My month working in a refugee camp is coming to a close, so I made a little list giving a small taste of what it’s been like. I wish I could share more but it’s a military camp so we are not allowed to share details or pictures. But this is a pretty good summary of this month. It’s been quite an experience and I am so thankful I was given this opportunity. So here are 45 things I found myself doing this month while working in a a refugee camp in Lesvos, Greece.
- Walking up a hill multiple times a day
- Holding little kids’ hands
- Having your cheeks be pinched
- Handing out hundreds of meals
- Crying
- Witnessing fights and riots
- Being offered lots of food and tea
- Experiencing cultures from around the world
- Learning phrases in Arabic, Farsi, and French
- Being yelled at
- Hearing how America is “good”
- Hearing how Trump is “no good”
- Being proposed to
- Being the object of someone’s frustration
- Being bitten by a child
- Putting pallets under tents because of the rain
- Bringing a family of five into a tent already filled with 10 people
- Being appreciated
- Teaching people English grammar
- Attempting to learn Arabic
- Seeing the world from a completely different perspective
- Sharing the Gospel with Muslims
- Slipping and falling on the hill from #1
- Advocating for people and their families
- Wrapping a sprained ankle
- Experiencing a whole new level of exhaustion
- Watching children slide down a hill on a dumpster lid (and being terrified for them)
- Asking kids where their adults are
- Telling people “no”
- Making hundreds of copies (and then running out of paper and ink)
- Playing volleyball
- Guarding a gate for 8 hours straight
- Opening said gate hundreds of times during those 8 hours
- Hearing “Hello friend!”
- Experiencing your heart being broken and made full all at the same time
- Setting up tents
- Asking people for their papers
- Being freezing during overnight shifts
- Having the most interesting conversations with people
- Smelling the most “interesting” smells
- Playing with very adorable dogs and cats
- Seeing how broken the world truly is
- Seeing hope in the brokenness
- Trying to make people smile
- Finding God in the smallest of circumstances and experiences
