Part 1- The Overview of my Time in Greece & the Refugee Camp
One of the first days I arrived on the island of Lesvos, Greece I was talking to Emmanuel, our 23 year old site coordinator, about what we had experienced the first few days working and how we were feeling and he said,
“I don’t know why anyone would pray to God ‘Break my heart for what breaks yours’ because I prayed that and now that I’m here and experiencing it this shit hurts.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
This is the 5th attempt at a blog I’ve written since being here, and this will be the first one I publish for you all to read. Trying to find the words to tell you all what I’ve experienced in my time here has been difficult, and if you know me personally, you know I never have a problem finding words.
I’ve had refugees tell me my smile makes the ride they just arrived from worth it, and a minute later other refugees begging me for dry clothes that we don’t have to give them.
I’ve experienced children, who were barley old enough to speak, who have lost their smile, and kids who were shivering uncontrollably because they were soaking wet and it was 40 degrees outside, some as young as 25 days old.
I’ve had grown men walk up to me crying because they weren’t able to find their family, lost somewhere out at sea or in the confusion on shore and I’ve seen women hand off their children to strangers they’ve just met hoping they were able to do something more for their babies than they could.
Refugees have found me on Facebook and messaged me letting me know they’ve made it to Athens safely and after 4 days were finally able to shower and sleep in a warm bed.
I’ve had connections with volunteers so deep where they can just look at me and utter the word “hug?” knowing i’m going to respond with a slight nod on the brink of tears and then hug me until I’m able to put a genuine smile back on my face.
I’ve had volunteers come in and leave in the span of our time here that I still talk to and can’t imagine not having a life long friendship with them.
I’ve carried women who have collapsed while waiting in line on the brink of hypothermia, I’ve cuddled crying babies and colored with young children hoping to get their minds off where they are.
I’ve played make shift volleyball with older refugees, and told my corny jokes to people praying they would cross cultural borders (surprisingly most of the time they worked) hoping to get them to laugh.
I’ve had women hug me and tell me I was beautiful and little girls run into my arms telling me they loved me.
I’ve said goodbye to more people than I can remember, that I’ll probably never see again, and made friends from all over the world that I can’t wait to be able to visit.
My heart has broken more times than I can count in the three weeks I’ve been on this beautiful island, but I wouldn’t change a single heart break that I’ve experienced.
My life has been forever altered because of the stories I’ve heard, people I’ve met, things I’ve seen, and getting a deep understanding of how sheltered I’ve been in America.
I’m so grateful we were able to be re-routed in the middle of our second month on the race and experience everything we have here, I’m thankful for leadership who wholly trusts God and where he’s leading us and I’m thankful God answers prayers to give me more time with the refugees and this island.
Let my eyes see Your kingdom shine all around
Let my heart overflow with passion for Your name
Let my life be a song, revealing who You are
For You are salt and light
You are love’s great height
You are deep and wide
A consuming fire
-Salt & Light, Lauren Daigle
I heard this song for the first time this week, while I was struggling to get my thoughts out into a blog, and it is everything my time here in Greece has been in a short snippet and now the reason my time here has been made into a blog series instead of one giant blog post. Each post will be about one part of my experience in here Greece, I’ll be posting the remaining 5 blogs with in the upcoming week.
Thank you for being patient with me in the blogging process it is still a huge work in progress for me.
Love you all and in case you didn’t hear I AM FULLY FUNDED!!! – you guys are the best supporters a girl could as for.
