I Found Christ in the New Testament By Catherine Economos as told to Petra Fakos B ORN and reared in Athens, I was brought up in the Greek Orthodox men and women from various parts of the city offered us their services for this blessed work.
had always supposed. I learned that the Comforter was always at hand. I was shown how I could be my Heavenly Father’s real child, and love my neigh bors as myself. I read the words of Jesus: “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbour as thyself.” Before I read my Testament, I thought I was a Christian. Now I saw that I had not been one at all. I was exultantly happy in my new Christian faith. I asked Mrs. Makricosta to hold meet ings in my home. A t first five o f my friends came, but the attendance in creased until eighty women crowded in to my home. Then the Germans forbade gatherings of any type with more than three people present. Nevertheless we continued the Christian Corner in my home. There were not enough chairs, so we sat on boxes and cans. We were never molested. At the end of the read ings, my friends asked questions. They said my home was like heaven to them. One said, “ You have saved my life.” The war ended. The Archaeological Society offered the Christian Corner the use of their large auditorium free of charge. It seated five hundred people. We filled it every Wednesday afternoon. Then the University of Athens opened their great hall, with eight hundred seats for us on Sunday afternoons. It too' was always filled to overflowing. As a result o f all these blessings, the living Spirit o f Jesus laid hold of our hearts in a new way. We began regular visits to the hospitals, the leper camp, the sanitariums and other places. Young
A t last I belonged to the “ Salvation Army.” My dream had come true. I de cided I wanted to remain among these needy friends. I became a volunteer nurse of the Red Cross in 1945. Times were difficult. There was very little food, almost no transportation. But I took my course and earned my diploma. Our beloved Queen Fredericka gave us our diplomas personally. I worked at the Army Hospital in Athens. All the patients were wounded soldiers of our civil war. It was a won derful privilege to minister to these men for Jesus’ sake. Among others I met was George Maipas. He came from a little mountain village in the part of Greece under Communist rule. He was a man o f true, deep religion. The people of his village were very ignorant. They never went to church. With a smile, George showed me his hand. He said, “ I was always a laborer, but now with this badly wounded arm, I cannot dig. With my small pension, I am going back to my village to try to work for Jesus.” I gave George some Gospel portions of Matthew and John, and promised more. I had the unspeakable privilege of dis tributing the blessed Scriptures to many who needed them. Although my husband had died, and my life, humanly speak ing, is sadly emptied, it is full. Nothing can ever empty it, for I have found Jesus in my Bible and have led others to find Him there. —Reprinted from Bible Society Record.
Church. My parents were very good Christians. We went to church every Sunday and on all holy days. When I learned to read, my mother gave me a little book of hymns and prayers, but as I grew older I longed for some thing more. I loved religion and always wanted to be near Jesus Christ and work for Him—but He seemed so far away. All I knew in my religious life was going to church and reading my prayer book, both wholly perfunctory and unsatisfying. At twenty, I married and came to America. One day I saw some Salvation Army people on the street. They were singing a hymn and taking a collection for the poor. I thought, “ How happy 1 would be if I could join the Salvation Army!” But that was just a dream. After a few years, we returned to Greece because of my health. I became a chronic complainer. I was supersti tious, and felt that some catastrophe was about to befall me. For example, when my husband was a bit late return ing home, I was sure some terrible fate had befallen him. I was miserable, and made his life unhappy. In 1939 my husband left me in Greece and came again to America. War was declared. I no longer heard from my husband. My loneliness and misery were complete and devastating. Often I would run to church and kneel and pray. How ever, nothing seemed to help; I was in consolable. Then, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, salvation came to my house; strictly speaking, it came to me at the house of my sister-in-law. She said to me, “ Cath erine, you like religion. Why not go downstairs •to the apartment of Mrs. Christ Makricosta, where many lovely people meet regularly in what they call the Greek Orthodox Christian Corner?” I went and was warmly wel comed. People of all ages were there. As I looked at them, I said, “ How happy these people look! Surely, they' have no trouble in their lives.” Then the meeting opened. The leader stood up and read from a little book. She explained what she read very sim ply and impressively. She told us that Christ, our Lord, was there among us. Happiness almost overwhelmed me. Tears came to my eyes, for I had al ways thought that Jesus was only in heaven. I said to myself, “ At last I have found what I have always been looking for.” The next day Mrs. Makricosta gave me a copy o f the New Testament. I was never so eager to read any book in my life. The more I read, the more pre cious the things I found. I discovered that I was not alone in this world, as I M A R C H , 1 9 4 9
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