Hello, everyone! I am so excited to tell y'all about my time here in Athens, so far! My time in Greece has been far from what I had expected. I had pictured us arriving and jumping into working with the refugees here right away. I was so ready to get started, but when we arrived we were informed that many of our connections had fallen through. I felt very disappointed and confused. If we didn't have connections, what were we going to do? I have quickly realized that God's plan for my time in Greece is way cooler and way broader than I had originally expected. Since being here, God has randomly (and when I say randomly, I mean so random that only God Himself could have done it!) connected us with different ministries, churches and organizations that serve both refugees and the Greeks. At first, I had ignorantly thought that the Greek people didn't have a great amount of need. I was totally blindsided by the reality of the struggles that they are going through. With the financial crisis Greece is going through 1/4 of the people here are unemployed, and the result is disappointment, depression and a lack of purpose. One Greek woman that we spoke to said, "It's great that you are coming to help the refugees, but while you are here don't forget about us. Our people need help. They are depressed, hopeless and need encouragement." That came as an overwhelming reality check for me. All of that being said, I have found that God is using my team to reach both the refugees and the people that have taken them in. The streets of Greece! Since being here, we have been working with the organization that is hosting us, Mercy Ministries. They focus on reaching the homeless, drug addicts and refugees. They feed and clothe them while also offering church services where they are spiritually fed, followed by a hot meal. We have also worked with City Plaza, a hotel that has been transformed into a place for refugees to live in for free once they make it out of the refugee camps. We have also recently partnered with an international church that also works with the refugees. Church service at the International Church I have met so many incredible people here, but two of my favorites that I was able to spend a day with are Twana and Kurdos, both Kurdish boys from Iraq. They met two years ago in a refugee camp, Camp Karatape, and have been close as brothers ever since. Twana in the middle and Kurdos on the right Twana
Twana is seventeen. He came to Athens 2 years ago after serving in the military fighting ISIS. He came to volunteer at refugee camps, to work and to go to school. He works as a translator because he knows 5 different languages, Farsi, English, Arabic, Kurdish and some Greek (he carries around a notebook everywhere he goes to write down and study new phrases and words). He lives in Athens with his brother, but he hasn't seen the rest of his family since he was fifteen. He said that he is very happy living in Athens because it has many opportunities for him, the people are nice and the living conditions for him are good. Kurdos Kurdos is sixteen. He and his family fled Iraq after ISIS killed his mother. Since then, his father remarried, and he lives with his father and stepmother in Athens. He is very grateful to be in Europe where it is safe. He said in Iraq his family never knew when something bad might happen, but here he knows they are safe. He wants to move to Germany, in hopes of a better life. Meeting these two boys was incredibly eye-opening. I was able to spend the day with them, sharing stories and being introduced to a new side of Athens. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to connect with the people here, both native and foreign, and I am so excited to continue working with these incredible people! Now, our team has split. 11 people have gone to the island of Lesvos to work at the refugee camp, Camp Moriah. Originally, we were all going to go there, but the winter conditions were so bad there that people died. Because of this, they moved all of the women and children to different camps. Because there are only men there and we have so many women (culturally, men and women do not work well together), we were asked to send all of our guys and only a few girls there. The rest of us girls will remain in Athens to continue working with the ministries here.
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AuthorOlivia DeLaney is a recent college graduate that blogs about her transition into adulthood and the adventures along the way. Archives
January 2017
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