Hello!
We have just wrapped up our originally assigned two weeks of ministry in Greece working with refugees. While five teams from our squad are heading into their next ministry assignments, our team is staying in Lesvos to continue working here for our third month! Upon reflecting on our first two weeks here, I have learned so much from the refugees I have been serving. I had barely heard about the refugee crisis when I left America, and I carried with me many preconceived ideas of who the refugees are and why they are migrating. I feel like some of my original thoughts may be shared by others and so I would like to do a bit of fact and fiction about refugees and their lives. This all based entirely on my experiences and every piece of fiction is something I beleived before coming to Greece. If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer it myself or go find the answer!
Fiction: Refugees are poor, lazy, and uneducated.
Fact: The refugees coming into Europe are just like you or me! Many are college educated, speak multiple languages and come from wealthy backgrounds. I have spoken with doctors, lawyers, translators for the United states military, and house wives. Most of these are people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They want to work, and provide a better life for their families. Most of them simply cannot do that in their home countries and so they have migrated to seek a new dream. The most surprising thing is that many of the refugees are quite wealthy! Most pay smugglers over 5,000 euros per person to bring them to Europe from the Middle East! Many of them make this journey in designer clothes and shoes which most people I know in the states couldn’t afford.
Fiction: Refugees all come from Syria
Fact: By my estimation, only about half of the refugees we see are from Syria. A large number of them are fleeing war in Afghanistan as well. Those two countries make up the majority of our refugees, but we get some from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, and even north African countries like Somalia or Sudan. Since the migration of Syrians began, people from countries with very poor economies or war that has destroyed their homes and livelihoods have been piggybacking onto the crisis in order to try and find a better life for themselves. We’ve met families who’ve had grenades thrown in their homes and family members killed in front of them. For many of these migrants, their choice is either death, or the possibility of a new life.
Fiction: All refugees are Muslim or worse, possibly terrorists.
Fact: While most of the refugees I have ministered to are Muslim, most are not extremists by any regards. I have never witnessed a call to prayer or anyone praying for that matter. Not all the women wear head covering and some wear completely western clothing. I learned quickly that there are many ways in which people practice Islam and I cannot put them all into one box. It would be insane to lump all who profess to be Christian together with blanket statements, the same can be true for those who practice Islam. At no point has anyone been hostile due to their faith. In fact, I have had the opportunity to pray with a number of people and they have all been incredibly receptive and kind. Many of them ask why we are helping them and what makes us so kind. That being said, I have met a shocking amount of Christians who are refugees and also those who are atheist. These are a diverse people who have so much to teach us and we will miss out on something special if we simply write them off as extremist Muslims.
Before I left for the race, had you asked me my opinion on the matter, I would have told you it would be better for the refugees to stay in Europe, to not open our shores to the possibility of terrorists coming in freely. After being here for over two weeks, these are not my thoughts at all! While it is impossible to truly judge the nature of someones heart, at no point during my hundreds of hours of ministry directly with the refugees has the thought ever crossed my mind that once of them might be a terrorist. I have no intention of making this blog political, but for too long have the actions of America been controlled by fear rather than dictated by love. Even though we have the means and the ability to help so many refugees, we have hesitated or refused out of fear of attack. It begs the question, how many thousands have we watched suffer, out of fear of a few.
For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7
Fiction: Refugees will steal jobs and weaken the economy
Fact: Studies have shown this to not be the case at all. In fact, this New York Times article shows a study done in Europe about the economical impact of immigrants. Nineteen of the twenty countries studied showed an increase in their economy due to the presence of immigrants. In the long run, immigrants do not cost the government money. Instead, they bring in new skills, create businesses, and become upstanding, tax paying citizens.
Fiction: If the UN and other organizations stop helping the refugees, they will stop illegally entering Europe.
Fact: This belief is held by many of the native Greeks I have met on Lesvos. However, the truth is, nothing will stop these people from coming, or at least trying to cross into Europe. For many of them, staying in their home countries means almost certain death and they have told me that they would risk anything for the slightest possibility of a better life. The boats they cross the Aegean in are referred to as “death boats,” with hundreds losing their lives every month, and yet they still come. With this fact in mind, it is our mission to be the hands and feet of Christ, clothing them in dry clothing, feeding them what we can, and lovingly moving them onto their next destination.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. – Matthew 25:35-3
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Real quick fundraising update. We are 94% funded with only $2,000 remaining!! We are so thankful to everyone who has supported us both financially and prayerfully. By the end of December we must be fully funded and we trust that the Lord will make that happen as He has made every other deadline happen. We average over 200 views per blog post. Therefore, if each reader were to give just $10, we would be fully funded! We are so grateful and blessed to be supported by such an amazing group of people. Thank you for all you have done and please continue to pray for our ministry here in Greece.
