Τετάρτη 4 Νοεμβρίου 2015

First day in the transit camp

Today was a long day. Maybe because it was just my first day in the transit camp that we are working on that made it long. Waking up at 6 something, standing on my feet for a 10 hour shift serving the refugees, coming back to the hotel craving for a hot shower and some time on the bed, just for the bones to rest and the mind and heart to take in all the information from this shift. My first shift. My first encounter with these people...

Tasks included organising them in lines to get in the buses for the next camp, controlling the scared crowd and comforting them as they leave this transit centre and head to these camps. Later on cleaning up the fields, building a fence and a tent, serving tea, giving socks, taking out the rubbish, giving out bus tickets, translating English into Greek for other volunteers. Giving help everywhere that help is needed actually.

And in the midst of these, talking with people. Respecting their journey. Asking about it. Treating them like people with value and not only numbers and bodies that need a blanket. This is where it gets tricky. Engaging in such conditions might change your heart. Might change they way you think. 

People talked about being doctors and engineers back in Syria, their hopes for the new countries they are heading to, their fears.... There was a huge relief in their faces after telling them that they are safe now. That they can rest here. One guy was almost crying out of relief when he heard that he is safe after 2 years on the road and trying to escape to Europe.. He was sharing his story when he told me he was afraid of dying or people killing him. I stopped him, told him he was safe now and he just couldn't talk anymore..

What brought me to a cracking point though, was a story of a guy who lost his family along the way. Somewhere in the borders of Turkey I think, the authorities there forced him to take another way than his family and now he was in a transit centre in Lesvos asking where he was heading next, hoping that he can find them....
Another guy holding a crying baby asked for a translator and told us his story. He was searching for his wife and son that got kicked out  of the rubber boat and into the sea by the smugglers while sailing to Greece. He was left in the boat holding a tiny little human being. He was trying to find out if there is any communication between the camps in order to find his wife... 

I have never seen the pain in somebody's face so clearly. The relief to just know that they are safe. Their happiness once they arrive, their worries when it gets colder and colder in the evening, and their relief to move on with a bus to another camp.

I came back to my hotel room, took a shower, lied down. Started working on other stuff. I couldn't go on. I closed everything down and scrolled other volunteer's stories about what they experienced in the island...

I teared up. I started sobbing. Now only the reminder of what I saw today brings me to tears again. Blessed tears knowing that I served Jesus himself in the face of every individual. Tears of pain thinking about what this brothers and sisters are going through. Tears of joy as I read so many stories about Christians sharing Jesus and his love without words...

Pain, yes. Fears, yes. Tiredness, yes. I could easily stay there. I just can't. Nobody can. All the volunteers are going the extra mile serving these people. Nobody's complaining. Everywhere you look, you can see smiles, love and kindness. I can't help but feel honoured, humbled, and blessed to be here.

And just for the end, the site coordinator for today told us how he was talking to God today about everything and God opened his eyes to see the peace that was around the camp. Even after receiving thousands of refugees per day, there is an indescribable peace reigning that simply can't be our doing and the results of our efforts. It's extraordinary. It's God's peace, it's God's presence surrounding us and surrounding everybody on site. We are SO thankful about that. 

Please, please, please, if you are having us in your prayers, continue doing so. If not, please start praying about us and the situation here. And if you are reading this, consider coming down on the island, even for a short amount of time. 

For His Kingdom, and His glory,

Pavlos 

2 σχόλια:

  1. Pavlos, thank you so much for this breathtaking description. We need your news. Keep us posted as often as you can! The Lord may strengthen you and carry you through. You are His ambassador!

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