Doxology Missions Greece 2019

"Faith is living as though the Bible is true despite circumstances (what is happening), emotions (how I feel about it), or cultural trends (what others have to say about it)." The Eurorelief Chaplin, Tim, would share this faith principle with us every day before we started a shift along with a couple of verses by which we could apply this. How can we walk intentionally through camp interacting with so many people and cultures and demonstrate this? As I (Aubrey) reflect on the past week, I am looking for those moments and needing those moments to balance the hardship and disappointment I saw in so many faces as they wander through each day. So where did I see God show up? In providing basic needs such as meals, clothes, and bedding to families who just arrived in Europe In sharing laughter with Deca from Somalia as we kicked around a latex glove balloon one night, even while we faced ridicule from a man of a different culture because I chose to believe that I...

This week has flown by, but at the same time it seems like I (Abbie) have been at the camp much longer. I know my way around somewhat and am not completely clueless when someone asks for help with something, even if it’s in Arabic or Farsi. The people I’ve worked with have my heart. A refugee camp is such a combination of some place where you never want to call home, but see such love demonstrated everywhere you look. I had to say goodbye to a sweet family I met from Syria, along with so many volunteers, all of whom I will miss. God is working in this camp. I have been overwhelmed by the kindness shown not just by volunteers, but also refugees living here. I received the sweetest sendoff this morning with a meal and some shaay (tea) from the Syrian family I’ve visited several times this week. Hopefully next year when I return, they will have made it to Athens.  Please continue to pray for the volunteers working in the heat this summer and the refugees living in the heat thi...

One of the hardest parts about this trip is the difficulty in describing in words what it is like to be a refugee living in the camp. It's like tent camping in Texas for a entire year with 6,000 people you don't know. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea.

Working at the refugee camp is challenging and taxing, but at the end of the day, it's still Greece and the surroundings are beautiful with a culture that is focused on hospitality and food. 

We worked every day during our visit to Greece save one day where we took a little road trip to the north shore of lesvos to see the shoreline where most boats would arrive.  Above is a picture of the landfill where the lifevest of refugees are disposed of.  This location has become a symbol for the number of refugees that have attempted the crossing. 

After our work shift today (Thursday), we stopped in the town of Moria to see the ruins of a Roman aquaduct.  It is pretty amazing to see this feat of Roman engineering in person. 

The camp receives a large amount of donations for the refugees, including clothes, shoes, socks, underware, cleaning supplies (for those in container housing), and Healthcare products.  Most donations come from Europe though NGOs.  The camp staff will order the items and quantities they need but the contents of the delivery are always a surprise, none the less.  The items need to be sorted and organized then repackaged to be given to a refugee. In this picture, Calandra is making a 'burrito' which is just a package of clothes to be given to each refugee on arrival.  It contains 1 underware, 1 pair socks, 1 pair pants, and 2 shirts. 

Most clothing donations for the refugees come from Europe, but the team did manage to bring about 100 TShirts that were left over from explosion as a donation.

“If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as noonday.  The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:10-11 A refugee camp is a place that must be experienced to be understood, and even then there are only levels of understanding. I (Abbie) am experiencing it as a Eurorelief volunteer. I can understand that. But for the people of concern who live here, their understanding is raw and heartbreaking and kind and thankful. In the few short days I have been here, I have seen all of these and so much more that cannot be put into words: the stories that are too traumatic and unbearable to even imagine, but these stories intersect with such kindness and compassion that these people of different cultures extend to each other....

       I never thought I (Calandra) would get asked this question so many times.  For the months leading up to this mission trip, I prepared to answer this very specific question once I arrived at the camp, since I knew at some point the refugees would ask me this.  I needed to provide a genuine answer, not something scripted and rehearsed.  Of course I wanted to “be the hands and feet of the Lord,” but honestly didn’t know how that statement would translate into action for me.         I prepared to answer a question for everyone else that I had yet to answer myself. I attempted to give an explanation that I did not even fully understand to be quite honest. I didn’t have a specific reason.  I just knew that God wanted me to go to Greece.  “Why are you here?” is a question that sounds so simple, yet I struggled to come up with a short and quick answer.  I struggled because the answer was not short and ...

After a couple of travel issues, we all arrived on the island of Lesvos, Greece either late last night (Saturday) or early this morning (Sunday). We were greeted by an unusual rain shower for July at breakfast and on the way to church which provided a reprieve from the typical 90 degree heat. We had two options for church this morning. The first was a Greek Evangelical church that had a combined Greek/English time of worship and a message translated into both languages. The other was Oasis, an evangelical church that refugees and many Eurorelief volunteers attend. This had familiar worship songs in English and had a message in English that was also translated into Farsi and French. At this church, shoes are removed at the door, and everyone is seated on mats on the floor. At lunch, we each got to compare our experiences. One of my (Aubrey) favorite experiences on any mission trip is multi-cultural worship. It's a reminder of how big and how personal our God is at the sam...

It took (most of us) 25 hrs total to get here, but we've finally arrive, check into the hotel where we will be staying this week, and maybe even catch up on some sleep.

I don't know what the caption here should be... 

Psalm 46:10 has been one of my favorite verses for a while, but this week it has a deeper meaning. I (Mari) was able to spend a long weekend over 4 th  of July with loved ones and was reminded of how blessed I am to live in a country where I can freely and openly worship our Lord. I got home Sunday evening and was immediately overwhelmed with anxiety thinking about all that had to be done over the next 5 days before we left and all that we may encounter during our time on the island. Will I make enough progress on my projects at work? Will I forget to pack something important? Will anything bad happen at home while I’m away? Will we be safe at the camp? What if I get sick?  What if we miss a flight?  How quickly I had gone from thankfulness to crushing fear and anxiousness. Why? I’m an enneagram 6w5 (shout out fellow enneagram lovers  J ) But really, I’d taken my eyes off Jesus. I'd temporarily forgotten that our God is sovereign, that He is seated on H...

The airline allows us to bring one carry on and one checked bag weighing 50 lbs max.  Since we are going and have extra room, we offered to bring extra supplies and donations for the refugee camp.  We brought a number of leftover t-shirts from 'Explosion' (if you're not familiar, it's a Doxology kids event) as well as scissors, markers, socks and underware.  Eurorelief can always use more supplies and you don't need to wait for a mission team to give.  Consider donating money to help: https://eurorelief.net/give/ Of course there are refugees all over the world, including our own souther border.  If you are interested in helping out there, take a look at what Samaritan's Purse is doing and consider giving there as well!  https://www.samaritinspurse.org/donation-items/us-mexico-border-crisis/