Last week a team from Kings Church Uckfield spent a week in Athens on a mission trip to help at another New Frontiers church in the Greek capital. Pictured here outside the church centre with the suitcases of clothing they took, from items donated here in Uckfield, they were able to distribute some of these clothes directly to the refugees through setting up a ‘Bazaar’ at the centre, enabling the mothers to come in and select a few items for their families as they came to collect their food bags.
Whilst some were organising this bazaar, others were sorting food bags in the warehouse, doing washing for the refugees in a mini laundrette and cleaning rugs. Some of the team were also given a project to open up the main church meeting room upstairs into a second smaller room to extend the area by taking out the large screen doors and removing the frame, filling the gaps and making good. They visited the local hardware store and purchased bolts, tools and matched the paint to finish the job so that by the end of the week, it looked as good as new!
Another important part of the ministry there is working with local Roma camps on the outskirts of the city. After making up lots of sandwiches to take, some of our team accompanied them to two very different camps to work with the children there, running the different craft stations, which was followed by a talk and an action song with Andy on the guitar.
Support from teams like ours working with them to help the local refugees, camp visits and a range of other jobs enable the church out there to do what they do. Making a difference in the lives of those who through no fault of their own are no longer able to live in their own homes and countries, they are forced to leave everything behind and escape with their lives and are now living far from home in poverty with their young families.
It is an amazing privilege to be a part of the team and making a difference in the lives of these people. If you would like to know more or are interested in joining the team on a future visit, please speak to Martin or Lesley Roots for more information.
