Greece - Tourist Destination or Mission Field for Romanians?

When it comes to the way in which Romanians view Greece, there are a few things that come to mind: holiday, sunbathing, swimming, visiting islands and historical sites.

At this moment, the Greek state is still suffering from the economic depression that hit the country in 2009. At the same time, the country struggles to handle the crisis of the refugees arrived from Syria and the neighboring countries.

As a result of the financial difficulties, many Hellenic citizens became homeless. They can be seen wandering about on Athens streets. This is what a group of nine young Romanian missionaries from Youth With a Mission organization witnessed during their short-term mission trip in Athens.

We were challenged to go and trust God even though we didnt have all the basic resources needed for such a trip. We set out without knowing all the details, but we saw God taking care of everything.

Upon arrival, it was like everything was prepared for us. New things revealed themselves to us each step of the way. God sustained us, guided us and sent us where He wanted us to go.

We were a bit worried concerning the accommodation and the activities we should do. Before leaving for Greece, we went to the ProMission camp, where we met a girl from Athens who was there to minister. When finding out we were about to go to Athens, she asked us whether we could take her with us. God arranged all so that we could take her. She offered us a place to stay and gave us a few names of people who ministered there.

The young girl, native of Chile, housed them for three weeks, and put them in contact with people involved in various projects. The Romanian missionaries worked with young refugees, but God challenged them to also offer comfort to the homeless people.

We focused on the refugees, so we expected to work in refugee camps. Seeing the big number of people who were on the streets near the place we stayed, we felt the urge to do something for them. It was shocking to see that the economic recess was so bad that so many people remained homeless and, above that, started to use drugs as a result of their painful condition. They were injecting drugs even in the middle of the street. They just couldnt help themselves. They were roaming around in search of drugs. We were shocked.

A girl, member of our team, works in the medical field. We decided to split up into small groups to go and give them sandwiches and tea, to talk to them and to treat them to the extent possible. This girl bandaged their wounds and changed their gauze regularly.

Many blessed us for what we were doing and others said God sent us to help them and that it was very meaningful to them.

When we gave someone a cup of tea and something to eat, that person said he didnt have enough money to buy a glass of water, but he was glad he had received two cups of tea from us. He was very thankful and told us to never forget God. I believe something in his heart had changed. Through this small gesture, he saw God was taking care of him.

The young Romanians were changed by the experience they had in a Greece. a country very badly affected by the economic depression.

We really had an unforgettable experience. I enjoyed it a lot, I wanted to go so badly especially because I desired to work with the Muslim refugees. I was sure I had to be involved in this.

Before coming here, I met many people who spoke to me about the Muslims. We met people who made us feel welcomed. Of course, the people living on the streets are Greek citizens too, not only refugees, but they are homeless and have nothing to eat. When you visit them and give them something with a smile on your lips, you can see they are happy and thankful.

I was deeply affected seeing so many people on the streets. I think only in movies Ive seen people dosing and having blisters on their body. You could see the beautiful Acropolis, but, if you looked down, what you noticed were the homeless people. It was absolutely shocking.

During this mission, God taught me to love even the unlovable, even the people that are hard to look at. The most challenging and, at the same time, beautiful part was to minister to the homeless people. We did that especially during the last week. We went out to give them sandwiches and a glass of tea or soda. When handed out these things, people couldnt believe we were doing that for them. They saw it like Gods love being manifested to them.

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