Big Ben…Parliament…Big Ben…

No, we are NOT in London…but, have any of you seen the old Chevy Chase movie “European Vacation” where he is driving the family around, touring London, and he gets stuck in the traffic circle, leading them to continue to see the same thing, multiple times?  Well, that’s how I felt today…but before telling you that story, let me bring you up to speed on the happenings here.

Our team arrived on Lesvos, late Saturday night, but not without a little bit of adventure thrown in.

Our flight from Newark to Athens was uneventful. When we arrived in Athens, we had a few hours before our flight left for Mytilene. My plan was that during that time, I would get a SIM card for my phone so I could communicate with the leaders of Eurorelief while working at the camp. This was a requirement as a team leader. When I went to purchase the card, I learned that my phone was not unlocked to be able to put in the card…this was after my phone provider already told me that it WAS unlocked. So, plan B. Kevin and I left the Athens airport, took a taxi to a nearby electronics store (think “Best Buy” only Greek style) to get some phones. (Kevin needed to get a phone too, but that’s another story). The store was literally 10 minutes away from the airport and we had an hour to get there, get the phones, get back, go through security to be able to make our next flight.

As the salesperson is helping us with the phones, we are beginning to get nervous that we’re not going to get done and back in time.  Plus, the taxi driver didn’t want to wait for us so we had to somehow get another taxi.  So, while I’m working with the salesperson, Kevin runs across the parking lot to Ikea to see if there are any taxis there. He finds one and asks if he will wait. The guy said he would, for a few minutes.  Probably 20 minutes later, we are finally leaving the store, fingers crossed that the taxi is still waiting for us. Praise God! He was! We got back to the airport and to our gate just in time.

When we landed in Mytilene, I had arranged for a rental van for us. After we got our luggage, I couldn’t find the rental agency right away. We ended up talking to a Hertz rental and learned we could rent 2 cars for almost half the price of what we had originally booked for the van!? I wanted to find the original rental place and cancel the reservation and book the 2 cars—so, again, Kevin and I went on a little search. We found the place, after a bit of discussion with the guy there (who was trying to keep the rental, but couldn’t match the price even close), we cancelled and then ended up booking with Hertz. Having 2 cars was actually an answer to prayer because shortly before we left for the trip, we learned that Barb was going to be serving at the camp with the medical team (she is a nurse) and we weren’t sure how we would be getting all of the team members where they needed to be at various times, with only one vehicle. The kicker is that you have to have an international drivers license to drive in Greece. So, now Barb and I were the only drivers, but with Barb working the 4-12 shift at camp, and the rest of us working other shifts at the camp, we didn’t know how we would do this with the 2 cars (not everyone would fit in one car). So…Kevin determined that HE would also get an international drivers license to help us out with driving.  But, of course, there was a process for that, and it couldn’t be done on Saturday night at 10 pm.

So, we all piled in the two tiny cars and drove to our hotel. The place is beautiful (this is where I stayed in February this year on my previous trip) and we had a warm welcome from Gina. We dropped our bags and quickly walked to town to get something to eat for dinner. We ate along the water, enjoying some delicious seafood and other Greek food. It was delicious…even though it was close to midnight.

Sunday morning, after breakfast, we decided we would walk to Oasis (church). It was about a 30 minute walk along the water—beautiful! We enjoyed our time at church, and several of us had opportunities to interact and talk with several refugees. I sat next to two young women from Afghanistan—Mina and Shabana.  I had an opportunity to pray with them. Mina has been at camp for one month and has a 2 year old daughter. Shabana has been at camp for two months and had a 9-month old son. Mina spoke English very well. I invited them to join us for women’s day at Oasis on Wednesday. I’ll be picking them up at camp to bring them. Pray that they are waiting at the entrance of camp for me to take them. Pray that me and the other ladies on my team will have an opportunity to encourage them both and be a light to them in the midst of their crisis.

After church, we had lunch with Pastor Emmanuel from I-58 (who runs Oasis) and two young adult males who are serving with I-58. It was really a great time for them to get to know us as Brethren in Christ and to share together. Emmanuel has been in Lesvos for the last few years and shared many stories of hope and light, and many refugees coming to Christ. In fact, they will be baptizing an Afghani couple on Monday afternoon. We are hoping that we may be able to leave our shift at camp a bit early (around 4 rather than 5) so we can be a part of the baptismal celebration. Pray that if God would desire, that we would be granted permission to be a part of this.

Now, back to the “Big Ben…Parliament…” story.  After lunch, there was some free time for everyone. Part of that included me driving two shifts of our group (since our car is small) to see some of the island. There were two goals for this little road trip:  find the location for our training meeting at 8 am on Monday morning and to find the camp.  Finding the camp, was no problem at all, since I had been there before. Finding the location for the training meeting…not so easy. It’s literally 5 minutes away, and even plugging the address in the GPS on the Greek phone I have, STILL didn’t help us. When we “arrived”—it looks like an abandoned building!?  NOTHING is labeled; i.e., this is the Eurorelief Training Center. That would be way too easy. So, I literally made 3 loops on the same road, meanwhile, passing a café where a bunch of old, Greek men were sitting around, talking and smoking. As I kept driving by, I waved…wondering what they must be thinking when they see the same car multiple times.  After a few tries with the first carload, and no success, I came back to the hotel and picked up the others (Kevin and LH). Off we went again…same scenario. But, this time, rather than circling multiple times, I parked and we got out to talk to those old men to see if they could help us. Well, that was entertaining in itself…and we left with really no clarity for our location for Monday morning. We have a guess as to which building it is so we’re going to head there in the morning. Pray that we find where we need to be.

When we returned to the hotel, Kevin and I decided that we would continue to take care of getting his international drivers license and getting him added as a driver to our car(s) so we would be good to go for Monday. So, while the others on the team had a couple of hours to be in town, walking by the water, playing and hanging out with the many refugees who walk to town from camp, Kevin and I made a trip back to the airport to the Hertz dealer and get our paperwork in order.

After an interesting interaction with George, the rental card guy, we are on our way back to town. We meet up with the rest of the team for dinner, debriefing for the day. Those who were by the water while Kevin and I were taking care of car stuff had so many awesome stories, conversations, and interactions with many of the refugees. It was so cool to hear how they had spent a few hours visiting and playing with so many!  And, only some of you will get this reference, but even Eric got to toss a ball around with some kids! He was pretty happy—AND—he didn’t start that or bring the ball.  😊

All of this goes to show you that even the best laid plans don’t always go as planned. I worked ahead of the trip to do the best I could to prepare for the phone and rental car, but in the end, it didn’t matter. We had to roll with the bumps and in the end, it all worked out even better than we could have expected!

Thank you so much for your prayers. All in all, everyone is doing great. Pray for us as we start our first shift tomorrow (Monday). We are in the camp from 8-5. The rest of the week, our shifts will vary.  Pray for sensitivity for the team as they walk into camp for the first time. Pray for strength and stamina. Pray for wisdom, discernment, and clarity for me as I lead the team.

Our days are full and long. The wi-fi has been in and out here. It hasn’t been easy to connect. So, as much as I want to post every day, it may not happen. And, I’m having trouble to get photos to load, so for now, I’ll post without many photos, sorry. Keep following…and keep praying!