Hello from Athens!!!
We left Lesvos early this morning and just landed in Athens. Today, we will be going into Athens for a debrief/tourist day. We are hoping to do some shopping, some eating, and some resting before our return home.
We’ve received a request for a detailed breakdown of our days at the women and children’s center, so here it is! We left our hotel at 8:25 each morning and made it to the center by 8:30. The center opened at 9, so in the half hour before we would set up tables and chairs, put coloring pages and colored pencils out, and pray for the day. Right at 9 o’clock, we would open the door and let in the women who had appointments for the washing machines. After the women with appointments came in, each person would get a number and when their number was called, later in the day, they would get to do their laundry. The first couple of days, we made bracelets with the women and children. After the beads ran out, we played uno, colored, and spun in circles until we couldn’t stand up straight! We spent most of our time listening to stories and attempting to communicate. Later in the week, 10 students from a Christian boarding school in Denmark arrived. They played outside with the kids for most of their time at the center. At 2:30 or 3 we would start wiping down tables and sanitizing chairs. Every day, we swept and mopped the floors and one of the Greek women working at the center would clean out all of the washing machines and sanitize them. We were usually done cleaning before 3 or 3:30 and then we would get driven back to our little hotel. After we left in the afternoons, another team was doing a self-defense class for the women. Unfortunately, they didn’t get any refugee women until Friday, but Courtney and some of the Greek women enjoyed the class for an afternoon or two! In the evenings, we would do a daily debrief and a devotional before spending time in prayer. We prayed daily for the refugees at the center and on the island, for the missionaries here, and the Greek women that work at the center every day.
We look forward to being home with our families and telling more detailed stories about our time on this little island. We will continue to pray for the people living through this terrible time and ask the Lord to restore their homes. We ask that you would also continue to pray for the missionaries to these people, from the stories we have heard, our time at the center, compared to what happens inside the camp, is a piece of heaven. Even so, the work here is tiring and those who commit to spending months at the center go through a lot! Pray for strength and that they would be uplifted by the Lord. Finally, we ask that you would pray for a restful day here in Athens and safe flights tomorrow as we return home to our families and friends .
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us this week! We have definitely seen the Lord working on the island of Lesvos!
Update: I didn’t have time to finish this post before our ride to Athens arrived! Our day was wonderful! We saw the Acropolis, the Parliament building and the changing of the guard, and we did a lot of shopping! We spent most of the day either climbing the rocky path to the top of the Acropolis, climbing up to the top of Mars Hill, or climbing the streets of Athens. We had a wonderful tour, given by a member of the evangelical church in Athen. We are looking forward to comfortable beds tonight and dreading our 4 am wake up call…
See you tomorrow GR!
Love,
Taylor, Courtney, and Dawn
P.s. Our title comes from a special guest today! Marv (Dawn’s husband, Taylor’s grandpa) provided the title for today’s blog.
Not too many pictures for today… https://photos.app.goo.gl/LCpYTQ1QCOb8f0j63 — if you ask us about our trip when we get home, we can show you some more pictures!