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<\/a>AFCC\u2019s members toiled for two months to renovate the rented hall to make everything ready for the big day. The result was smiles and a sense of thanksgiving to God. The praises and the special songs uplifted Spirits, while the sermon from the Greek Mission president, Claudio Gulyas, moved everyone. AFCC\u2019s pastor, Adriano Fernandez, couldn\u2019t contain his joy the whole day. But this is only a beginning. A delegation from the mother church, the Athens International Church, challenged everyone to repeat the church planting process.<\/p>\nThe plant started with a nucleus of just 10 members. Their target was to reach out to the non-Adventist Filipinos and those who may have slipped away from the church. The Athens Filipino Community Centre (AFCC), was thus established with the full approval of the local board and the Greek Mission.<\/p>\n<\/a>During the afternoon programme pastor\u2019s Fernandez wife, Raleigh, shared a brief history of the AFCC noting its start in March 2015 when, she said, \u201csons and daughters of God humbly prayed together for the new church to bloom.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/a>Meetings started in members\u2019 homes and then moved to a church owned building one hour commute out of central Athens. Attendance grew despite the travel distance. However, central Athens is a better area for worship as more Filipinos live in the area. The Greek Mission gave members permission to use a vacant hall on the first floor of the Mission office building that had formerly been used as a place of worship. Just one year later they had outgrown the premises and needed to move again.<\/p>\n