Matthew 14:15 “ When it was evening, his disciples came to him saying, “ This is a deserted
place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” But Jesus said to them, “ They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
I found myself thinking of how in many ways I’ve been like the disciples in Jesus’ day, seeing
the multitudes of refugees and wishing they would go to another country with better employment opportunities so they and their children could live full lives. But during the lockdown, that kind of thinking changed as God began to, once again, open my eyes to the beautiful nation I live in, Greece. I found myself wondering why the many organizations and individuals helping refugees, have not come up with solutions to the unemployment problem that forces so many to leave this beautiful country for greener employment pastures. I also began wondering why I, among many followers of Christ, haven’t created a platform to help find work for the refugees we’ve been engaging with. Knowing opportunities for work are not available due to a number of reasons, I felt in my heart that I could do something…that the weaving I’m already teaching to refugees could actually provide employment.
I am someone who loves working with my hands, and am a firm believer in passing on my skills to others. I realized the weaving project is a tool in my hands that God has blessed me with, not just for myself, not just to provide a skill, but to step forward and bring about the change and transformation I want to see happening in the lives of refugees. This is a tool in my hands that can offer “something to eat” to the refugees I work with everyday.
So with those thoughts I began conversations with my team and organizational leaders about what this could look like. The more I thought, discussed, and pondered the idea, I began to see more clearly how we could “give them something to eat”, and create a way, for refugees we serve, to stay in Greece…if they wanted to. I want those who come through our training to stay or leave based on their choice, not because of a lack of employment opportunity.
Isaiah 58:12 “ Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the
foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The
Restorer of Streets to Dwell in”
To actually discover the potential in refugees and have them become part of the culture, as well as the rebuilding and restoration of the place where they found refuge would be the ultimate picture of this verse. And a picture of a God who reconciles all.