We came here to spend time with refugees (particularly children) who are living in several accommodations provided by Dignity - a ministry here in Prague that our church (CSPC in Knoxville) supports. Basically we played games almost every morning and afternoon. All these refugees are Ukrainian (not Syrian). They are required to be in school here, but some have not found a spot in school here yet, and some are too young. Homeschooling is not allowed!
We had such a fun time with the children. So much laughter, which is great to see after all they have been through. The kids are surprisingly well-behaved. When I played with the Syrian and Afghan children in Greece, it was just controlled chaos as those cultures have different philosophies on child discipline, and it really shows!
We chose games that could be communicated without language for the most part. I’m partly putting the photos here so that I will remember the names and faces of these kids. For all of our team, this experience has really put a face to the Ukrainian situation that we hear about on the news.
Our other “job” was serving tea and coffee to Syrian refugees at the train station. Even though it’s the train station, many arrive on foot, having walked most of the way from Turkey. They come to the train station to find the smugglers who will take them close to the German border where they can find a way to get in. They are free to walk in, but they just can’t go by train or through a border check point. Once they get in, German law says they must be taken care of. So there is a lot of incentive to get there. It’s not a good situation for the Germans. I don’t know the political solutions (except Putin, go home!), but the love of Jesus compels me to care.
