I’m Evelyn and this is my Pearl Harbor. You know the scene in the movie, Evelyn is in the hospital and they are running out of morphine, she is running into a panic as they try to mark who really needs morphine and who doesn’t, only to have the marker stop working. She finds her lipstick; heads out the door and starts marking as thousands of injured soldiers come pilling in.
For those that are unaware or have not heard, SURPRISE I am on the little island of Lesvos, Greece working with Euro Relief, Samaritan’s Purse, and many other volunteers at a transit point for the Syrian refugees. We are the first stop as they get off the little rubber boats after they have been smuggled through Turkey. They paid 1,000 Euro to a smuggler to take the boat that may or may not make it the 4 miles across to the other side. I was told it costs 700 Euro when the weather is bad, because there is a higher risk of drowning at sea, which is reality for many people.
Last night I had my first shift from 3pm-midnight. When we got there me and two other teammates were assigned to man the clothing tent. Things started out pretty good as we figured out where things were in the clothing tent. Growing up I played dress up, Barbie’s, and dolls ALL the time. This was like all that but life size; I was able to dress so many woman and children. But all the dress up in the world couldn’t prepare me for what I was going to be experiencing.
Children would come in shaking from the cold, soaking wet, and on the verge of hypothermia. We would get them changed as fast as possible, but soon our supply started to dwindle as the line outside kept growing and growing.
I was knee deep in my own pearl harbor, but instead of running out of morphine I was running out of clothes and we couldn’t get it stocked quick enough for as many people as were coming through. I thought for sure any second I was going to just burst into tears, when Allison handed me a baby. He couldn’t have been any older than 5 maybe 6 months, just sopping wet, and screaming uncontrollably. He had three layers of clothes on; they were so wet I was hardly able to get them off. I knew I needed to change his diaper but where, everything was wet, a box I saw a box, everything inside me screamed that this wasn’t right this isn’t how you change babies’ diapers. There are things like changing tables not boxes with clothes thrown all inside it that we use to change diapers. I picked this little baby up and held him close to my skin trying to warm him and wrapped his little bitty feet in my dry shirt, rocking him as he cried, all I could say was shh, it’s going to be okay your safe now, shh, you made it, your safe now.
I went to the corner of the tent and sat down knowing I needed a couple minutes. I was so overwhelmed, but I could hold and dress this one baby, remembering that he and all these other people coming through the tent are actual real people. They are here, safe and alive. I rocked the baby for a couple extra minutes handed him back to his mother. Got out my lipstick and was ready to keep on trekking through the night just like Evelyn.
It wasn’t easy there was moments when I didn’t want to go back and had to hide in the storage container as a squad mate prayed for strength.
The best part was that God was there in it all. Countless times I would be digging through so many piles franticly trying to find the right size. Praying Lord help me I can’t find this, I need your help. Only to have the next thing I find fit perfectly.
Tomorrow is when my team will head back for our next shift; please keep our whole squad in your prayers. Pray for them as they work shifts of all different times, that they would have strength to endure, compassion for those flooding in, never ending love, and that they would find peaceful rest when they are off.
So what’s your Pearl Harbor? I pray that you find peace in the middle of the chaos, and that you would take steps to walk through it with the Lord.
