Welcome to Europe

Welcome to Europe

You’re giving refugees a loving welcome on the Greek island of Lesbos

‘Welcome to Europe.’ Those are the words daubed on the roadside leading to the burnt-out remains of Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Just beside them are three more words: ‘human rights graveyard’.

You might have heard of the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Built for around 3,000 people, in January and February of 2020 there were more than 20,000 people living there. The conditions were unimaginable. Hundreds of people sharing one shower, one toilet. And then in September 2020, fires broke out inside the camp, and it was all but burned to the ground. A new camp named Mavrovouni has been set up to rehome some of the thousands of refugees now living in and around Lesbos in makeshift shelters. People feared that the conditions would be even worse than Moria.

Welcome to Europe sign on roadside near Moria camp.
Over 70 nationalities are represented at Mavrovouni refugee camp.

Mavrovouni camp (meaning black mountain) is intended to be a temporary solution while a more organised reception centre is built on Lesbos. But for the thousand or so occupants living there, the situation feels far from temporary. The majority of the refugees on Lesbos are from Afghanistan, now caught in an awful limbo between the terror of their previous lives and the present uncertainty. There are also people from around 70 other nations, including D R Congo, Iraq and Syria. Their journeys to Europe and the situations that drove them here will have been unimaginable. Thankfully, now they’ve arrived, they’ve got BMS World Mission supporters walking beside them, through the work of BMS’ new partner, All4Aid.

Mavrovouni facts

Meaning: black mountain

Population: around 1,800 inhabitants (at time of writing)

Demographic: over 70 nationalities represented, with a majority being Afghan refugees

Danielle Aguilar is a BMS-supported worker on the ground in Lesbos. With the team there, she’s helped establish a safe place for women and children to come to disconnect from the Mavrovouni camp. “Lockdowns to protect people from Covid-19 trapped inhabitants inside a very traumatic environment,” says Danielle. The centre is a place where people can rest, shower safely and wash their clothes, knowing their children are being looked after. As well as the washing facilities, BMS supporters are helping to finance a ‘Living Timber’ project, where people can enjoy the use of a woodworking workshop and build essential items such as shoe racks to help keep their spaces and shelters clean.

An image of a BMS-supported worker named Danielle Aguilar.
Thank you for standing with Danielle Aguilar and her team.

Aside from enabling people to stay healthy and feel restored, Danielle sees part of what she does as really loving people well, and sharing the love of Jesus through her actions and friendships. A common misconception that Danielle comes across is the assumption that the people at the camp would all have come from impoverished backgrounds before circumstances forced them to leave home. While that is the case for many, she’s also had doctors, lawyers, architects and engineers pass through the centre doors. The hospitality and generosity of the centre users also surprises people. “A lot of times, we’re the ones who are most blessed by these interactions,” says Danielle, describing the spontaneous gifts or food that people bring with them to show their gratefulness for the centre’s workers.

Hygiene products at the All4Aid centre on Lesbos.
Danielle Aguilar gives a centre tour
All4Aid centre

Before the fire, the community centre was a mere 200 metres from the main gate of Moria camp. People could come and go, and stay all day. A big desire for the team was to move back within walking distance, and in March of 2021, All4Aid were able to move into facilities within a 15-20 minute walk from the new camp along a main road. Being so close by meant coming into contact with people Danielle knows she would normally never meet. “Most of the people we work with here come from some of the most unreached places in the world,” she explains. It’s one of her favourite things about her job: having the chance to share God’s love with people on the move.

Sometimes, it’s helping in the smallest of ways that can have the biggest impact. Danielle tells the story of sitting across from Massara*, a Syrian mother who was in tears after travelling alone to the centre. Having someone there to hold her hand as she wept was just as important as being able to shower in a safe space and bathe her two-year-old and six-month-old children. But despite the encouragements that come with each person helped, the team feel the weight of the huge needs that remain. Danielle explains that the full impact of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan hasn’t hit the camps yet. “Sometimes the needs are very, very overwhelming,” she adds, “and we need to just continually surrender that to the Lord.”

A typical shelter at Moria refugee camp.
A typical shelter at Moria refugee camp.
The centre provides a safe space to wash and rest.
The centre provides a safe space to wash and rest.

