Restaurant owner Betty Kyriankidis was on national TV on Tuesday telling how her Acropolis Restaurant at Hamilton Place was able to survive tough times and is now thriving.
Appearing on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club“, she said she had to take out loans, but those are now paid off.
Ms.
Kyriankidis said she watches the 700 Club every morning before heading into her 60-hour work week at the Greek restaurant she and her late husband opened 26 years ago.
She said, “I think my desire to help people came when my mother and I, in the mountains of Kentucky, used to go into the coal mining camps and dress little children for church and take them to Sunday School. We just did a lot of ministries up there in the Appalachian and I learned about giving, and people really in need.”
In 2012 following a long illness, her husband passed away. She found comfort through her prayer warriors at CBN. “When I was going through some rough times I would call The 700 Club. And we would talk, and pray, and we would cry together and pray together, and it was very instrumental in helping me.”
Several years later the restaurant faced tough times and she was advised to sell the business and cut back on her giving.
Thinking back she says, “We've been through some difficult economic things that happened. And I always just say, 'Well, we'll get through it. With God's help, we'll get through it. I don't know how right now. We have to be faithful to Him and He's faithful to us.'"
She took out a personal loan against several rental properties and her son came on board with fresh menu ideas. Together they worked hard and the restaurant more than recovered.
With a smile she says, “God is just blessing us, and especially during COVID and God, blessings come your way.”
"Now, we're hitting numbers that we never hit before. And I think it's due to blessings that we're giving. And we're still giving, as a restaurant we do a lot of community, outreach, organization, helping people, and also it's our ministry.”
Today the restaurant’s business has tripled since 2012 and Betty attributes it all to God, she said on the show.