Will you stand with the refugees of Samos?Linda Sourris - 6 Apr 2016
Linda is based in Samos, Greece and has been working with refugees there. Her latest update follows from a blog published earlier this year.
Will you stand in prayer with the locked-up refugees of Samos?
We’ve been gathering together for an hour long, daily prayer vigil outside the refugee camp at 5pm daily (GMT +1). Every evening, this time of prayer is a tangible blessing to the refugees inside. They gather at the fence with clasped hands, gazing at us intently, clearly adding prayers of their own.
It is unspeakably moving every time.
The refugee camp here closed suddenly on 21st March. Everyone involved was shocked and saddened. Charities have since pulled out of the camp; as international NGOs they operate under mandates prohibiting involvement where human rights are being violated.
Tensions inside the camp are strained. The gates have been stormed. As I type, Syrians in the camp are on hunger strike. A group escaped last week, got caught and were jailed.
Having fled brutality and war, suffered on the journey, sometimes unspeakably, they reached the “freedom” that landing in Greece should represent, and were taken straight to a locked facility where no information awaited them.
Unrelenting uncertainty and incarceration is a destructive cocktail - no wonder they feel so wronged. They came all this way, risked so much and have no idea if they will be deported or relocated.
Prayer is the antidote to this darkness. Please pray with us tonight at 5pm.
Help us pray blessing on them; for God's presence to be manifest; for their lives; their protection; their families; their freedom; for a miracle of justice to befall them; for their safe onward journey and the better life they deserve.
Please pray their hearts will remain hopeful; that loving relationships in the camp will remain intact; that the Holy Spirit will come down on the camp in great power as we pray; that He will be so manifest that everyone feeling His presence will want to seek Jesus for themselves.
Join with Linda and the team in Greece by praying each day this week at 5pm (GMT +1).
Linda Sourris’ calling to Mykonos, Greece in 2013 has led to a life-wrecking, life-enhancing involvement in the refugee crisis on Samos. Her previous professional lifetimes as charity founder/director, counsellor and overseas manager have all turned out to be divine preparation for this calling. Linda is Mum to two adult children and a little dog called Hunnybun!