Jesus said ‘No procrastination. No backwards looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.’ – Luke 9:62
I’ve always been a bit of a procrastinator but when I think about procrastinating I think about work and deadlines, not bring the Kingdom. I didn’t even know this bible verse existed until I sat down to write this blog. This month my team and one other are in Thessaloniki, Greece working at the Idomeni Refugee Camp. Monday was our first day at the camp and after getting a quick tour and orientation from our host we got down to the business of looking for where we could help out. Me and a few others began working with a German group who needed veggies cut up for the soups they were making and handing out. While we were cutting we were approached by some of the refugee’s living at the camp who were eager to help us with the cutting and practice their English. We made fast friends and when we returned the next day they were happy to see again us greeting us by name even. On this day we talked some more and took some pictures together and a few of my team mates even got invited to see their tents they called home. That night back at the apartment I was talking to a friend about how to go about building relationships with these new friends of ours. Unfortunately I never got to make deeper connections with the friends we made because the next day we were told the police were no longer allowing people to live there and unless they were from the 3 countries being allowed through the border they were being sent back to Athens where they could apply for a visa or be deported back home. This broke my heart. These people I met had given up so much to make it to the border here. They had names I never got to learn, smiles I never got to see, and stories I never got to hear. I wanted to shower them in love but they were taken away from me. I was sad I’d never get to see our friends again and even sadder when I realized I had without thinking put off getting to know them better for a day that never came. Will I give up procrastination forever? Probably not. But I can tell you that I will make every effort not to put off getting to know people and getting to shower them in love and kindness. That is what working in a refugee camp has taught me.
