November 19,2010

I forgot to mention this little incident that happened this day. It was a Thursday, and we were doing women shower. I decided to help out Donna in the kitchen this day. She was cooking lentil soup (which is DELICIOUS BTW). As it was coming to a close ( well the cooking) Donna realized that she forgot to get Yogurt, so she asked if I would join her to go to the market real quick ( it was about a block away). So we trucked along talked about little things here and there, and as we were about to turn on the street to get back to the ARC she got a phone call from Christy.

Little do you know, the ARC is stationed in Omonia. Omonia is NOT the safest place to be at all. AT ALL at all. And although the police are on the corners, doesn't make it anymore safe than you would think. Unlike the police in America, the Greek police just stir up trouble. Lets just say its "every man for himself".

ANYWAYS after the little summary of Omonia .... So Christy called and Donna freaked out, and was asking so where do I go where do I go. At this time I am clueless but I realize something isn't right. so we decided to try to go the back way and not turn on that street and go through this little market on the next block. She was telling me that Christy told her that a mob (YES A MOB) was heading our way so we booked it. As we were about to turn on our street a man stopped us and said, "what are you doing don't go that way you will get hurt you have to find another way." Donna responded," BUT our place is LITERATELY right around the corner." So he was like OK and made sure we got around the corner alright. When we were about to turn into the entry way we noticed this HUGE gate was locked. We panicked and tried to get in. NOT only did we still have food on the stove, but we had to get into where it was safe. So we attempted to go around the corner and try to get in the back way. as we were coming around the corner a group of people started running our way, and we ran into this little hospital. I DIDN"T feel safe even though I was in a barred room I didn't feel safe so we got out got to the other gate. It was lock and to our rescue was our team leader he let us in and we went upstairs. I went on the balcony to see what was going on. THE WHOLE STREET WAS FILLED WITH REFUGEE MEN. up to where we were. they started chanting something in farsi, and started turning over trashcans, beating random people, and setting the trashcans on fire. before that they were beating on the buses and flipped a car.

I wondered what got them to that point. What pushed them to that limit. ALL i know is that God was watching over me. He has this whole time. Was I a little afraid? Yeah, but I knew God was going to take care of me. His story for my life isn't over yet. Which makes me excited for the future. Has there ever been a time that you just knew God was watching over you? Yes it may not be as drastic as mine, but if you just open your eyes you might just see the little blessings he throws your way.

I just thought I would let you in on a little thing that happened not too long ago.I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys! Sorry about that :/ ANYWAYS tomorrow is the KIDS CHRISTMAS PARTY and I am SUPER excited Super super SUPER excited may the Lord bless our time tomorrow and may the kids just truly get to experience a little bit of happiness for once. :) til next time have a marvelous day!!

The Last Stretch

This trip is coming to an end. An end extremely fast. And I am super sad. Not only have I realized how much I am going to miss the people here, but I am also going to miss my team. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways. He has taught me what it truly means to be humble, to appreciate what I have, not to judge right away, and taught me little truths in the midst of my time here. One of the questions on our debriefing slip is "How have you been changed from you time here?" How have I been changed.... you know what? honestly I do not know. I can't pin point the change. I know it has happened. I can feel it. But to say exactly what that change is... its very hard to say. I want to apologize to each of you for the lack of updates I have done on my time here. I have had SOME time but not alot, and I should have put that time into blogging to you. BUT here is a little update. The next two weeks (my last two weeks) will include LOTS and LOTS of stuff. We will have several Christmas parties not only just for the kids, but also for families, singles, and others. This is going to be such an awesome experience! I am a leader for one of the groups at the childrens team GO RED TEAM! I am super stoked! I helped make the christmas decorations!
This is what is around the invitation that I spent some time. I am so excited about this party. About 50 new kids will get to come. We will have a couple different stations! 2 Crafts, a game station, and a present station! The kids are going to get to pick out their own gifts. We will also have music, and a puppet show, and they will get to have chicken nuggets and french fries. I am super stoked! This will be so great for the kids. We gave out the tickets at a shoe give away that we had. We had size 25-34 for the kids with 400 shoes that we were able to give away in 3 different colors. Red, Blue, and Black. I think that was such a neat experience for me. Getting to take the shoes that didn't fit the kids and place a new pair that fit them perfectly, and see that little smile brightened my trip so much. It reminded me of how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Even though protested saying that they should do it. He did it. He did it to show how much he loved them. In the same way God allowed us to do the same. Maybe I didnt get to wash their feet, but I gave them some shoes that could last a long time just for them. sooooooo cool.

