How Did We Get Here?

There have been times on this trip where I just sit and think to myself...all of this is crazy. How did we end up here? I don't mean here like in Lesvos, Greece or here in Moria or even here for a 24-hour shift in Skala which is where we are now. I mean here in a deeper sense. How did we get to a place where there are millions upon millions of people running from their homes for their lives and the sake of their children? How did we get to a place where a good part of the world decides to say it's not really their problem? How did we get to a place where it all seems too grave a problem to actually be able to affect change and impact our fellow humans' lives? I mean other than fear and doubt and sin, I'm not sure how we got to these places, but for sure the fear, the doubt, and the sin play a prevalent part in it all. Sin drives us to devalue others and seek our own interests, doubt stops us from realizing that with God all things are possible so worry takes up the throne of decision making, and fear inhibits us to act and to care and to open up, to know and hear. So I guess I've answered my own question. This is how we ended up here. Oh and throw on the cold side dish of apathy and you've got yourself conditions that are ripe with hopelessness. I know how all of this sounds...

Justice-y. Call to arms-y. Jaded. Angry.

Believe me, those are all things I've felt on this trip and continue to feel to be sure. But you know what else I want to convey even more strongly, what I want to highlight to give you a more complete picture? I want to tell you that many of the people I've met are beautiful. They have souls that would make Jesus proud. They have stories that could rip your heart right out due to the desperation and yet they decide to smile, to welcome in, and to share. Some may not even know Jesus yet, but with His help and His time and a ton of prayer on our part, they will. God has drawn all of these different groups and personalities and people together for a huge purpose, I can feel it. Not just the refugees and migrants but the volunteers and Greeks as well. It feels big. It feels like something God would do, pull people out from their lands, bring them together with people who are different from them, gather the nations to bring aid and to help even in the midst of opposition...God can do all that. He has done all that. I just continue to pray that this is what God wants. This is where He has us right now. I'm confident that by us serving and seeing Jesus in each of the people we meet, there is eternal and lasting significance in all of this. There's a thread of hope woven into the fabric of this dark situation and I, for one, am so beyond thankful and humbled by the chance to see it.

I'm thankful for the women who sit with me with incredible patience, this foreigner unable to speak with them, toothily, awkwardly grinning hoping to catch a word of understanding. These women are incredibly kind and generous. They offer me food and drink, though, I am absolutely in no need. Their hospitality is astounding and the kind that all of us should learn from.

I am thankful to the men of all ages and abilities who when they see volunteers carrying heavy things up the steepest hill in camp, they make it their mission to lighten the load and to aid in the carrying of the burden. It's remarkable and whether it's born out of boredom or a genuine sense of wanting to help, they do it. They're willing to make the sacrifice in order to help out someone else.

I am thankful for the children in camp. The ones who are still children. The ones who by all standards and measures shouldn't have to grow up in a place like Moria and yet they run, they jump, they blow bubbles, they eat, they play school or doctor, they cry, they laugh, they're mischievous, they have bumps and bruises on their knees and snot on their noses. They are children. They are making their circumstances tolerable by playing.

Lastly, I am thankful to the many who have gone out of their way to befriend volunteers, the translators, not by choice as much as necessity, who hang out at the info tent. These, mostly, young men have aligned themselves with the volunteers for better or worse. Many would step in the way of danger to help save a volunteer. This isn't fair, this isn't the way it's supposed to be, but the plain fact of the matter is that it is the way it is. And that, for sure, is a picture of Christ.

We couldn't be more blessed here. We are doing some hard work and pulling some long days but wow, it's worth it. God is alive. He is active. He is doing big things. May we all be resigned to His will, to His call, whenever and wherever He asks.