If you have been following my World Race adventure, then you know that Month 7 we were supposed to be doing ministry in Macedonia.
After our month in Albania wrapped up, we headed to Skopje, Macedonia for debrief. It was a time to rest and reflect.
Like usual, right before debrief we were given our next month’s assignment. Our team was told that we would have what is called ATL. This stands for Ask the Lord. The World Race only had two contacts available to take teams this month. This meant that 5 teams were without a contact, organized ministry and a host.
The point of Ask the Lord (ATL), is to allow us to pray and be guided by the Lord in where we should go and what we should do. To be honest, this terrifies me. We have no place to stay and no organized ministry. For a month we have to come up with what to do. As someone who loves a schedule and a plan, I was needless to say freaked out.
We had time set aside to pray during debrief. Many people on our team felt that we were supposed to go to a city near the water (difficult because Macedonia is landlocked). Some felt that we were supposed to work with tourists for the month, while other thought that we were supposed to work with refugees. We listened to what everyone had to say after praying about it. We began to put the puzzle pieces together. One of our teammates said that after looking at a map, the city of Thessaloniki, Greece stood out. After doing some research, we found that it would be a great city to work with both tourists and refugees. And we could stay within budget (which was a big factor).
So, we chose Thessaloniki. Now we had to find a place to stay. We looked into many different hostels and Air BnBs. Everything was falling through. There was another team that was headed to Thessaloniki. They said that they had found a hostel that could accommodate both teams. Actually there was the exact amount of beds for us. We negotiated with the owner. And just like that….we were off to Greece.
We had a city and a place to stay. Ministry, however, was still up in the air. I had contacted a couple of organizations that work in Thessaloniki with refugees. None of them needed volunteers. We got to the hostel and met the owner. He is a pastor of a local church. He told us that there was a refugee center that the church helps out with on Tuesdays and Thursdays and that we were more than welcome. And on Wednesdays they go to a park where refugees hang out and just build friendships and listen to what they have to say. When I heard this I almost began weeping. I have wanted to work with refugees in Greece since the crisis began. And now I was going to be provided the opportunity to help.
I was extremely weary going into this month. But God has proved that he knows our desires and will use us wherever we land. He provided a direction and we ran with it. We took one step and he sorted the rest out. In our first week here I have worked with refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. These were things that I never thought that I would be able to do and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month will hold.
–Caitlin
