In 2015, over one million refugees arrived to Greece, a country roughly the size of Alabama. Just 16,000 kilometers from Turkey, Greece is a gateway for refugees escaping oppressive governments, life-threatening crises, and violent conflicts in their home countries. Upon arrival, however, they are confronted by the reality of a crippled economy and a limited infrastructure that cannot meet basic needs like food, housing, and medical attention. And things only became more strained as the refugee crisis reached new heights. According to recent UN estimates, there are 22.5 million refugees globally. In a country like Greece, the solutions had to come from somewhere beyond government aid programs.
In light of these realities, the evangelical community responded with remarkable speed. On today’s episode of The Feature we have a conversation with Matt Gulley, the director of Mercy Ministries, and discuss how his team responded by establishing hospitality centers, in some cases even having refugees in their homes. In 2018 alone, Mercy Ministries served more than 40,000 meals and provided medical services to 2,500 people.
One Mercy Ministries staffer wrote, “The trauma of escaping from war and conflict-torn countries brings people to Greece with a great desire for a new way of life.” In this episode, you’ll also here from Masoud Gormani. Masoud is from Afghanistan and his story is an inspiration. You’ll only hear parts of it referenced in our conversation since this was recorded during the Anastasi conference. Masoud escaped Afghanistan after seeing the threat radical groups presented to his family; he fled to Turkey. Not long after, he realized his family was still not safe, so they got on a boat for Greece. During the voyage, his son nearly drowned, so when he arrived in Greece, he was desperate. Christians attached to Mercy Ministries took him and his family in. When he realized they were believers, Masoud said he was alarmed. Being a Muslim, he’d heard stories of how Christians demanded conversion in exchange for their aid, but these believers demanded nothing. They cared for his family. Offered meals; taught him Greek. After months, he knew they had Bible studies and prayed before meals, but they never required this of him. Eventually, his curiosity about this led him to ask why nothing was demanded in exchange for their help. They shared the story of Jesus and now Masoud is a believer and pastor of a refugee church showing the same hospitality that was once shown to him.
Crises like these force the Christian community to wrestle with the connection between the gospel and human needs. One Greek pastor, writing about the movements in Athens, saw two types of responses from the church. He wrote, “At one end of the spectrum is the fundamentalist trend, which views the refugees chiefly as objects of evangelism, only to be clothed or fed if it leads to an opportunity to share the gospel. At the other end is the social gospel trend, which views sharing bread already as sharing Christ and considers verbal gospel proclamation unnecessary and even undesirable.”
What you are about to hear is a conversation with Masoud and Matt on this question. This was recorded during our time in Greece at the Anastasi conference, so you’ll hear some ambient sounds and some fluctuations in our voices. We apologize about that in advance, and we’re confident the conversation will still be enriching. In a world needing a story that makes the city whole, Matt and Masoud share compelling testimonies of integration, hospitality, and grace.
If you would like to financially partner with Mercy Ministries, please follow this link:
https://hellenicministries.org/give
For more information or ways to get involved please send us an email at info@hellenicministries.org.