Our History

The Hellenic Scripture Union is a registered Christian charity and a certified social care provider. It functions as part of the Global Scripture Union.

• The history of the Hellenic Scripture Union in the 20^th century is intertwined with the story of Miltiadis Aggelatos, visionary and founder of the Union, who was born in Corfu in 1922.. As he was reading a book by a Russian author, Miltiadis’ gaze fell on the subtitle on the very first page: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24. Miltiadis was curious about what the words “John 12:24” mean, and his English tutor explained that John is one of the New Testament writers. Miltiadis loved learning, so he wanted to find a New Testament to study. However, his island, Corfu, as well as the rest of Greece were occupied by the Nazis. Two litres of oil cost a whole piano! The price for a New Testament was quoted as eight kilos of potatoes. Miltiadis bought the New Testament without hesitation with the help of his mother and started reading it. His life was changed. On January 14th, 1943, as he was studying it, he felt the need to kneel, cry and ask for forgiveness from Christ for his sins and weaknesses. He decided to dedicate is life to Him.
• In 1950 Miltiadis collaborated with the “Gedeonites” organisation, in order to distribute the Bible all around the country. On just one occasion, during an event of the Greek Army Academy, 30,000 bilingual new testaments were distributed. This event sparked other initiatives in the army, the police and several prisons.
• In 1951, “The Christian Life” is published, a book Miltiadis wrote about the teaching the Bible. In 1952, he begins to systematically produce materials for Sunday schools. In this way and by his own initiative “The Sunday School Library” is established. Militadis himself was a very prolific writer and most of the materials published by the Hellenic Scripture Union were authored by him. He wrote both for children and adults. His math is disarming: “10+60>60+10. If a 10-year-old child is won to Christ and lives for 70 years they will give 60 years to God. If a 60-year-old man believes and he also lives for 70 years, he will only give 10 years to God”. Miltiadis wrote books, novels, stories, short stories, letters and theatrical plays. Over the following decades, the work of the publishing house grew, with the addition of the “Daily Devotionals”, “The Bible Illustrated” and “A journey through biblical Greece”. It is worth mentioning that for his work “The Biblical Encyclopaedia” Miltiadis received praise from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Archbishops of Athens, America, Australia and Cyprus, as well as Constantinos Tsatsos, the first President of Greece.
• In 1957, an American woman by the name of Gladys Kruse died in a car crash, leaving behind her husband and three children. The family decided to offer the insurance money for the aid of the children in Greece. Thus, the idea for the guesthouse “Bethel” was born.
• In 1960, Miltiadis bought a plot of land in the northern suburbs of Athens to build “Bethel”, a house that would become a home for the material and spiritual needs of children in Greece. Since then, camp programmes are held in “Bethel” for kids and teenagers. “Bethel” also works as a guesthouse for groups visiting from abroad, for whom the HSU organises tours to our country’s biblical and archaeological sites.
• In 1962, the ministry is linked to the Swiss Scripture Union and then goes on to become a part of the European Scripture Union.
• In 1967, a new vision to serve the elderly comes to life. With the help of an American friend (D.J. De Pree) the plot of land next to “Bethel” is purchased and “Lois” is erected with much love and care. “Lois” is a Christian Elderly Care Home, initially accommodating 30 elderly people in 15 twin rooms. Even though “Lois” started operating on the 2nd of October 1974, the Greek state only granted the permit and licence in 1983.
  Militadis’ vision was for “Bethel” and “Lois” to be built next to the other, with the children and the elderly all in one place, as a picture of God’s mercy, for the church to see and learn from this practice.
• In 1984, after Militadis’ suggestion, a children’s choir called “Leykes Kardoules” (“Little White Hearts”) is established and operates for the next 20 years, recording albums and participating in a lot of different events. In recent years, the Hellenic Scripture Union Children’s Choir was formed, putting in multiple appearances.
• During the 1990s, plans are made to extend and renovate “Lois’s” premises. The state grants permission in December 1997. Fifteen years of construction work follow accompanied by the motto: “is anything too hard for the Lord?”. Miltiadis did not have the chance to see the project completed, because he passed away in January 2002.
• Today, “Lois” is a modern Care Home for the Elderly, with 70 beds. In recent years, “Lois” simultaneously offers Care at Home services, aiming to offer high-quality treatment and services to elderly people who live at their homes. Apart from children’s programmes, “Bethel” also hosts programmes for various other ministries, such as for refugees and immigrants, and a number of Christian conferences.

  In 2016, commenced a lengthy re-evaluation of the vision and strategy and a new strategic plan was created. This process highlighted the need to provide further assistance to couples, families, and individuals, with regards to mental and psychological health. In 2020, the HSU founded the Counselling and Psychotherapy Center “Eunice” in N. I onia, with the mission of providing specialised services in prevention, diagnosis and therapy for children, teenagers, adults and families. There is a focus on dealing with psychological and emotional difficulties that affect people’s quality of life.