This one is for you, Monsma!

Just a quick update tonight!

The past couple of days have been filled with team meeting and fellowship (ate my first Greek gyro...yum!) and preparation for tomorrow, Kid's Day Camp! I will have plenty of pictures following what will likely be a toasty, but very fun day at the beach. The kids are wild with excitement (we realized that even more tonight at showers...talk about crazy!).

Anyway, there's a joke on the team that yes, we're in Greece and we're really "suffering for Jesus". It sounds like paradise, yes, but that's not really the case. I can only account for Athens, mind you, and from what I hear, the rest of Greece (the islands) are really fantastic, but Athens has issues. Greece has issues.

It's clear to see that the people and the government are living for the now. There's no concept of the future. They don't recycle, they don't care about pollution, the government is completely corrupt, they burn forests to make more room for real estate and the youth is too busy graffitiing the entire city to stand up for something, anything.

It's easier to feel this way when you're working with refugees. The EU has given Greece so many warnings based on human rights issues, but the fines don't have any affect. Norway has even come in and determined that if they find that any refugee with Greek papers is in Norway they will not be sent back to Greece. Things need to change, but there's no one ready to stand up and say it.

With that said...I am excited for tomorrow, even though it is likely that we will have to clean up the dirty diapers, water bottles and cigarette boxes before we let the children on the sand...We'll probably have to clean up some McDonald's too...

I was in a bit of a rush, but yes, that is a McDonald's.. with the Acropolis in the background.