Final Day in Athens

On Friday, 4/21, we all went together to the Alliance Relief day center. The staff needed help organizing a large basement storage area where they keep food, clothing, bedding, shoes and toys. 

Tony and Sherry count and organize the shoes.

Len and Ben from Germany stack crates of juice.

Marybeth and Mary organize quilting supplies. This classroom is used for teaching Greek, German, and English classes.

Nate, Lori, Tony and Bob.

Consulting about laundry and crafts. Christine from Germany and Janice from Louisville, KY are volunteering long term and have grown to know and love many of those that they serve.

M. making a trail mix snack of raisins, peanuts and dried garbanzo beans. This is popular with the refugee guests and a lot of it is served each day.

On Friday afternoon we took the bus to the outskirts of town to see the Elliniko Camp where most of the refugees in Athens live. They are housed at the old airport and in the stadium where Greece hosted the 2001 Summer Olympics. The area is guarded by police and no photographs are allowed.  It looks desolate. The camp is overcrowded, and doesn't have enough showers or bathrooms, many people live packed together in tents, unsupervised children chase each other with sticks and rocks outside on the dirty pavement. It's unsafe for the many women who are here alone with young children.

 It was heartbreaking to see this camp and know that many of those inside will be living there indefinitely because the processing of their asylum papers has virtually come to a halt at this time. 

It was our privilege to serve here in Athens with Lori and Nathan Duhan.

(photo credit: flight.org)

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)

Crafting at the Alliance Relief Center

Today was a slower day for laundry and showers at Alliance, and not as many people dropped by as the previous days. This allowed us to spend some great time chatting and practicing English with some of the teen girls and making beaded bracelets with a group of ladies and teen boys. Most of this particular group have been in Athens for a year and have applied for asylum in other countries like Germany and Sweden.




L to R: Fara 14, Rohid 17, Nadim 16. Several shared their stories with us. Nadim walked out of Afghanistan with his parents and 2 sisters, and then took a ship to get to Greece. But tragically during their journey his 17-year-old sister fell off the ship and was killed by the propeller. Rohid is gifted at jewelry making. He and his father are hoping to join his mother and younger sister in Hamburg, Germany, but they have no idea when, or even if, they will be approved to go.

Rohid made this and several other beautiful bracelets while we were together.

Christine, (left) an Alliance volunteer, making bracelets with one of the ladies. Christine and her husband are from Germany and have been at the Alliance Relief Center for a few months; she is an expert at all the jobs that need to get done. She is kind, cheerful, and has a special way with the children. It's been a joy to serve with her this week.



Wednesday at the Day Centers

Content sent Wednesday, April 19 by team member Lorrie N.:

Today we worked again in two groups at the Crossroads and Alliance Relief day centers. The group at Crossroads went to park where refugees congregate to offer them chai tea and to invite them to come to Crossroads for a meal the next day. Then they returned to help with lunch and a Bible Study for the refugees, who at this center are mostly men. 

At Alliance, the group visited with those who come each day for language classes, showers and laundry and helped the staff with those things. 


This is "P" from Afghanistan. Marybeth is teaching her how to crochet.
"P" speaks English well and enjoys talking with the volunteers.



Omid is 8 weeks old. His parents came to the center so his mother could attend English class. His name means "hope".

Helping at the Refugee Centers

Content sent from team member Lorrie N., on Tuesday, April 18, 2017:

Today our team split into two groups and took the metro to day centers in Athens. In the centers, the refugees can have a meal, take a shower, get their laundry done, have language lessons in English and Greek, attend Bible studies and hear testimonies given.

We spoke to men and women who told stories of incredible hardship. "Etmad" (name changed to protect her privacy) is a high school physics teacher from the Helmand province in Afghanistan. Her husband drove a car chauffeuring "foreigners" (Americans) in their city. The Taliban told him to stop or they would kill him. One day they accosted "Etmad" as she was on her way to her teaching job, and stabbed her in the side, wounding her badly. She and her husband had to flee from their home, leaving everything behind.

Setting up for the day.

The Day Center volunteers wash, hang dry, and fold laundry for the refugees all day long. The men and women carry the laundry in heavy, overstuffed backpacks and bags on the Metro, which is a 30-minute ride. 

The clean wash is carried up to the roof and hung to dry. 

The children's play room

Bibles and other Biblical resources in Arabic

Cristos Anesti --He Is Risen!

We arrived safely in Athens on Saturday. Thankful for no travel  delays, and no lost luggage! Lori and Nathan Duhan were ready and waiting. Our team is staying in a hotel in downtown Athens.

