It began with simple acts of hospitality and has since become a life-changing mission.

The arrival of thousands upon thousands of Middle Eastern refugees more than a year ago shocked members of the Greek Evangelical Church (GEC) into action. Already assisting fellow Greeks who were struggling through tough economic times, the GEC members couldn’t ignore the horrific conditions facing the refugees in the makeshift camps around Idomeni.

“They were in the middle of nowhere in an open space. It was a terrible situation,” says Alexandra Nikolara, an elder of the Greek Evangelical Church of Katerini and co-ordinator of their refugee programme.

GEC members from churches in Katerini and Neos Mylotopos, a village with a population far smaller than the number of refugees in the camps, began by providing basic supplies.

This soon expanded to information resources, including internet connections. The network of volunteers grew, as did the support, with the GEC receiving donations from its daughter churches around the world.

During their regular visits, the volunteers realised that the refugees needed more than what could be provided for in the camps, so, with permission from the UNHCR, they invited refugees to their homes for a meal, a bath and a chance to wash their clothes.

“And then we decided not to take them back,” says Nikolara.

“We kept bringing more –this is how it started.”

The programme now run in Katerini is able to “create a safe and peaceful environment for approximately 100 refugees with an objective to give them a professional helping hand” as they work their way through the European Union’s resettlement system, says Nikolara. (WCRC)

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