I am sad. My last post didn't come up. Deseh a girl from my english class sang for me and jessie one day, and I wanted you guys to hear her beautiful voice. It made chills roll up my spin and gave me goose bumps. AND she was sick that day! God gave her such beautiful voice. I will work on getting up don't you worry your little head :). WELL I must be off! Me and my roommate Tiffany are going to Monestraki to shop for her family. I may get a little something myself. So tahtahfornow.

This is it. This is the time to make each moment count. And you know what? I will. I will do everything with a 100% attitude! May the Lord bless you today and bless you for the prayers you have sent my way this whole time. Thank you for all your support! I love you guys.

-Callie

Rome, italy

Saturday morning at 11:30 am me and my roommate Jessie embarked on an adventure of a lifetime, yes Greece is but we were able to get a plane ticket with the money we saved on our own and by a round trip ticket to Rome. Only 2 days to spend there we were determined to see all we have heard about and wanted to see and more. We had yummy pizza right when we got off the plane, saw the Vatican/ sistine chappel/ sorta st. Peters, the fountain de trevi, Spanish steps, parthaon, ate at a yummy little resturant where I had the best lasagna I have ever had in my entire life, gelato yummy yummy gelato, saw the colossium, ceasars palace, the roman bathes, and exploring exploring exploring. This trip has been eventful, relaxing, breathtaking an more. All I can say is if you ever get a chance to experience Rome do it! It is totally worth every penny well I must go have a blessed day :)

The Life Of A Regugee

The life of a refugee right now is what you might be looking at, at this moment. One might be living on the streets one, one might be sharing an apartment with 20-30 people (a small apartment), one may be sleeping in the park/under cars/in a box, you name it. As I have talked to you before in letting you know why the refugees have come to Greece, hopefully you will see what the refugees are dealing with right now.

These people come to Greece to find hope, get away from violence, get away from threats, or just to leave. These people come here thinking that once they come everything will be just peachy! But once they walk that 48 hr trip they are sadly mistaken. There is a video that I recently watched that broke my heart. It's called A battle for Attica Square. Attica Square is a little park inside the little portion of Attiki. Refugees would fill this park and finally the people of Athens residing in this area got Angry. Here is the video (it's about 20 mins long, but this is what is happening as we speak)





The people of Athens are hardening their hearts to these people, yes people might say"Well they are coming into their country so you can't really blame them". My response to that is ,"Well they are still human." Since that video was filmed, the violence has gotten worse. Now not only are they beating the men, but they are beating the women. Not only that now that the men are trying to go get food for their families, the people are waiting for the men to leave and are BEATING the children and women. Seriously who does that?! There is such a need right now that can be so hard for us that are serving, because unfortunately we can't stop the violence, and we can't give all that they need because we don't have the means for it.

Yesterday as I was at Team Fellowship, and I heard from a few teammates something that recently happened possibly 2 days ago. In the newspaper it read that there was a a fire in a Mosque in Attiki. Not only was this disheartening it gets worse.... as there was a fire, they blocked off the windows and doors trapping in about 40 people, and the police that were standing there did NOTHING. When a man went to try to help he was stabbed and blamed saying that he tried to stab a cop.

What is this world coming to. I mean I know there is evil, but when you are just murdering someone because of what they believe its awful. So you want to know what the refugees are dealing with? They are dealing with fear. Complete and utter fear. But even though their is fear there is hope. As I have gotten to know some of the women They still have their dreams of succeeding. One girl named Dessie wants to be a lawyer for her people. One girl wants to be a Engineer. One little boy wants to be a Doctor. And you know what. I believe at some point they will be able to do it.

God is doing so many great things, but this was just a little view into the life of what a refugee has to deal with, what we as a team have to deal with while they are dealing with their trauma, and what to be praying for. Sorry for my little rant, but I felt you might want to know not only what is going on in my head, but what is going on during this time.

Even though there is so much sad things going on, in the midst of all this, the refugees find a little glimpse of happiness, a little glimpse of rest and a little glimpse of safety when they walk into the doors of Helping Hands.

Keep the safety of the team and the refugees in your prayers please, AND thank you :)