I made it to Greece!!! I have been looking forward to this so much. You see here in Greece I get to do what I was most looking forward to on this race. I get to work with refugees!
I saw a video once, when the refugees started really coming, where there were people standing on a rocky shore with tin foil blankets ready and waiting as a life raft, so full that people were hanging onto the sides, came into shore. Each person attached or in the raft was paddling with their arms to the safety of the shore. Workers were running into the freezing cold water to help pull the boat in.
I sat there watching the tears start as each person made it onto dry land. I watched as people began kissing the ground and workers ran to wrap the refugees in blankets and I knew right then I had to do that. I mean I HAD to do that!
What an awesome thing to be the smiling face that the refugees see as they come to shore! I would hold my arms open and hug each one with all I had and let them know that everything was going to be okay. They didn’t have to worry anymore. They made it to shore.
So this was in my mind when I got here. I was ready to get my tin foil blanket. I was ready to hug some cold wet people. I was ready to give them a hot drink and make them feel so welcome. Only as lovely as that all sounds this isn’t how these people are treated.
Today I got to see the reality of what it’s like for all of these refugees. Today I got to go to a park and hand out food. We opened the van to start and the mothers are pushing their way as close to you as they can to make sure that they get food. And they aren’t doing it for themselves. They are doing this for their children. Once they have a hot meal in hand the first thing they do is feed their children.
I got to meet a man tonight that was raised in Iran as a potato farmer. He was different than most though because he is a Christian. And for this perceived crime he was imprisoned for years. While there he was tortured, stuck in water tubs, broken ribs, broken teeth, beatings, and watching his family being murdered. After all of this he was able to get out and flee to Greece where he was looking for freedom and a chance to live his life and love God.
Only problem with this is that once he got here he had no where to go. The camps are over run. He can’t stay. He has no money. He sleeps in a local park. He is suffering from the trauma of what has been his life for years and there is no one there to help. To help dull the pain he has turned to methadone.
When talking to him I tried to avoid anything about his past and asked about his favorite food here in Greece and he said, “I am so hungry that anything would be the best food.” He escaped the torture of an Iranian prison only to be tortured here by hunger.
God loves him though. Through it all God has been there. He brought him out of that prison. He brought him out of Iran. And now he has lead him to an amazing missionary who is working to get him help.
She is doing everything she can. She is doing the little things like buying socks. And she is doing big things like getting him into the drug rehabilitation program where I am helping this month. He hasn’t made it in yet but my team and I are praying so hard for him.
What an awesome thing it would be if he could say that God brought him from where he has been and it was worth it for the glory of God. The torture, the loss, the pain was all worth it. How awesome it would be to see him fully restored ten fold.
I share this story with you to ask that you pray for “Bruce” and all the other refugees who are fleeing persecution. Pray for safety. Pray for strength. Pray for open hearts to receive them. God loves each one of them so much and I pray that that love is poured onto them in a way that they can’t help but be thankful for where He has brought them.
**Pray for “Bruce” specifically for his trauma as there are no doctors here that help with post traumatic stress with the refugees**
