Team Refugee

September 13, 2005 | Written By Focus International

One of every 180 persons on earth has been forcefully displaced from his or her home. When they make the desperate decision to flee, they escape to countries like Greece and Italy where they are treated as outcasts and criminals. In response to the marginalized treatment of these exiles, Team Refugee went to Athens and Rome to provide care and support.

In Athens, they worked alongside other missionaries at the Athens Refugee Center. They helped serve meals, teach English, build relationships, play with kids, and treat refugees with deserved dignity and love.

Also in Athens, they partnered with the Lost Coin Ministry that reaches out to prostitutes on the streets and in brothels. These prostitutes have been forced into the sex-slave industry through deception and manipulation. The team took the opportunity to build relationships with them, most of whom were the same age, to show them their undeniable value and worth as a child of God.

The second part of the trip brought the team to Rome, where one in six persons are refugees. They conducted research to assess the needs of those who have been forcefully uprooted. Because of the results discovered and the immense needs encountered, the Office of World Missions intends to send a long-term team to Rome next fall.

When the Bible speaks of the alien and foreigner, Team Refugee truly believes that refugees are a current-day example of those God calls His people to love.