0.01%. This is my guess as to how many Athenian students would say they follow Jesus: 20 as far as we know, out of the approximately 200,000 in total.
Students in the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) group in Athens have long wrestled with how to make contact with those who don’t go to evangelical churches. There are more out there, but we don’t have meaningful contact. There are Christians of university age in the migrant churches: Filipinos, Nigerians, Ethiopians and so on, but there is little relationship between them and the Greek community.
Our emphasis has been to encourage students in the gospel so that they have confidence to reach their fellow students with the good news. At the same time, we know we need to be visible and present to reach at least some with whom we would otherwise never have contact.
In 2016 we started a project called Coffee and Cookies (it does what it says on the tin!) and it was worthwhile to a point, but it never gained traction and we never created long-term contact with anyone. Covid hit and Coffee and Cookies was one project that didn’t get up after that knockout.
In 2022 however, our national director encouraged me to give it another try and so, with our intern George Sewall leading, we launched again in March 2023. We have seen such a different outcome. Last academic year we were regularly running it at three campuses in Athens, in partnership with staff from other organisations and a handful of regular students.
Each week we have conversations with at least a handful, if not a few dozen students, and in each location we have regulars every week. Some of these students have accepted invitations to come to more formal events, and some have also joined in at birthday parties and outings unrelated to the IFES group.
What has made the difference? There are two main factors. The first is that we have stuck rigidly (one might say religiously!) to the same time and place for each campus.
This was despite our best efforts to diversify! In March 2023, we planned trips to other campuses but it was as if the Lord shut the door. Each time we tried we were turned back by torrential rain, or overzealous security staff at the university gate, or a strike that closed the city centre. In the end we accepted God’s providential hand leading us to remain at the same place, same time, every week.
Some admitted they only came to class that day because we (with our coffee and cookies) were there.
This bore fruit. Students would wait for us at 11am saying, “We hoped you’d be back this week.” On occasion we were late and they would chastise us (with smiles). Some admitted they only came to class that day because we were there. It seems that many value the reliability of a group that enables trust and confidence. We notice people walking by with a glance one week, a lingering look the second week, and a tentative approach the third week saying, “I’ve seen you before: what are you doing?”
The second factor is the questions we pose. Only rarely will we write something theological. Our simple questions bring people willingly to write their opinions. From that, conversation often flows: first at a surface level but gradually deeper and more seriously. A casual conversation can become a serious one, which can become a spiritual one.
Simple questions bring people willingly to write down their opinions and from that, conversations often flow.
Ilias is one of our leaders and told me more than once: “Coffee and Cookies is the highlight of my week!”
One of our regular visitors, Haralambos, greeted me at our first Coffee and Cookies this term with the words: “Hello Jonathan! I’ve been waiting months for this to re-start!” The question on our board on this occasion was very simply: “What do you want to do this year?” The answers reveal a whole range of desires: all met or subverted in the good news about Jesus.
Jonathan and Dawn Clark serve in student ministry in Greece