Dear friends,
Earlier this year, we were able to attend the Refugee Highway Partnership conference, a yearly event for workers around Europe serving refugees. The conference was in Athens (and online) this year and Henk was part of an effort to specifically invite and include leaders from the Middle East and Central Asia working in or near Europe, many of whom are/were refugees themselves. For many this was the first conference they were ever invited to.
During the conference we had an opportunity to lead a workshop about working with refugee teenagers - a topic not often addressed. One of the things we highlighted was the challenge of growing up cross-culturally. Teenagers’ identity is actively shaped as they pick up elements of the different cultures they spend time in, while at the same time they never fully fit into any of these cultures. Anyone who has grown up cross-culturally can likely identify with this feeling of growing up “in between worlds”.
One of the stories that illustrates this, and is also very relevant considering the events in Afghanistan the past year, is the story of Zack.
Zack grew up in a remote village in Afghanistan
in a deep valley surrounded by mountains. He went to the local school, but skipped as often as he could to avoid the teachers’ cruel punishment of the smallest mistakes. Instead, he would spend his days roaming the mountains, tending the family’s flocks, or playing rock fights with the neighborhood kids.
War was a constant reality in Zack’s growing up years, as his village lay on the front line between Taliban and government Afghan/American forces. He witnessed firsthand the deadly effects of bombings on his village. Around the age of 10, Zack was forcibly recruited for a Taliban camp, subjected to psychological torture and brainwashing, and trained in raiding tactics. One day, he made friends with an American soldier who gifted him some binoculars. Zack later helped the American soldiers find a local stash of weapons. This act caused him to fall out of favor with the local warlord, scrutiny fell upon his family, and he and his brother Matt were forced to flee. They left the country along with their grandma, and through a long, life-threatening journey with many detours, they arrived in Greece.
Even in this supposedly ‘safe’ country, they have been beaten by the police and suffered unjust imprisonment - further enhancing their distrust of authorities. Here they were also eventually abandoned by their grandma who left for Germany, leaving the boys to fend for themselves in the Athens “urban jungle”, but with the pressure to provide for their family back home. Unfortunately, in a search for a job, they got absorbed into a bad crowd and became involved in some illegal activities.
Around this time we met Zack and Matt, and Henk developed a special friendship with Zack. Despite spells of time where Zack disappears off the radar, this friendship has continued.
Over the years, we’ve seen both the effects of deep trauma and hopelessness in Zack’s life, but also the way God is calling him through his love for stories about Jesus. One evening while Zack was once again sharing crazy stories about his life in Afghanistan, we asked him, if he could do anything, what he would like to do in the future. His answer:
“If I could do anything, I’d have my own sheep, but I wouldn’t know where to take them [to graze in the Greek countryside]”
I can’t imagine the vast chasm between the different worlds where Zack has grown up. How is he supposed to reconcile these conflicting experiences and messages that speak into his life, and find his identity in this confusing world?
Many might see Zack as a rebellious teenager and even a danger to society. Through getting to know him, we have realized how his choices have been dictated by conflict, broken systems, unhealthy community and lack of opportunity.
Not until we spent time with him and listened, did we find the kindhearted boy hiding behind the tough mask. When he visited our home, he took off his shoes and asked to go to the bathroom to wash his smelly feet. We realized - this is a real kid with a real family. Somewhere, he has a mom who taught him these manners!
We have been challenged recently by Jesus’ simple command to love our enemies. Zack’s story brings this close to home. What does it mean to love our enemy? Who is our enemy in this story? Zack himself, in a way, represents the Taliban, and the effects of his brainwashing are still evident. But he was first of all a victim of sin (through unjust systems and oppression), before being forced to become a perpetrator. And in the quiet moments, he longs for the simple shepherd life he never truly had, a world which is gone forever.
It can be hard to see how his story could be redeemed. We are overwhelmed once again by the hold that trauma, darkness and sin can have on people’s lives. But we also believe in the power of Jesus to bring hope, transformation and new life.
Zack is currently working off the books in an orange orchard in southwestern Greece, and we meet up every few months when he comes back to Athens. Matt is working a similar type job in another area of Greece.
Continue to pray with us for transformation in zack’s life.
Zack is mentioned previously in his brother Matt’s story.
Prayer and support for Ukraine
Many of you may be wondering if we in Greece have been receiving Ukrainian refugees.
While we have not seen a large flood of refugees as in neighboring countries, the affects of the war are already showing up in small ways. Ukrainian families are arriving in our Athens community networks and have started attending our church, Ukrainian friends have lost loved ones, and the Athens Freedom Network is on higher alert for human trafficking.
As we remain alert to what the situation will mean for us in Greece, our One Collective coworkers in Ukraine and neighboring countries have been in the center of the crisis response.
Click here to donate to One Collective’s Ukraine Relief fund.
Click here to learn about the Ukraine Collective, reaching out to internally displaced people in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.
While researching for our presentation, we were inspired by this classic book on TCK’s. Henk also gained a lot of new insights into his own story of growing up between worlds.