Lesbos Tour

Before we started planning for our trip, I did not even know anything about the island of Lesbos and could certainly not have located it on a map.  I knew that refugees were coming to Greece by boat, but frankly I never considered their path.  I had no idea that there was a Greek island just 4 miles from Turkey.  Now that I've been there, I've found that I was not only painfully ignorant of geography, I was also not very informed about the refugee crisis.

In our five days there, we enjoyed some of the beauty of the island in our down time.  But I was also haunted by the suffering of the refugees and of the Greek people (who have an economy in the toilet and a version of Christianity that is mostly tradition instead of relationship with God).  I learned a lot by talking to William and Geeta Splitberger, who are experts on this crisis and also by reading the book "Seeking Refuge:  On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis" while I was there.  I highly recommend this book!  It handles the subject of refugees and immigration from a Biblical standpoint. I also recommend a trip to Lesbos if you ever get the chance!  It's a beautiful place with very kind people.  The kind of people who welcomed the refugee.

"Hide the fugitive; do not betray the refugees.  Let them stay with you, and be their shelter from the destroyer." ~ Isaiah 36:4

Here are some photos that show some of the charm and beauty of this island.  First these photos of Mytilene's fortress and harbor.  Mytilene was visited briefly by Paul in Acts 20.

Mytilene is the biggest city, but we stayed in the town of Panagiouda, which is the closest to the two refugee camps, Moria (now almost all men), and Kara Tepe (families).  Panagiouda is a charming little town, with little outdoor restaurants all along the waterfront, cute little hotels, several Greek orthodox churches, and a fun little swimming hole:

We also visited the little town of Skala Sikamineas.  It is one of the towns in the north that is very close to Turkey.  Many refugees landed first here. It was so pretty:

There was also a stark reminder of the crisis in the little harbor - a rescue boat:

And on the hill above, a lookout in case a rescue is needed.  

And a hillside full of lifejackets - see this post.  

  

Gateways 2 Life

In my last blog post, I promised to share the more positive part of our story here.

First, we met an awesome brother and sister in Christ, William and Geeta Splitberger.

These two gave up great jobs in the US as an attorney and an accountant to come to Europe to respond to the refugee crisis and the crisis in the church (less than 2% evangelical believers). They live in Frankfurt but also work in Greece and Italy.  They have started a NGO called Gateways 2 life.  Their goal is to share the love of Jesus with those who have been traumatized by this situation.  At the center, they will provide laundry facilities, a place to get some tea and a snack in an AIR -CONDITIONED facility., a place for young children to play and get a posicle, etc.  All for free!  Or I should say all provided by those that believe in the ministry.

Our little group of five spent this past week is Panagouda, Lesbos preparing the Gateways 2 Life community center for women and children that will open this coming Monday!  This was very familiar work for Terry and me as it was very similar to the last week of a house flip - with me doing the cleaning and Terry doing the skilled work.  Terry worked getting mirrored film on all the windows, and the rest of us did a lot of cleaning. There were many layers of dust on everything!  Just watch the progress:

Mirrored film helps with security and combats the heat

This was before we got a dustpan and had to use a shovel

Figuring out how to program with washers and dryers

Painting the floor

Set up

Ready for business!

Lifejacket Graveyard

Today our team in Lesbos had a humbling experience.  On a mountain in the northern part of the island (where Turkey is just 4 miles away by water) there is a makeshift memorial.

The remains of thousands of lifejeckets,  shredded rafts, engine covers and a few clothes belonging to the thousands of refugees who have made their way here in the last few years are collected in heaps.  Approximately 5000 people have drowned in their attempt to get here.  Five died this last weekend.

I think this display may compare to the pile of shoes in the holocaust museum.  In fact, I think that this refugee crisis (along with abortion) is the holocaust of our day. We dare not turn a blind eye.  

I

We just walked around and let it soak in.  A few items really stuck out to me.

This is sort of the "bad news first" approach.  In later post I will share about our work here to love on the traumatized survivors of this tragedy.

People and Places

Today we left the vacation portion of our trip behind and met the rest if the team when they arrived in Athens.  Here we are in front if the Parliament building.

Our team is very diverse.  Our common bond is Christ and that we are here to help our brothers and sisters that are pouring out their lives for the refugees (more on that later).

Since everyone else had jet lag, we had an "easy" day.  Some climbed the Acropolis but others took a bus tour.  Since Terry and I will be in Athens next week, we opted for the overview of a bus tour.  Athens is a beautiful city with so much greenery on their streets.  I did not expect that.

After dinner we met in the lobby as a team and discussed the week to come. 

 Five of us are headed to the island of Lesvos to finish work on the community center that will be opening next week.  Just six miles from Turkey, this is where the refugees arrive by boat.  The rest of the team will be working directly with refugees  in community centers that are already set up in Athens or helping renovate a building for the Exarchia church plant.

The next morning we had some balcony time

And then set out in teams to attend either the evangelical church near the Acropolis or one of two church plants from that bigger church.  Terry and I went with Dale and Will to a church plant in Glyfada.  It seemed just like Redeemer church in Johnson City where we used to go EXCEPT THAT IT WAS ALL IN GREEK! They had run out of translation headphones so we were on our own to figure it out.  I kept hearing one word over and over and wrote it down to ask someone afterwards.  Turns out my one word was the subject, which was mercy.  I reflected that much of the time, God can get our attention with a single word.  

I took some video of the beautiful Greek singing.  The words were on the overhead but I could just make out Theos, Christos,  and alleluia.  A few seconds of this video will give you the gist. 

After the sermon there was a fellowship and I got a peek in the nursery.  The pastor's wife was apparently translating while helping in the nursery.  Impressive multi- tasking. 

Now we are off to Lesvos!