History in the Making

On the way to a Farsi speaking church, I met my first refugees in the metro station. 

It went like this: My contact person here in Greece knew of a woman who serves in a Persian church. I wanted to check it out, but neither one of them was able to meet me and take me there, so they arranged this refugee couple who attends the church to meet me in the metro station and show me the way. They found me, we got on the metro, we exchanged names, and then the husband got straight to the point.

“We don’t have religion. Like we don’t believe in God. We believe in nothing.” 

He didn’t say it rudely, just matter-of-factly, as if he wanted me to know this from the very beginning. I didn’t overreact, even though the thought may have crossed my mind that I got on the train with the wrong people.

I probably looked a little confused when I said, “But we are going to church, right?” 

“Yes,” he replied as if it made perfect sense. “We were looking for people of like-minded culture and language, so a friend told us to come to this church.” 

I nodded and asked, “And how long have you been doing that?”

“About eight months,” he replied. 

I smiled, because who knows what eight months of biblical teaching and gospel sharing and Christian community can do to soften a heart and plant a seed, even if the very person doesn’t recognize it. Yet I took his directness to mean that I didn’t need to be pushy or overly Jesus-crazy in any way, just a friend going to church with them. 

We chatted quite a bit on the train, and then I sat with them at church, and then we walked back to the station together afterwards. At one point, the husband (who was the more talkative of the two since his English was more confident than hers) asked me something about how I ended up in Togo. His English was not perfect though, so I attempted to clarify. 

“Do you mean howI got to Togo? Like the events that led me there?” 

“No, I really mean to ask why. What motivation?” He replied.

Now to the couple who blatantly didn’t believe it God, I told a big long God story. I couldn’t keep him out of it, and my testimony was weaved into my answer. They listened the whole time, genuinely I might add. At the end, he said, “So you’re a true believer?” 

“With all my heart.” 

~~~

I met my second second refugee while eating strawberry white chocolate and chocolate fudge gelato. (Yes, that’s exactly what the flavor was called; I’ve decided I could totally be a missionary here.)

He was an Iranian who converted from Islam to Christianity in Turkey. Do a little research and you’ll see how miraculous that already is. Afterwards he came as a refugee to Athens, and he wants to stay here and share the gospel with Afghans. 

“I used to hate Afghans, and now I want to serve them and tell them about the Truth.” He’s currently studying theology. He’s not even thirty years old. 

~~~

About one hundred refugeesarrive to Athens every day, and that’s slowed down significantly from the five hundred dailyit used to be. The government allows for some to come legally, but most arrive illegally. If you come legally and register, you are given an appointment date as late as two or three years away. And since you can’t get a job until you have the right paperwork and your date is three years away, you can see why many enter illegally and then try to smuggle themselves to another country where the process is faster and the chances are higher. Whether a refugee comes legally or illegally, Greece has little to offer. As a suffering economy itself, Greece can’t do much to provide for the overwhelming number of refugees, who then end up in really desperate situations, often without housing or even running water to take a shower.

Most of the refugees are fleeing war, oppression, or religious persecution. They are all in search of freedom, opportunity, or simply life. Athens is the doorway from North Africa and the Middle East into Europe. 

For this reasons Athens is a unique city. History is in the making right here, right now. And not just geopolitical history, but also spiritual history. For as people are on the move, God is on the move, too. Refugees are pouring out of Islamic countries that are closed to the gospel.  Because of the suffering they have experienced, the very foundations of Islam are shaking for many of them. They come to Athens in need of help and hope, which is given to them by Christians, whom they are supposed to hate. The Christians that they were taught are infidels and “bad” people are the very ones providing for their basic needs and offering friendship. They are now free to explore the gospel that they were forbidden to even consider in their home countries. And many are opening Bibles for the first time, interacting with Christians, hearing the gospel, and giving their lives to Christ. 

Yes, God is indeed doing something here and now that is unique in history, maybe even something that could not be done at any other time under any other circumstances. He has placed our generation here for such a time as this, and Athens is perhaps ones of the most strategic locations for intersecting unreached people groups with the good news about Jesus. 

Pray for this city. Pray for the hundreds of refugees who are arriving every day. Pray for the ones waiting for their appointment dates. Pray for the ones who are living illegally, trying to smuggle, living in fear. Pray for the Christian refugees who are fleeing persecution. Pray for the refugees who wander into a church just because they are in search of a community that speaks their langues. Pray for the organization, teams, churches, and missionaries who are trying to reach them and share the gospel. Pray for the Greeks themselves to awaken spiritually, even as a result of the refugee crisis. 

This is a city that needs prayer, a rallied unified cry from believers all over the world, for God has his eyes and his heart on this place and its people, and he is doing something new in our days. The darkness is great, but light always overcomes darkness.