Report from Lesvos!
Dear friends,
We have now been back from Lesvos for 3 days!
It's surprising how quickly one can adjust to new things, and how after only three weeks, we are having to re adjust to our English/Western culture.
Lesvos was brilliant. We were there volunteering under an organisation called Euro Relief, in Moria refugee camp, where there are around 4000 displaced people from all over the world. Moria refugee camp is the sight of a run down prison, which closed some years ago. By all means, the atmosphere should be oppressive and heavy, but by the grace of God and a lot of prayer, we found the camp to be filled with a surprising lightness, and more joy and openness than makes sense.
We were staying in a YWAM community, between an apartment where we slept, and the YWAM ship The Next Wave, where we ate and had community times of worship and fellowship. We were so blessed to be with some amazing people, and it was such a joy to make some new friends from around the world.
Our main roles in the camp were all practical, but we had plenty of space and availability to get to know people, and love them in any way we could. One job we did quite a few times was guarding the gate to the rooms where the families all lived, checking ID badges to make sure that no one came in who didn't live there. The best thing about that job was the children – they would all congregate by the gate and play together, and with us. There were so many beautiful and sweet children, many of whom have spent most of their lives so far in refugee camps.
Unfortunately at the beginning of our second week in Lesvos there were three deaths in camp over the space of two days, as the men were using gas camp stoves inside of their tents in an attempt to keep warm, and suffocating because of the lack of ventilation. As these deaths happened so close together, it became clear that we needed to shift the camp, in order to get as many people as possible out of tents and into some form of building. We had some very long days with extra shifts, as we moved all of the families, women and children into hotels, and into another local refugee camp that had more space, and moved the men out of their tents into what had previously been the family compound.
To be honest, there were some very difficult times for us at that point, moving people out of the tents that had been their homes for sometimes up to 11 months, and telling them that they had to move into small rooms, filled with 30 other people. There were countless cultural clashes, and no matter how much we knew that in the long run this move was best for them, it was painful to see people feeling even more displaced, and powerless to make even the simplest decisions about their own lives. But the long term plan is up and running – we put as many people as possible into the compounds, and in the meantime are building small shelters in the places their tents previously occupied, so that we can move them back out into a more comfortable setting. Already by the time we left around 20 of these life shelters had already been built, housing around 10 people each.
As we adjusted to the new order of things in the camp, and the new lack of women and children, Phil particularly managed to really get to know some of the men, and have some amazing and meaningful times with them. Something as simple as listening to one of them talk, or letting them show you silly videos on their phones can be so transformative for them. These refugees, these people, are simply human. They are having their physical needs met fairly well – they have food, they have somewhere to sleep, they have clothes – but what we found they are lacking is someone to listen to them, to empathise and validate their fears, pain and sorrow. In lovingly listening and allowing them to vent their emotions, we were able to be spiritual support in a desperate situation.
One of Abbey's favourite memories of the trip was an evening when she went with a group of volunteers to ask a group of Syrians to move from their tent into the compounds, and instead spent two and a half hours sitting with them, drinking tea and listening to their stories. It was eye opening to just get to hear what they had gone through, and see the tiredness in their eyes. Their hospitality was limited because of their situation, but they did not hold back from sharing what they had with us. Even though they had been through hell, and experienced the worst kinds of loss imaginable, they continue to push forward, to take steps towards peace, and to fight for their freedom and the freedom of their families.
This trip has inspired us to truly love those around us, especially those who are struggling, who are lonely, tired or broken. What peace we have, we must share. What love we have, we must give away. We are insanely blessed to be from the countries we are from, and to have God filling us and caring for us. Whether or not we work with refugees more in the future, I think this time in Lesvos has revitalised our love for people, and our understanding of why we need to share that love.
Thank you SO much to all of you who have supported us to go on this trip, financially or through prayer, we believe that God has really used us in this time, and we couldn't have done any of it without all of you!
We are back in Bristol now, settling back in and seeking God's vision for the future. We would love your prayers, as we pray about what's next for us!
Lots of love,
Grace and Peace,
Phil and Abbey