A team from the church recently went to Athens on their third mission trip to help a church there who are reaching out to the refugees and people in the city.
Helping primarily in their distribution centre for refugees, which is based at the church, the team packed essential items in bags at the warehouse each day, ready for distribution and then gave them to the families, who had been allocated from a list for their monthly supply.
On the Saturday, the team participated in their ‘Integration Day’ where refugee families were invited in to the church to meet with others and join in a range of activities. Our team were split up to help: some looking after babies, some playing with the children and others helping with crafts and doing face painting for the children. At the end of the session, the refugees were offered coats and children’s wellies for the forthcoming winter season, as well as Greek and Arabic Bibles and other Christian reading materials.
The team visited two different Roma camps on the outskirts of the city during the week. They took sandwiches that the team prepared, played some simple games and did crafts with the gypsy children. Eleni from the church gave a brilliant gospel message to the children in a very fun and visual way that had the children fully engaged! The church hadn’t been to one of the Roma camps since before covid and it was the first visit to the other, so they were unsure what to expect, but the team were very well received at both camps.
Another project elsewhere in the city called ‘Love and Serve without Boundaries’ is being run by an incredible Christian lady called Maria. Originally from Kenya, Maria shared her amazing story with the team and showed them around the site that was equipped with various donations from food and clothing to educational supplies. A lady with a servant heart, she is constantly giving to help the refugees and other people in need and humbly showing the love of Jesus to all she meets!
A tour around key parts of the city allowed everyone to see more about the bigger picture of the refugee situation there, both past and present, and it was a great week for all who went, seeing the sights, sampling plenty of Greek food, and having a lot of laughs along the way! If you want to know more or are interested in going on a future visit, please speak to Lesley or Martin Roots.
