DTS Outreach to Greece Week 3 update

Update from Graeme 

Week 3 started out as a rough week emotionally for many of us. We were told that Euro Relief (the organization we are working under) would no longer be working in the refugee camp. We were all startled at the news and had no idea what caused such a huge decision. They told us that it was an indefinite decision due to “alarming news” that had been discovered. All we could do was speculate about what had happened and pray that we would be allowed back soon. 

During this week we praised God for His timing and wisdom, and put the situation in His hands. We had faith that we would be allowed back into the camp (that we had been called here to work inside the camp), and so we praised Him for what He had done and what He was going to do. 

We also sang praises to Jesus and interceded on behalf of the refugees, specifically for safety on behalf of the Christians we had met in the camp. So often we take for granted that we have the freedom to be a follower of Christ, but public declaration of faith for a refugee can mean persecution and even death. A testament to the power of Jesus in our lives could be seen in the life of a refugee we met the first day we entered the camp. This young man used to be a successful Muslim rapper in his previous life. A few of the volunteers were able to develop a relationship with him. One day we heard he had accepted Christ into his life and had been baptized. A few days later he had the opportunity to lie to get himself out of the camp and onto the next stage in process of going to Europe. Instead of taking this opportunity he decided to tell the truth which made it so that he wasn’t accepted to this next stage. We asked him about that and he said he wanted to do things the right way and that Jesus is in control of his life. If he had to stay in the camp longer he would do it because it was the will of God. He said he was willing to die in the camp if he had to. We were amazed but also very encouraged to hear such dedication from such a new believer. The best news was when the next time we saw him he told us he got his papers to go to Athens. That means he is that much closer to being able to start his new life, in a new country.

We were so happy for that news, but sad that we will not be able to say goodbye to many of our friends who are already leaving for Athens. It is a bittersweet feeling, but we are just happy to see so many people turning to Christ.

In the meantime, Bruce has done a great job finding things for us to do. We did beach clean up which is exactly what is sounds like. There is so much rubber from the dinghies that need to be cut up and taken to the dump. Our job was to cut the rubber and make a

human chain to bring the pieces up the beach to an area where a truck can take them away. The volunteer organization in charge of that project wasn’t used to having lots of people to help, because every day we were there we did way more than they expected us to do.

We also went into town where the refugees like to hang out. It was a great experience as we got to play soccer with greeks and refugees and there were people to worship in the park with us. It was a great day and to cap it all off we got to bring a refugee friend back to the hotel with us. We swam in the pool with him and had a

worship session with him. We got to pray for him and Chloe gave him a drawing of him she had made. He seemed overwhelmed with joy and told us that day was a gift from God. He stayed the night at our hotel and we found him a ride to the camp the next day. He messaged Chloe later that day saying he was crying with joy. Such simple actions can go such a long way. We are now praying for him to get his papers to go to Athens. He wants to end up in Canada at some point, but also to see his family in Germany.

The story he told us about he got to the island was heartbreaking. He was on a rubber dingy with mostly children. They noticed a slash in the boat and it started filling up with water. He thought he was going to die and have to watch all the children drown. Thanks to God, a boat came by and was able to rescue them and take all of them to safety. When the team took him to see the life jackets, he had memories of Gods goodness and grace. He was amazed by all the life jackets, and called it a dream come true that we were able to spend the day with him and uplift him.