Thank you for standing with Danielle and her team as they support people on the move in Lesbos. You’re giving refugees a warm, kind and loving welcome – to Europe, to God’s love for them – whatever other kind of reception they might have had at the camp or on their journey. Danielle knows her work wouldn’t be possible without you. “I just think it’s really beautiful the way God weaves us all together,” she adds. “All4Aid is the one there on the ground, but that wouldn’t be possible without BMS, and the people who support BMS. And that goes beyond finances. Having a team of people behind you praying for you, even if you’ve never met them in person, is just really encouraging. And we’re really grateful.”

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*Name changed.

Words by Hannah Watson
Editor of Engage, the BMS World Mission magazine
This article first appeared in Issue 53 of Engage (2022)

Think deeper: why we handed over our magazine to Europe

Think deeper:

Why we handed over our magazine to Europe

The World Church is not just situated in Africa and Asia. We have much to learn from Europe. And there’s an easy way to start.

It’s 2019. We’re handing over control to Europe

It’s becoming almost fashionable to talk about listening to the World Church these days. And that’s a good thing. It’s not virtue-signalling or PC gone mad, it’s just wisdom and humility. The World Church is growing and we in the UK are experiencing contraction and a loss of privilege. We’d be arrogant or delusional to think we had nothing to learn from Christians in the Majority World. And we’d be spiritually and intellectually poorer if, in this connected age, we didn’t make use of emerging opportunities to hear voices we are not used to hearing. Voices from beyond the heartlands of our established western theology like Britain, Germany and the USA. That’s why BMS World Mission is committed to helping our UK family hear from Christians in places that don’t usually influence us. The God-given blessing that is the World Church.

So, we’re all agreed that we need to listen to the World Church, right?

But, are we limited in our thinking? There’s a danger in our automatic imagining about who (and where) the World Church is. Too often, we limit it to warm climates, different races or minority communities of evangelicals. In short: Africa, Asia and Latin America. BMS is committed to learning from the Church in these places as we do mission alongside their churches, and to bringing what we learn back to the UK. The countries and cultures we generally think of as the Majority World can teach us fresh practice and challenging, new theology, it is true. But, so can Europe.

An illustration of the EU flag, with people hanging off the stars, with the Mission Catalyst logo in the corner.
Find out the connection between Brexit, Second Corinthians and Baptists by subscribing to Mission Catalyst today.

And often we forget that fact – and in doing so we forget our brothers and sisters across the channel and the continent. We need to build an awareness of a Europe beyond our reflexive imagining.

BMS has long worked in Europe – in places where the physical need is greatest and the Church is most marginalised. And we also believe that we can learn much from our sisters and brothers there.

Mission Catalyst: The contributors
  • Rev Dr Mike Pears

    (The Netherlands)

  • Walter Klimt

    (Austria)

  • Andrea Klimt

    (Germany)

  • David Bunce

    (Austria)

  • Ksenija Magda

    (Croatia)

  • Jan Martijn Abrahamse

    (The Netherlands)

  • David McMillan

    (The Netherlands)

  • Denys Kondyuk

    (Ukraine)

  • Henrikas Zukauskas

    (Lithuania)

Guest-edited in the other Europe

That’s why we’ve dedicated an issue of our immensely popular magazine, Mission Catalyst, to hearing voices from Europe. We are very proud to announce that it will be guest-edited by Mike Pears, the Centre Director of the International Baptist Theological Study Centre (IBTSC), based in Amsterdam. IBTSC’s roots are in Prague and they serve Christians from all over the world, with a large number coming from the Europe most of us never hear from.

Croatia. Ukraine. Lithuania. If you’ve not recently read much Christian thought from these countries, subscribe to Mission Catalyst today to be sure to get our Europe-focused issue next month.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Church in parts of the World that often get overlooked, where the most marginalised and least evangelised people are in need of Christian witness, this issue is for you. And if you’re excited to make 2019 the year you deepen your engagement with the World Church, so are we! We’ve all got some distance to travel, but God is good. And even a small starting point can lead to a great journey.

Why not start today?

This is your chance to challenge yourself with the difficult topics facing Christians today. Subscribe to Mission Catalyst today to hear from the greatest Christian minds of the modern day, three times a year, completely free!

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The cover of Mission Catalyst issue 3, 2019, an illustration of a sleeping English bulldog next to a gramophone.
Subscribe to Mission Catalyst now to get your copy!

Words by Jonathan Langley, Editor of Mission Catalyst magazine.

