Last Sunday, I had a chance along with our missions team to share about our trip to Greece last October. Our team had the opportunity to travel to Lesbos, Greece to work with a ministry there that was serving the refugee community on the island. As I shared in September, Lesbos island is at the heart of the ongoing refugee situation in Europe. Since the beginning of the year, over 3000 refugees have landed on the island, with a large number coming from Afghanistan. This is the community that we had the chance to reach out to in October.
See my September sharing here: https://www.youtube.com/live/tdJS0OKdiDs?si=NgNXc9kdjQmlQUF7&t=4011
As our team shared stories of our experiences in working with the refugees, one theme stood out to me. God was often at work in us and through us in ways that we didn’t expect. To a degree, I think we all expected our work there to be dramatic and heavy. And make no mistake, at times the stories we heard were heartbreaking as people shared about the hardships they encountered, some even recently. But it was also through natural conversations and seemingly “small” interactions that God was at work as well.
While God was at work in the stories of trauma and challenges that people shared, God was also at work in other moments. God was at work as we spent time with the young people, playing games or doing art together. God was at work as we played ping pong with the refugees, and shared in smiles and fun together. God was there as we laughed together at the jokes our translators made. God was there as we spent time with the children, making up games and organizing activities.
This reminds me of one of Jesus’s teachings in Matthew 25: 34-36. Jesus was speaking here about the end times, and how the sheep on his right–those who follow him–will be separated from the goats.
Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’
Notice how simple the actions are here. Jesus isn’t talking about big, dramatic acts of faith in this passage. He’s not saying that we need to be like Noah and build an ark, or be like Solomon and build a temple, or be like Peter and build the church. Jesus is talking about providing a meal for the hungry, hospitality for a stranger, relief for the sick, and visiting with those who are stuck. Jesus is talking about showing the love of God in simple and practical ways, and I feel like our trip was full of such moments.
And LifeSpring, we have all had a part in this work! One of the things that we raised funds for as we prepared for the trip was to provide dinner for the refugees during their visit to the ministry. There’s a saying that the stomach is the way to a person’s heart, and I think that was definitely true. During our time on Lesbos, the amazing staff at the ministry were able to prepare home cooked Afghan and Iranian food for our guests.
Some had been traveling for weeks to get to Lesbos, and hadn’t had a proper home cooked meal since. Not only were they subject to the trauma of being a refugee, but they were also missing the comforts of home and familiar surroundings. Being able to offer a familiar, home cooked meal was a wonderful way to reach the heart of people. In fact, on the last day of our ministry time on Lesbos, one of our exercises was to draw a picture of hope. In my group, one person included in their picture a drawing of himself eating a traditional Iranian stew. We had a chance to serve that stew during the week, which I’m sure was a pleasure for him.
In the end, our mission trip included big, dramatic moments, but it also included smaller conversations and interactions that were life-giving. The trip was about genuine love for God, and genuine care for others–the heart of LifeSpring’s DNA. A message from our hosts during the week summed up our trip well. As I chatted with him over text after our trip, he said, “Thank you again for being you!” LifeSpring, let’s continue to genuinely love God and genuinely care for others, whether it may be in our own homes, our neighborhood, our city, or in Greece.