in whom I take refuge." - Psalm 18:1-2
My team and I have now been in Greece for almost 7 weeks. We’ve been in Lesvos, Greece for the last 2 weeks, serving in a prison which has been turned into a refugee camp. This camp is made for 2,000 people but is now home to over 4,000 people seeking refuge from 44 different persecuted nations. They’ve all had to leave their homes and they’ve all lost something. Every single person has a story of loss, a person they used to be and will never be again. A life left behind, that feels so far away it might as well just be a dream, distant and fading.
Most people have traveled multiple countries just to get to Greece. And most of them hope to be granted asylum to enter yet another country. People wait for weeks and months to have an interview in hopes of gaining papers that say they have permission to safely cross borders.
Our team works eight and a half hour shifts 6 days a week. We distribute clothes, tents and sleeping bags. We guard family compounds where people live and distribute food 3 times a day. We do tent checks, welcome new arrivals, help people move in and out, clean out vacant rooms, fix broken tents, and everything in between.
In between all of these things we try to build relationships with people. I ask people their names and try to use my limited Arabic. They smile and speak kindly to me, but I see something different in their eyes. The brokenness bleeds through, hidden but exposed for a moment.
The brokenness is real. I can feel it in my throat. I try to push it down but I can always feel it lingering. It’s there.
People keep dying. Five men have died in their tents this week because of the cold. And the thing is, so many haven’t even made it this far. So many left behind, so many lost at sea.
Hopelessness is easy to catch here. I’m here for a month, but what can I do of significance in 30 days? I can give someone food or a blanket, but I can’t change their circumstances. I can greet someone with a smile or a kind word, but I can’t give them the magic document that means they can leave this mud covered place. And for a moment, I even ask, “What can I do? Is it even worth it?”
But then that still small voice whispers,
You can see them. I’ve allowed you to see the raw, messy truth.
You can sit with them in the mud, cuddle their children, and give them a dry blanket.
You get to love them, even just for a moment.
You may leave bruised and broken, but love costs something. And it’s worth everything.
This place has marked me. It’s something I can’t shake and I’ll carry it in my soul forever. My soul is wounded. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone home after a long day and felt beaten up. My heart has been beaten and beaten. But it’s a wound I welcome, because the Father is in it. It’s his kindness. He’s allowed me to see the reality of it all. Life here is dirty. It’s messy. But how will people see him if we don’t first kneel with them in the mud.
And again, that sweet voice says,
I’m here. These are my children. I love them and I will not leave them.
One thing I can tell you... Jesus is still good.
I’ve seen the ugly, raw truth and he has not changed. If anything, I’ve seen a new shade of his mercy and kindness. Because only when I allow the brokenness of this world to sink in do I begin to see God’s plan for redemption and restoration.
Even When It Hurts by Hillsong United
Take this fainted heart
Take these tainted hands
Wash me in your love
Come like grace again
Even when my strength is lost
I’ll praise you
Even when I have no song
I’ll praise you
Even when it’s hard to find the words
Louder then I’ll sing your praise
I will only sing your praise
Take this mountain weight
Take these ocean tears
Hold me through the trial
Come like hope again
Even when the fight seems lost
I’ll praise you
Even when it hurts like hell
I’ll praise you
Even when it makes no sense to sing
Louder then I’ll sing your praise
I will only sing your praise
I will only sing your praise
And my heart burns only for you
You are all, you are all I want
And my soul waits only for you
And I will sing til the morning has come
My heart burns only for you
You are all, you are all I want
And my soul waits only for you
And I will sing til the miracle comes
I will only sing your praise
I will only sing your praise
Even when the morning comes
I’ll praise you
Even when the fight is won
I’ll praise you
Even when my time on earth is done
Louder then I’ll sing your praise
I will only sing your praise
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" - Psalm 46:10