There is nothing like necessity when it comes to communication. The Afghan ladies who gathered at the center for the bi-weekly refugee meeting were gracious about the fact that I struggled miserably to put together a simply sentence in Farsi. As time went on, my pre-programmed, memorized phrases started to come out better as we sat around [...]
I have reached a wall of sorts in my ability to describe what God is doing here. He revealed something in my heart that I did not recognize in coming to Athens. Just 16 days ago, I walked with a mindset of this being an "us and them" situation. I knew that these people were [...]
Here's a first-hand account from one of our team members one what it's like to serve refugees in Athens. It's been a whirlwind this week. It's hard to reconcile the anxiety and hesitancy I had right before arriving to the joy that seems to course through my soul. It is not a sugar sweet happiness, [...]
One of our team members this month is a nurse! We are so grateful for the medical personnel who have joined our one week trips; their help is so valuable! Today I went to the newest squat (formed this week after the Idomeni camp shut down). Shortly after entering, a woman saw the red cross on [...]
The team did a bunch of different things their second day in Athens--shopping, cooking, teaching English lessons. But mostly they walked. Part of the team went out to a couple of squats to play with kids and blew bubbles and hand out stickers. As they were about to leave, one of the members of that squat [...]
By Andy McNeely Today was filled with emotions as so much of the trip has been. Sorrow for the plight of the homeless refugees, joy with our new Syrian friends, and shock at the ability of people to survive. The most recurring emotion I have had over the duration of our trip has been that [...]
This morning I headed to the port of Athens ahead of the team and served with the Greek Red Cross. I teamed up with them distributing food, clothes, toiletries and cleaning the port terminal. It was a little difficult communicating, but with broken English from them, little phrases in Greek I’ve learned and lots of [...]
There's a lot going on in lots of different places with refugees in Athens. One of our short term teams has been there this past week and they have seen first-hand the incredible suffering and struggles of the refugees and immigrants that now crowd Greece. It's a hard place to be, but they are glad to [...]
Food Distribution Today, we cleaned up Victoria Square. We swept, picked out trash from among the bushes and plants and filled up four large bags. A couple of the young Algerian men helped out as they realized how disrespectful it was, culturally, to leave an older woman like Nihad, to sweep up after them. In [...]
Mama Nihad Today, Nihad assisted the Salvation Army in sorting more clothing donations and assisted some of the women volunteers in preparing decorations for the refugees coming to the day center. She went out to the Square and helped Boat Refugee Foundation to distribute tea. Nihad purchased cold medication for young men that had caught [...]
