Καλή χρονιά! (Happy New Year)

 Hi Friends! 

I hope you've had a great Christmas and New Year's and had a chance to celebrate, catch up with family and friends, and rest and prepare for a new year ahead! 

New Year's eve 2015 was pretty special for me as I spent it with some of my team at the home of one of our local staff.  One of the joys of serving overseas is the wide breadth of cultures, languages, and backgrounds I get to meet.  With backgrounds from Albanian, to American, Canadian, Egyptian, French, Filipino, Turkish, and of course, Greek, and a combined 10+ languages (I lost count..) at the table, the conversation and topics truly range all over the globe! 

Apologies for the lull in posting.  Since the last post in November, I returned home after almost six weeks on the island of Lesvos, and then returned to Greece about three weeks ago, and have been splitting my time on several islands since my return.

Sunrise in Leros, awaiting a Coast Guard boat to arrive with a number of new arrivals.

So here's the first of what I'll try to make more regular updates.  It's a bit of a somber post to start the year, but just some of the thoughts and experiences from continuing to serve here.

One of our translators (let’s call him John) didn’t make it back to the hotel after his shift at the port refugee registration site this afternoon.  Someone thought he had perhaps had gone with the police to assist with some translations as there had been rumours that the police had detained two smugglers, suspected of running boats across from Turkey.   Not long after, John came into our office, visibly shaken, and exhausted, both physically and emotionally, having indeed spent hours at the Greek police station translating every word of the interrogations of the two smugglers.

We work in an environment where we meet daily the refugees newly arriving across the sea from Turkey.   The most fortunate arrive excited, elated at having made it to Europe, and they hope, their new homes and lives.  Most arrive cold, wet, exhausted, scared, having endured hours of harrowing waves crashing against their overcrowded plastic rafts aimed in the general direction of what the smugglers have told them is Europe.  Many others don’t arrive, having been turned back or rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.   And lastly, some arrive, in bags, often surrounded by destitute and grieved family, and somberly carried away off of the Coast Guard rescue boats. 

Just this morning, while at port, we were told how some of the newly turned up refugees couldn’t even get of the boat or walk after having been beaten so badly by the smugglers for an unknown reason. All this to say that it is no secret the heartlessness of the smugglers, their incredibly greedy demands, their random acts of violence, and their carefree defiance in sending boat after ill equipped boat in even the most unforgiving conditions. 

Yet, I know for John, it was something entirely new and disturbing to have to listen to and translate the statements and confessions of the smugglers.  He told us that they explained how they smuggled people through the Turkish side, crammed as many people onto each boat to maximize profit, and decided it was such a profitable business to get into in the first place.   

I’m glad that they caught these two men, who will be sentenced without delay in Greek court tomorrow morning.  However, I know that for each of these men there exists multitudes more that continue to jeopardize helpless lives in the name of profit, and that probably will never be held to account for their evil deeds. 

John will be summoned again to translate tomorrow morning for the court sentencing which we hope will be quick given that the smugglers have already openly confessed to their crimes. 

Is this a win?  A small one I guess, although I don’t know that anyone is in a celebratory mood because of it.  But it’s a strong reminder to me of our brokenness, and how we can go astray if we don’t continually pursue a path of righteousness.

 Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

                                       - Isaiah 1:17