Volunteer trip to aid Refugees
My name is Deborah Coble Wise. I am a United Methodist pastor living and serving Trinity United Methodist Church in Waverly, Iowa. From my earliest memories my parents instilled in me a desire and a passion to reach out and serve others through hands on mission and service. This is why I am responding to the call to travel to Greece to provide hands on support to the refugees who are fleeing to Europe.
The situation: the island of Lesvos is currently the primary landing spot for the majority of refugees fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq from Turkey. There is an ongoing need for volunteers to help with all sorts of practical hands-on responsibilities on the island, including: helping people get out of the boats, distribute aid, clothes and food, unpack boxes of donations and sort goods, drive donated goods to other places on the island, clean up beaches and roads, clean up around the camp and bus areas, pick up refugees who arrive on remote beaches, prepare food for refugees, prepare food for other volunteers, take care of children. There is also a great need for basic pastoral care: listening, comforting, and sitting with distraught people.
The plan: I'm will travel with a team of other United Methodists from North Texas to volunteer on Lesvos for ten days in late January.
The need: in addition to funds to travel from Waverly, Iowa to Greece - and to pay for accomodations and board for the week - our entire team will need to be bathed in prayer for our time of travel, for the work that we will be called to do, for the people we will be in contact with, and for the physical, emotional and spiritual demands that will be placed on us.
Thank you in advance for your prayers and for your generous contribution! I am humbled to be given the opportunity to make this trip and I plan to bring back with me stories of hope and God's light in the midst of a most difficult chapter in our world's history.
Whether donated through this GoFundMe campaign or via mail, funds need to be recieved by January 16, 2016. If you would like to receive 'credit' for the donation please send a check to:
Trinity United Methodist Church
c/o Pastor Deborah - refugees
1400 W Bremer Avenue,
Waverly, Iowa, 50677
May God bless us all as we respond to the needs of the least and the lost in our world.
Any donations received in excess of my personal expenses will be donated via Trinity United Methodist Church to the UMCOR refugee efforts. Thank you so very much for your generous support!
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’ (Matthew 25:37b-40)