"They will know we are Christians by our
love."
From before the beginning of outreach, we knew that
evangelism in the camps was going to look different than it did in Guatemala.
The people we encounter on our shifts at the refugee camp are primarily
Muslims, and to help protect Euro Relief (the program we are partnering with)
there are limitations on the ways we can express our faith with the refugee's.
During our orientation, we were told to live Matthew 25. Jesus says that when
we feed the hungry, when we give the thirsty something to drink, when we welcome
strangers, when we clothe the naked, when we care for the sick, when we visit
prisoners - this, we did for Him. There are opportunities to meet those
needs every day at the refugee camp. 1 John 3:18 says: "Dear children, let
us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."
We all know 1 Corinthians 13.
We know that we love because God first loved us. We know that God is love, and
we know that when we love, we are representing Him. Still, very day we walk
into the camp, I find my self asking the Lord:
"Today, what does love look like?"
Sometimes, love looks like giving all of your energy and
more to a group of 30 children who are bored, restless, and crazy. Love looks
like letting four kids play with your hair at once, or letting them draw on
your face with chalk, or playing games with them for 8 hours straight (somehow
managing to keep their attention for more than 2 minutes). Sometimes, love
looks like bandaging the arms of men who cut themselves because they could no
longer handle the pain of the trauma, hopelessness and despair that they feel.
Sometimes, love looks like sorting through clothing boxes all day - looking for
clothes with limited resources. Love looks like giving people laundry
detergent, when it is the only need on their list we can meet. Love looks like
patience when refugees raise their fists and voices because we don't have any
mens shoes to give them.
"I still love you!" one of our leaders likes to
say in response.
Love looks like helping a man clean up his tent because
someone has covered every inch of it with alcohol. It looks like finding a
place for is wife and children to sleep, who are shaking with terror. Love
looks like preventing a riot by playing board games with the men who are angry
that they couldn't get their papers to leave the refugee camp. Love looks
telling our stories, and it also looks like listening to the stories of the
refugees. Love looks like encouraging the refugee that met Jesus 5 days ago,
and says that the dangers of his new faith are "not important to
him." Love looks like continually visiting a 16 year old who recently
discovered Jesus through a vision, and lives in a Muslim family that does not
encourage his faith. Love looks like building relationships, and visiting people
more than once. Love looks like working your hardest, no matter how simple your
job that day may seem. Love looks like interceding for the refugees
when it is not safe for us to enter the camp. Love looks like holding and
singing to a little girl for as long as she needs because she is tired, lonely,
sad, and just wants to be held.
What the team has realized is that sometimes, our actions
seem like small things; but when we do them with love, they become big things.
When we love with everything we have, people ask questions. When we do Matthew
25, people want to know about the God we serve. The team continually thanks God
for the opportunities we have had to share Jesus through actions and through
conversations.
The
UNHCR estimates over 8,000 refugees have died trying to cross the Mediterranean
Sea to get to Europe since 2014. This week, we saw thousands of life jackets,
clothes, rubber dinghies, and boats that were used to help carry people from
the Middle East into Europe. It had a huge impact on all of us because we've
seen these people and heard their stories that have led them to take such a
dangerous trek across the sea in hopes of a safer and better life. This crisis
is very real, and these refugees are in great need. Please be in prayer
for the situations in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all of the Middle East.
Most of these nations are very dangerous to enter but here in Greece where
there are thousands of refugees from different nations we have the opportunity
to share with them the Good News that Jesus Christ is Lord and in Him there is
hope, peace, love, and everlasting life. We are honored by this
incredible opportunity the Lord has given us.
Due
to security issues, for the next little while volunteers are unable to enter
the refugee camp. We do not know when we will be able to return, however,
please be praying that it will be as soon as possible. In the mean time, pray
that God would show us different ways we can be serving Him here in Lesvos.
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