ces at each other. Wall says,
“Although we could see the
cause for the prosecution
crumbling slowly, it was a
, as we
realized the general apathy
toward religion as embodied
by the Orthodox Churph.”
. The District Attorney asked
for prosecution to the fullest
extent of the law. When the
verdict was announced later,
all the defendants were exon-
erated of guilt and innocent
of the charges. They were
free to go. "We were so numb
with exhaustion," Wall re-
counts, "we could hardly be-
i lieve our ears, but we were
I certainly made aware that
I God still rules in the king-
1 dom of men and that His Will
[. is stronger than the strong-
r est government."
Back in Athens, Wall will
I join with George Dumas and
Ervin Bishop and their wives
I in further planning for the
stability of the congregation.**
One important decision must
be made soon. The Glyfada
congregation, composed of
some 30 Greek members plus
the missionaries and other
Americans and Europeans liv-
(. ing in Athens, will have to
move its meeting location.
Part of this is necessity. Al-
though “recognized" by the
government, they have been
strongly requested to move
out of the neighborhood
where they are near both an
Orthodox Churph and an Or-
thodox School.
A group of leaders from the
While’s Ferry Road Church of
Christ in West Monroe, La.,
was in Athens in late January.
This congregation backs
George Dumas’ work, and
they plan to finance the pur-
chase of property somewhere
closer to downtown Athens
within the year. The Louisi-
ana congregation is interested
in establishing a preacher
training school in Greece and
will combine their plans for
the school with the need for.
a new church building loca-
tion. Agents are now scouting
for suitable property.
So it seems a skirmish has.
been won, but the battle to
teach the simple New Testa-
ment way will be a long one,
and the end might be unpleas
ant. It is possible that Ameri-
can workers could be barred
from Greece as has happened >
in other countries. In that
event they can only pray that
the Greek Christians will be
The staff goes out into’the strong enough in the faith to
I FOR CHILDREN IN PHILADELPHIA SLUMS
Bus Becomes Portable Church Building
By Sara Bills
PHILADELPHIA — "This
bus belongs to Jesus."
So reads the sign above the
driver of a yellow school bus
weaving through the narrow
streets of a slum neighbor-
hood.
“Free bus trip for all boys
and gtrtv booms rvoice over
a portable loud speaker.
“Don’t miss the bus trip. Be -
back by 4 o’clock!”
Women peer our of win-
dows, little faces gaze from
behind partially opened
doors, and children begin to
appear from alleys, around
corners and across vacant
lots. Some are waiting on
street corners, obviously an-
ticipating the arrival of the
bus.
Six little boys run eagerly
toward the bus. "We made
it!” one of the youngsters
says breathlessly as they
climb aboard.
On the next comer, a group
of children stand aimlessly.
They watch with envy as
other children board the bus
—wishing they dared join the
group.
The bus is filled. The chil-
dren, primarily Negro and
. Puerto Rican, range from
ages 5 to 17. The bus moves
out of the described neighbor-
hood into a world new to
most of these children who
may be leaving the confines
of the ghetto for the first -
time.
The children are singing,
“Wonderful, wonderful, Jesus
is to me," as the bus reaches
its destination—a park on the
edge of the city. A few altera-
tions are made to the interior
of the bus to simulate a class-
room and a Bible lesson be-
gins.- '• -
The lesson is presented in •.
an imaginative way—a simple
chemical experiment insures
an attentive audience and a
lasting impression.
Following the lesson, the
boys and girls get off the bus
for the field trip. On the way
home a special trip to the air-
port is announced for the
coming Saturday.
lu-
lu.
iv-
is- |
i |
m-
The youth program is oper-
ated six nights a week, em-
phasizing Bible study and in-
cluding worship, bus trips,
recreation, tutoring, clothing
distribution and lots of Chris-
tian love. One result has been
the baptizing into Christ of
20 teenagers.
•
age 3
----------- |
I
J
The Charge: Teaching Heretical Doctrines
(Continued from Page One) poulos, who lives in the re- were all under arrest for pro-
George Dumas, who has been mote village of Tragano, 200 selytizing and would be taken
in Athens since 1963, and such miles from Athens on the the next day to the county
workers as Orlan Miller and Peloponnesos, read about a seat for trial. The men were
Robert Carey who have since meeting in which Arkansas held in jail that, night,
returned to the States, can preacher Mike Sinapiades After signing statements
testify to the agonies which was the speaker. the next day, they were al-
lie ahead. Through this • contact the lowed to return to Athens,
The third American preach- man signed up to receive a but reminded that a trial
er in Athens — Ervin Bishop, correspondence course on the would be held about Febru-
ary 20. So the next few weeks
were taken up with securing
an attorney and planning a
defense. The attorney, a Mr.
Stenos, who is a prominent
leader in an E v a n^ el i c a 1
Church in Greece, was eager
for the job. “Don’t worry,
God is on our side,” he told
■ Wall.
On January 2 the Walls, the As the day of the trial drew
two young men who made the
original trip, and a 14-year-old
boy, Christos Karapateas,
went to the village of Tragano der doctor’s orders nut to
and began holding public leave his bed for 48 hours,
preaching services each night The trial could not be post-
in an abandoned Church of poned. They had to proceed
God building. On the third
night, before the services be-
gan, local police came in and
took names, told them they
The "Sunday Bus Trip" is
just one phase of the program
of inner city evangelism be-
ing directed by David De-
Rooy at the Christian Service
Center on Germantown Ave-
nue in Philadelphia, Pa.
The DeRooy family and
four other full-time workers
live in the Center. The other
staff members are Ray and
Cindy Albridge, Marty Bayer
and Bill Gainthner.
They conduct a regular pro-
gram of worship services,
prayer and study groups, re-
medial classes, distribution of
food and clothing, recrea-
tional activities and a Friday
night "Coffee House” which
has proved an effective ap-
proach for reaching adults.
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Straughn, Harold. Christian Chronicle (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 15, 1968, newspaper, March 15, 1968; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1320757/m1/3/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.