CYPRUS

We interviewed Mark McCavery who teaches at the Logos School of English Education, a private English school in Limassol, a city on the south coast of Cyprus.

Tell us a bit about Cyprus and what you love most about Cyprus

First of all, the native language is Greek, and unfortunately we do not know Greek but we are trying to learn.

There are many nationalities in Cyprus because of its central location; north of Africa, east of Europe, west of Arabic countries, with a large Russian presence, particularly in Limassol, where we live.

Cyprus is in the Mediterranean which of course has its advantages. We are living in Limassol which is a coastal city and we can enjoy many gorgeous beaches and fantastic weather most of the year. Even in winter we can experience warm days. The people are friendly, crime rate is relatively low and the locals are very supportive of family life and children. The way of life is much more relaxed than the UK which can be frustrating at times and pleasant at other times.

We do enjoy the differences, for example; experimenting different foods, embracing some of the local culture, meeting new people from different parts of the world.

Where is your favourite place in Cyprus that a traveller must visit?

There are many nice places to visit but as we have explored the island a little, we enjoy particularly 2 places. Konnos Bay in Ayia Napa which is the kind of beach you see in brochures. Surrounded by cliffs and lovely blue water. We also like the Blue Lagoon in a little town called Latchi. It is only accessible by boat and it is a great place to swim and explore.

As a family, we enjoy more local places, for example the, Limassol Promenade, called Molos and the odd trip to the Troodos mountains.

What are the particular challenges facing Cyprus at the present time?

It is increasingly becoming a more expensive place to live, especially in Limassol where we work. With the increase in refugees from Ukraine, Russia and Israel, the wealthy tend to move to Limassol which is driving up prices across the city.

There is continued tension with Israel and Palestine as well as Russia and Ukraine within the country. As this has become a haven for a lot of people from those countries it has sparked some tension.

The continued influence of the Greek Orthodox church has some benefits within the country and its laws but it means spreading the gospel as Evangelical Christians can become difficult, as most of the locals will have a religion that they grew up with.

How did you come to be serving God in Cyprus and what we do here?

We work at a Christian school called Logos School of English Education. I am the Head of PE and also teach some ICT at the school, while Beulah is the Chemistry teacher. Logos School is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It has had many faithful Christian workers throughout its time. The school has around 350 pupils in Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary School. There are 39 nationalities represented in the school from a variety of different religions.

In 2016, we moved to Cyprus for one year and lived in Larnaca at that time. I worked at the school while Beulah stayed at home with Anna and helped out in the church in Larnaca. We moved at the end of the school year in 2017 back to Northern Ireland. When we moved back, although we were happy to come home to family and friends, we still felt we had more to offer Cyprus and we didn’t feel that one year was long enough. We often talked of Cyprus while we lived and worked in Northern Ireland for those years from 2017-2020.

In 2019 I got a message from a friend working in the school asking if I would ever consider returning to the school as the PE teaching job was available.

Beulah and I prayed and discussed moving for a few months; we were both excited at the prospect but would find it really difficult to leave family, friends and church. We were settled in Northern Ireland; we had a house, good jobs, Anna was settled in school, church life was good and our family all lived in Northern Ireland. On the surface it made no sense to move to Cyprus at this time. However, it was the first time I felt a strong calling from God to do something. I often heard of ministers receiving a call to go to a church but I had never felt this so strongly. I made decisions in my life with the help of God through prayer and reading my Bible but never had we felt a calling as strong as this. So, in faith, we made the decision to go, put our house up for sale during the beginning of COVID, and shipped our furniture to Cyprus. Our calling was strengthened over the next few months as different things worked in our favour. For example, while we were still in Northern Ireland we managed to secure a good house in Limassol, only 2 minutes’ walk to the school. This, with many other things, helped confirm our decision to leave.

What challenges and encouragements have you experienced in serving Christ and spreading the gospel in Cyprus?

We both love working at Logos; we laugh everyday with the students and enjoy our jobs immensely. The school gives us a lot of freedom to speak of God and the Bible. It encourages us not only to teach the syllabus, but also to speak about Christ our Saviour and our faith in class, and during any time we have with the students. It is so refreshing to be able to do this given the current world we live in. Each day the students must go to assembly and for 20mins we sing together and a male teacher preaches the gospel to the kids. I speak at assembly alternate Wednesdays and I have the freedom to speak on any subject or Bible passage I desire. This is another great opportunity to witness and speak to the students. Beulah and I are also leaders in the Scripture Union of the school, as well as some after-school sports clubs. We go on retreats with the students each year, where further preaching is presented to the kids, as well as discussion groups, prayer times and more free time to talk with the kids about the gospel.

Beulah and I try to take every opportunity we can to share the gospel with these students and we are very grateful for this privilege. We have seen some students come to Christ in recent years which has been fantastic, these students have come from different countries and different religions and gives us encouragement as we do the work here.

We also enjoy working with other believers, discussing our faith and beliefs in different areas, whilst all sharing the same goal of spreading the gospel to the students.

We are very thankful that are children attend this school where they sit under faithful preaching and care of good Christian men and woman.

Our main challenge would be the fact that we are far from family and close friends. We miss our church in Newtownards and enjoy our visits back in the summer. School life and teaching is demanding with many late nights of marking and prepping, just as it is in Northern Ireland.

How can we pray for the people of Cyprus and your work?

Pray for daily opportunities to speak to the students and alumni of Logos School about the gospel and our Lord and Saviour
Pray for us as we miss our family and friends in Northern Ireland
Pray that Cyprus will become more evangelical and Christianity will be the main religion in the country
Pray for Logos School as there are lots of events planned to celebrate 50 years and so lots of opportunities to spread the gospel

If you would like to contribute financially to the work in Cyprus you can get in touch with Mark McCavery by email at mark_mccavery@hotmail.com

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