Posted: 07/30/2015 at 12:11pm
|
IP Logged
|
|
|
Syrian
Refugee Crisis Meets Greek Debt CrisisGREECE (ANS – July 28, 2015) -- Fallout from Greece's
international debt crisis is expected to further squeeze war-ravaged arrivals
from Syria, but the refugees and an indigenous group serving them are rising to
the challenge.
Banks
reopened in Greece on Monday (July 20), after three weeks of shut-down to avert
a crash while the government scrambled to obtain a bailout from international
creditors. The first days of the shut-down, however, left the ministry to Syrian
refugees, Bridges, with a cash shortage.
Bridges Directors Ilias and Voula Antouan considered skipping distribution of
one Wednesday of groceries due to the crisis, Voula Antouan said. They explained
the situation to their core group of Syrian refugees, seeing it also as an
opportunity to inform them about European issues.
The directors were pleasantly surprised and encouraged when the Syrians they
have worked so hard to serve offered to help them in return.
“They looked at us and said, ‘I have got some money; I will lend it to you,
and you give it back when this ends,’” Voula Antouan said. “We really have to
admit that God has been our shield and protection, as we went through these
capital controls as if they never existed. That Wednesday we were able to
provide groceries for about 209 people.”
Throughout June, the ministry provided 850 Syrians with groceries and
clothes, she added.
Some 31,000 refugees, most of them from Syria, came to Greece in June. The
capital controls that began June 29 included the closure of money transfer
offices such as Western Union that refugees rely on.
“The refugees are using mainly, if not exclusively, Western Union to transfer
money,” Antouan said. “By my point of view, this is partially good, as this way
they were not able to transfer money to their smugglers.”
After seeing their homes in Syria bombed and their relatives killed, refugees
in Greece now struggle to afford housing and food. That task became tougher this
week, as terms of Greece's bailout include a 23 percent tax, up from 13 percent,
on many food and other items. In exchange for bridge loans to make payments on
debt to the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, Greece agreed to
the tax hikes as well as privatizations that are expected to drive other prices
higher.
“More effects will be brought to the surface, as we shall have about a 10
percent increase on many of our groceries plus on many other services,” Antouan
said.
The ministry works with several social, medical and other agencies not only
to meet basic needs of refugees but to advocate on their behalf. Though small,
the group is one of the most effective groups ministering to refugees in Greece;
the Antouans’ sometimes laugh when the larger agencies to which it refers
refugees suggest they return to Bridges for help.
“When we send our people to other agencies to find help, they come back to us
with a piece of paper and laughter as they show it to us, saying, ‘They told me
that if I want to get help I have to call Ilias, and they wrote his name and
phone here,’” Antouan said.
Most of the refugees are passing through Greece enroute to other
destinations, so their priorities are food and shelter, as well as attaining
legal status that will smooth their paths elsewhere. Bridges helps them with
these needs, especially temporary housing, as it addresses their deepest
spiritual needs. Refugees regularly put their trust in Jesus.
“During
June we had the joy to lead many Syrians to Jesus and baptize four of them,”
Antouan said. “Out of those, three are already in other European countries
building their new life.”
At times the directors feel it is impossible to fully grasp the hardship the
refugees face. Antouan said she and her husband asked the fourth person
baptized, formerly Muslim, if he would share his faith with his wife, who is
still in Syria. He replied, “If I do that by phone, there are two possibilities:
My wife and children will be either kidnapped or murdered.”
The new Christian has asked for prayer to get his wife and children out of
Syria and bring them to Greece.
Hundreds of refugees are coming to the Greek islands every day. The ministry
receives calls daily from people from Syria and elsewhere – Egypt, Turkey and
Jordan, among others – looking for assistance in a country reeling from economic
crisis that, even in the best of times, is ill-equipped to receive them.
Shelters, medical services and jobs are in short supply.
Smugglers are getting rich from Syrians' despair, Antouan said. In spite of
their hardship and vulnerability, those who arrive seek to give as much as they
receive, she said.
“We have a 5-year-old boy who is here with his mother; the parents are
divorced,” she said. “He lost his voice when their house was bombed before they
left Syria. He is under psychological tests. The mother has legalized herself in
Greece and is helping us with groceries and clothing distribution, organizing
our storage, and doing home visits, as she is still unemployed.”
Whenever the ministry can afford it, it supports the mother financially, as
she works with all her heart alongside the ministry team, she said.
Last month, at least 25 refugees benefitting from Bridges left for other
European countries, but the number attending the ministry's worship meetings
remains constant with the continual stream of newcomers. The directors strive to
remain in contact with those who leave, and they have considered starting
Bridges branches in the European countries in which the refugees are settling.
Those departing regularly ask the Antouans’ when are they coming to countries
such as Belgium, Germany or Sweden.
“We are blessed to hear their voices before they go, saying, 'You must help
us to start the same there!’” Antouan said. “We are blessed to see how Jesus
changes hearts and rebuilds broken lives so that then they become servants of
others.”
To help support ministry to Syrian refugees in Greece, you may contribute
online at http://www.christianaid.org/Gifts/Basket.aspx,
or call 434-977-5650. If you prefer to mail your gift, please mail to Christian
Aid Mission, P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906, USA.
Photo caption: Syrian refugees can still be seen living on the streets of
Athens. (Photo: Christian Aid Mission). 2) Christian Aid Mission logo.
Note: Christian Aid Mission is an evangelical missionary organization
based in Charlottesville, Virginia, that assists indigenous missionary
ministries overseas through prayer, advocacy and financial support. Since 1953,
Christian Aid Mission has identified, evaluated and assisted more than 1,500
ministries in more than 130 countries that are reaching the unreached for Christ
in areas of the world where there is no witness for Christ, where Christians
suffer from poverty or persecution, or where foreign missionaries are not
allowed. Today, we assist more than 500 ministries overseas with tens of
thousands of indigenous or native missionaries in the field. These ministries
are currently working among more than 1,000 people groups in 100+ countries
around the world. For more information, please visit www.christianaid.org.
** You may republish this story with attribution to the ASSIST News Service
(www.assistnews.net)
Edited by News Room on 07/30/2015 at 12:12pm
|