Saturday night, we went to the midnight Easter candlelight service at a nearby Greek Orthodox Church. At the end of the service, the congregation gathers outside the church with their lit candles, church bells ring, and fire works are set off to celebrate the Risen Christ.

Sunday morning after breakfast, we took a bus and walked around Athens. This is a family holiday in Greece, celebrated with red-dyed Easter eggs, and roast lamb.

In the afternoon, we had the privilege of being invited to an Easter service held by a group of Iranian believers here in Athens. The service is held in one of the refugee day centers. About 70 adults and a dozen children attended. We were warmly welcomed and served tea and Easter sweet bread before the service began. The service, was conducted in Arabic, and translated into Farsi and English. Three of our team ladies played with the children in a separate room after the worship music, so that all of the adults present could attend the service.  It was a very special experience to worship and visit with this group of believers.

These are the gentlemen who served us our tea and Easter sweet bread before the service began.

The Iranian Easter service.

Heading to Athens

We depart Friday afternoon for Athens, arriving on Saturday, April 15. Athens is the capital of Greece, and it's one of the oldest cities in the world. The city is still dominated by 5th-century BC landmarks, including the Acropolis, a hilltop citadel topped with ancient buildings like the colonnaded Parthenon temple. Athens has a subtropical Mediterranean climate with hot,dry summers, followed by mild, wet winters. 

Facts from the International Rescue Committee (IRC): Close to 62,000 refugees fleeing violence are  currently stranded in Greece, over half of them are women and children. They have been traumatized by the conflicts they seek to escape. In Greece, they endure the added stress of uncertainty and constant waiting. The legal path available to refugees in Greece—either asylum in the country or relocation elsewhere in Europe—is a long one: The relevant authorities don't have enough staff to process asylum claims quickly. Refugees have been forced to wait in temporary camps, with limited access to crucial information and available services. The psychological toll is immense. Many suffer not only from the trauma of witnessing the death of loved ones, but also the profound sense of powerlessness of a refugee’s life in limbo. 

Pray that the Lord will enable our team to offer words of hope and prayers of comfort to the men, women and children we meet at the day centers in Athens.

Our Prayer Calendar: Greece Team-Duhan's

Please use this prayer calendar to intercede for us while we are in Athens. We will be working with our missionaries, Nathan and Lori Duhan in refugee day centers, serving meals, helping with laundry, doing simple crafts with women and children, listening to the refugees share their stories, and sharing the hope we have in Christ.

Friday, April 14--Saturday April 15
We leave for Athens Friday afternoon. Pray for efficiency guiding our group through airports, good health, safe and uneventful travels, that we will make our connections, and that all of our luggage and items will arrive intact. The team arrives late Saturday evening. Also, pray God would relieve any fears we have going into a new situation and culture. Pray that we will remain “flexible” for the entire trip!

Easter Sunday, April 16
We are excited to have the opportunity to celebrate Easter in Greece. Pray that we joyfully enter into the local church service and traditions celebrating our Risen Savior. “Easter, or Pascha in Greek, is the most important religious holiday of the Orthodox Church marking the resurrection of Christ and the chance of rebirth for mankind. When the clock strikes 12 on Easter Saturday, people tell each other Christos Anesti! (Christ is risen!) and Alithos Anesti! (He is truly risen!) as a response, while they bring back home their lit candles to bless their house and symbolize the Light’s return to the world.” (Greek Reporter)

Monday, April 17
This will be our first day ministering to the refugees. Kathy asks for prayer that God will open our hearts and eyes to each person that we meet, and that they will see Christ in us.

Tuesday, April 18
Pray for our encounters with women and children as we work on crafts together, that it will be a means of encouragement and will open the way for conversation and fellowship despite differences in language and culture.

Wednesday, April 19
Pray for our strength, endurance, good health , and that we remain flexible for whatever tasks we are asked to do at the day centers and that we will have opportunities to encourage and share with those we meet.

Thursday, April 20
Please pray for guidance and wisdom for Nathan and Lori Duhan, who are still in the process of applying for long-term visas to remain in Greece. They have encountered several obstacles.

Friday, April 21
Our last day in Athens. Pray for the hearts and minds of the refugees who are stranded in Athens in terrible living conditions waiting for their asylum claims to be processed. The camps here are meant to be temporary, but thousands of people have been here for over a year and are feeling hopeless and desperate. Pray that they will come to know Christ, who is our only hope.

Saturday, April 22
We fly back to Greensboro. Pray for safe travels and that we will be mindful of the Lord’s faithfulness, provision, protection, and works throughout the trip. Please pray for us as we transition back to our daily routines and continue to reflect on our experience.