Small thoughts about a big problem

This was going to be a March blog post, then my belated April blog post, and now it is the first day of July.  Essentially, this post has now been in the works - subject to writer's block - since late-March.

Many of you know by now that I spent two weeks in Greece a couple months ago, working with the hordes of refugees and immigrants flooding into Europe through Turkey.  I won't flatter myself by assuming that many of you have been waiting to read a post about my experience, nonetheless, it was always my intention to do so.  I think the problem was, I kept waiting for a grand solution to this immense problem, that exceptionally profound thought to come to me, or at least something deemed worthy of my friends who read my occasional musings.

Since I am still waiting for such profundity to strike me some three months later, I thought I'd just better go ahead and post something anyway.

In late February and early March, I went on a mission trip sponsored by the Mountain Lake Christian and Missionary Alliance church - the church the Niessen family has been attending since the early 80's.  Mom and Dad went there and my brother and I attended until we moved off on our own - so it is what I consider my 'home' church. Our group went out through Greater Europe Missions (GEM) and under the auspices of the Greek Evangelical organization EuroRelief to assist with the ongoing humanitarian work on the Greek island of Lesvos.

For those of you who are interested in a brief update on what led up to the humanitarian crisis, here's a short synopsis.  With the ongoing Syrian civil war enjoined by upwards of a dozen different groups and factions fighting each other, Syrian refugees began to flee war-torn areas and to make their way to Europe.  When Russia joined the effort on behalf of the Syrian government, it only added to the tumult.  The mass migration of refugees snowballed as they were soon joined by Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Africans, a few Asians (and strangely, even some Cubans) etc. - people who for the most part simply seeking a better life for themselves in Europe. Many of these people made their way to Turkey, following the path of least resistance into Europe by a dangerous, but short, crossing of the narrower parts (2 - 4 miles) of the Mytiline straits - that body of water that separates the Turkish mainland from the Greek island - and arrived en masse to the island of Lesvos.

The problem was, that however kind and generous the Greek people were, a relatively small island such as Lesvos, with a population of around 80,000, simply could not keep up with and provide support for the estimated 500,000 refugees and immigrants (2015 estimate) flooding onto their shores annually.  And it wasn't that much easier for mainland Greece as thousands of people poured into the port of Piraeus in Athens via ferries hoping to make their way north through the countryside toward the Albanian, Macedonian, Bulgarian borders.  You must understand that the overwhelming majority of these people did not wish to remain in economically depressed Greece.  Rather,they preferred the job opportunities - and the promise of generous social welfare benefits - offered by the more economically prosperous countries of the E.U. in northern Europe.

To compound the issue, as the flow of mostly Muslim asylum seekers continued to increase, the countries neighboring the Greek mainland understandably began to shut down their shared borders to maintain some semblance of sanity and sovereignty for their own homelands.  This left Greece to absorb the brunt of the economic impact and to sort out the dealing with the hundreds of thousands of potential asylum seekers and economic immigrants.

At this point, I can safely say that I still don't and probably never will have any of the big geo-political answers I assumed I would when I returned home with firsthand knowledge of the situation.  Some suggest the humane thing is to simply open up the borders and let them in without limits.  Then, I believe it was Ben Carson who suggested the answer is maintaining militarily enforced "safe zones" within Syria - but as long as Russia remains an active participant at the behest of the Bashar al-Assad, such a solution involves grave risks of military confrontation between superpowers.  Still others say simply "send them back to Turkey!" - but that solution presupposes unprecedented cooperation between traditional enemies Greece and Turkey  In addition, from a Christian point of view, that keeps the refugees fleeing the Muslim world largely locked up and outside the reach of Christian Evangelism.  And as to those who say the U.S. and our European allies should open up the gates to any and all... well, we see how well the lack of proper immigration enforcement, sane screening processes, and the lack of cultural assimilation processes has done to Belgium, the U.K, and our own southern border.

So having said all that, since the brightest minds in the world have yet to agree on a solution, I probably needn't feel too bad about not having one either.  I have no false illusions now that there are any easy answers.  Ultimately, war has caused human suffering throughout human history and continues to do so in the 21st century.  The Bible informs us that that will continue until Christ's reign.

Did we make a profound impact toward solving the global crisis?  Certainly not.  But we did help a few people who crossed our paths by meeting their immediate physical needs  And each of us in our own way were able to point some toward Christ - and that is no small thing.  Personally, it was a great to be privileged to serve in Christ's name for those two weeks.  Thank you to all of you who supported me through your prayers and financial support.