When we all left on the World Race, we knew this year was going to be full of surprises. This last month has been a prime example. We had team changes at the beginning of our time in Jordan. With this new team, God is bringing a new adventure.
Meet Team Powerhouse!
Meet Taylor. Taylor is our new team leader. She envisioned her new team serving the refugees at Moria Refugee Camp in Greece. Her heart for refugees is evident, and we could not be more excited to have her as a team leader.
Meet Charles. Charles loves to minister to younger generations. Long story short, Charles wants to go to Greece.
Meet Brishna. Brishna loves studying the word and challenges the rest of us to get on her level. Long story short, Brishna wants to go to Greece.
Meet Daniel. Daniel can evangelize to anything and can carry on a conversation with anyone. Long story short, Daniel wants to go to Greece.
Meet Carla. Carla went to seminary and is awfully wise, about everything. Long story short, Carla wants to go to Greece.
Meet Aislinn. Aislinn loves deeply by caring for others and helping them through hard times. Long story short, Aislinn also wants to go to Greece.
Meet Tyler. Tyler manages our budget and can’t wait to figure this all out. Long story short, Tyler wants to go to Greece… if we can fundraise.
On a serious note, we would encourage you to check out our links, to the left, if you want to learn more about us. Also, the main purpose for this blog is to introduce the huge change that God revealed to Taylor. Our squad is planning on going to Georgia and Armenia once we leave Israel. God willing, our team will be heading to Greece. There is a heavy need for volunteers at Moria Refugee Camp in Lesbos, a Greek island near the coast of Turkey. With this change, our team needs to fundraise money to cover the extra costs involved. We are inviting you to partner with us and be the Church in Greece.
Why do we want to go?
Taylor- Volunteering over the last two years in Athens with refugees has changed my life in ways I never anticipated. Once you serve alongside displaced people, “refugees” are no longer a distant crisis you hear about over dinner on the nightly news, but your precious friends and family. The lives of those in Syria and other impoverished, war-torn lands matter just as much as our own. I believe it is our call as people who love Christ to serve alongside the least of these, and in the process we find that we all have a common human value worth fighting for. Long story short, this is why I want to go to Greece.
Tyler – I realized that the Lord has been planning this all along (of course) in such an interesting way. When I envisioned the trip, I really hoped to work with refugees at some point. Also, I could never get clear pictures of what Georgia and Armenia were going to look like. Any time I was daydreaming before the race, these two countries were always a blur. Also, when we had “Manistry month” in Turkey a few months back, I had the biggest urge to go to the Greek islands. I didn’t know why, but God was preparing my heart and mind for what was to come.
Brishna – I don’t really know why I want to go or if I even want to go, but I don’t think it’s a mistake that I am on this team. I know the conditions of the camp are awful and like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I want to see how God is in the midst of all the suffering, and I want to show the people there is something to hope for and to look forward to. I think it will be a very humbling experience.
Daniel – Before being on this new team, I really never expected to go to a refugee camp in Greece during my race. Before leaving my friend Jack actually sat down with me at Chick-fil-A one day in my lunch break to talk about his experience doing the World Race a few years back and one story that stuck out was about him going to a refugee camp during the height of the crisis and volunteering. He told me how it was hard. Regardless, I’m motivated. The crisis still isn’t over. To meet people in the middle of their suffering and offer hope, that’s what Jesus is all about. I want to go to offer what hope I have in Christ by meeting the tangible needs of people, and doing the grunt work that needs to be done for the camp. I want to see God move in the hard places. That’s why I want to go to the refugee camp in Moriah, Greece.
Aislinn – I never really knew much about the refugee crisis until coming on The World Race and visiting camps in person. What I’ve learned is that the need is so great and that refugee is more than just a term or a problem to deal with, these are real people each with unique stories and needs. There are a great physical/tangible needs in the camps but there is also a greater spiritual need for hope and salvation. I want to go to Moria to be the love and hope of Christ to people that desperately need it. I want to sit with people and look into their eyes, listen to their stories, tell them that they matter and that God loves them, and that there is more for them.
Carla – In Cyprus we had the opportunity to really learn about the refugee crises and it really blew my mind. Once you are faced with the reality it seems impossible to not get involved. It is what Jesus came to do, to serve the least of these.
Charles – God told me that within all this change we just encountered as a team, that He was going to do something big. That He was going to do something crazy with me. He has decided to take me to the worst refugee camp in the world. The people there are broken. They probably feel that there is no hope and that they will never get out of the “struggle”. I know what that feels like, being completely broken, feeling like the struggle will never end. I feel like that’s all I’ve known and what I’ve come from. Jesus saved me and gave me hope. Jesus meets us wherever we are, in the middle of our messes. He is, Emmanuel, always with us. Maybe the people there don’t know that. That is why I want to go. To do whatever I can to show the people in this camp that there is hope and His name is Jesus.
Below there is a video of the camp.
TO DONATE & HELP OUR TEAM GET TO GREECE:
