l,king turnsplaying with aboll, graduate student Jeremy Glover entertains Fatima, an Iranian refugee, June 7, 2005. Glover and his campaign group focused on helping the refugees in Athens, Greece. ·Courlesy of Jeremy Glover Seniors Rachel Zetterburg and L,uren White, freshman Leigh Hutchinson and sophomore Abby Howard, from the New Zealand South campaign, mimic a road sign in June 2005 at Land 'sEnd. The group spent six weeks letterboxing in Dunedin and Inverc argill. .Courtesyof Leigh Hulchinson Athens, Greece, campaign assists refugees, families I magine leaving home and moving 2,500 miles from family and culture. Imagine living in Greece, a foreigner, seIl– ing sunglasses on the street to pay for living expenses. Imagine graduating from a Bible school as a Christian three years later and wanting to go home and share the good news. Now, imagine knowing it could never happen. This was the story of Simon and Nadesh, a couple from Cameroon, Greece. who moved to Athens to go to school to be missionaries and ended up tcaching 14 H arding campaigners a lesson in faith. G raduate student Jeremy Glover led Hardi ng's first summer campaign to Athens, Greece, May 19-June 19, where he and fellow students spent four weeks of their summer serving refugees and encouraging the church. Many of the campaigners had visited Greece before and some had even attended Harding's campus in Porto Rafti, but this trip was created fo r a different purpose. "When H arding students go to the Harding campus [in Porto Rafti], their primary focus is school and travel," graduate student Amanda Lemmons said. "We wamed to go back and work with the refugees a nd hel p the churches." The campaigners spent most of the trip working with people they met through the Athens International Bible Institute, located at d1e church, and Helping Hands, a non– denominational ministry located in the United States that provided food and recreation to refugees in Athens. When the group was not serving and talking to the 500 people, who visited Helping H ands daily, or spend– ing (ime with Simon and N adesh, they stayed busy in other ways. Some campaigners spent time in the Plaka, a market place in Athens, pass ing out botrles of wate r to men working. Sophomore Eric Aherin said this was his most memo– rable experience from the tri p. "The first day we went, we were only able to give away maybe four botdes of water," Aherin said. "By the time we left, we were handing our [more than] 80 bottles of water, and they all knew who we were." The female campaigners spent time with wo men from the chu rch. While they we re there, Nadesh found our she was pregnant and the campaigners threw her a baby shower. The group also visited Isaac, a local man who gradu– ated from the Institute while the campaign was there. He was sick and unable to leave his home so the group cleaned his apartment and sat with him. Senior Kristi Compton said she really enjoyed the time they got to spend with the locals. "Most of the people we we re with weren't G reek, but we got the chance to go visit a G reek youth group," Compton said. "Everyone is Greek Orthodox there; so it's really odd to find C hristians in the G reek culture," The youth group took the campaigners to the beach and they all visited with one another and sang together. "'It was so am azing in the shorr time we were there that we were able to get so close to people and really fo rm good relationships," Aherin said. "When we left, it was like leaving a f.1mily behind." -Maranda Abercrombie summer campaigns '~ .
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