Pray for Europe: the oppressed, poor and politicians need help

Pray for Europe:

the oppressed, poor and politicians need help

I'm praying for this

Atheists, people living as slaves and the future of the UK can all be helped by you today. Please read on as we focus our prayers on Europe and its people.

Let’s start with that thing you are probably fed up with: Brexit

Whatever your position on Brexit, it’s clear that prayer is needed. So, let’s leave our personal views to one side, the barbs we’ve heard and possibly spoken, and pray for healing and a way through all the confusion.

• Pray for families and friendship groups with positions that clash. Pray that Brexit would not divide them, and that opinions would be listened to.

• Pray for an end to bitterness, personal attacks and recrimination. Pray that the starting point for discussion is respect.

• Pray for God’s will to be done. Pray that he would guide political leaders into creating a better, fairer, more peaceful Europe. One that he wants for all his children.

• Pray for God’s continuing provision and opportunities for BMS World Mission’s work in Europe, and a political landscape going forward that is conducive to building his kingdom.

Pray for those trapped in modern slavery in the UK

You might have unknowingly passed a slave today. There are thousands of people being exploited in the UK as you read this –perhaps washing a car, tarmacking a drive, or painting a shopper’s nails in a salon. They’re working exceptionally hard for long hours, being paid a pittance and their health and safety are often disregarded. But you, your friends and your church can show them that they’re not ignored. You can show them that they are loved, and they’re loved by the one who loves you.

• Pray for freedom for the captives and that God would use his Church to break the chains of oppression.

• Pray that those who are trapped in modern slavery would sense Jesus’ presence in their lives; that they would draw strength from him, and know that he is with them.

• Pray for those who are exploiting people. Pray they too would have an encounter with Jesus, one that transforms them into people who stand up for the oppressed instead of imprisoning them.

• Give thanks for Dan Pratt who BMS is helping to raise awareness of modern slavery and to help churches across the UK to fight it. Pray too for energy and wisdom for Dan and his team as they confront the darkness of slavery with the light of Christ.

Know the signs of modern slavery? Hear from Dan Pratt on what you should look out for

Pray for secularist France

You no doubt know that France is a hyper-secular nation, and that our Christian brothers and sisters face personal and official hostility in openly showing their faith. And yet, people are coming to faith in France. It’s happening because Jesus wants to reach everyone. And it’s happening because of the support you’re giving to BMS church planters. Let’s give them some extra help today.

• Pray for our BMS colleagues in France. Pray for a powerful sense of conviction in their work, and for Holy Spirit-touched conversations, with believers and non-believers.

• Pray for those who turn to the occult for answers to medical and spiritual suffering. Pray they would know the healing power that only Jesus can give. Pray for those who have turned their back on God and do not believe in the truth of his love for them. Pray that they would have an encounter with him so powerful they would want to share their experience with others.

Two men and a woman stand on a stage with microphones and instruments
Young people are finding faith in France. Together, we can help more people come to know Jesus.

Pray also for the Netherlands, Albania, and Kosovo

• Pray for BMS workers David and Dorothy McMillan in Amsterdam. Pray that they would continue to build strong relationships with their non-Christian neighbours, and that people would come to know Christ through them.

• Pray for children from Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania who face poverty and hardship. Pray they would be nourished with food and learning, and that they have hope of a better future.

• BMS is supporting mission in Albania by teaching the children of mission workers at GDQ International Christian School. Pray that the teachers would continue to be faithful in prayer and in seeking God’s direction. Pray, too, for the finances for building work and for a sense of unity during this exciting time for the school.

Two girls sit at a table, drawing pictures on pieces of paper
You can help children in Albania know what it feels like to have a happy, fulfilling education.

• Give thanks for BMS work in Albania. The BMS-supported team of five Albanian workers and three British workers at Tek Ura (a BMS-founded NGO) has set up a community centre in one of the poorest and most marginalised communities in Europe. Through their flourishing health, social inclusion and education ministries, God has provided thousands of opportunities to be a blessing – and even a baptism to celebrate!

• Pray for reconciliation for communities in Kosovo that remain divided by past conflict. Pray too for BMS workers Robert* and Rose* as they build relationships in the country through teaching children. Pray for more children to attend their classes and that Robert and Rose would shine the light and love of God into the children’s lives.

Just before you leave, we have one more important request. To get more people praying, please share this article with your friends. It really does make a difference, so thank you. For daily prayer updates, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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* Names changed to protect identities