Danger...

I love danger. Safe danger, that is. The kind that can be escaped by simply closing the book or clicking off the television.

But on a mission trip last month, I met countless people who’d experienced true danger. 

One woman shared her story with me. "Do as we say," the village men told her, "or you will die." They punctuated the threat with a beating. 

She and her husband escaped. They spent days in the bush with no food or water. Eventually, they got out of their country and, after a few stops, illegally entered Turkey, where they were discovered, arrested, and thrown in jail for three months.

They were released and finally made it to the west coast, where they, along with thirty or more other refugees, boarded a life raft built for ten. 

Many of the refugees don't know how to swim. 

"...nobody puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land."

My friend, her husband, and all the others on their raft, made the harrowing journey at night, across four miles of sea to Greece, and finally to the refugee camp on the island of Lesvos. 

I wish I could report that the camp is a safe place. It's certainly safer than the village she escaped, but the people in the camps come from different backgrounds, nations, and religions, some with long rivalries. Add to that the fact that they can't work, have little money and nowhere to go, and tensions run high. 

Danger.

The world is fraught with it. We can forget, can't we? Relaxing in our safe homes with running water and refrigerators full of food, settled in peaceful neighborhoods filled with the sounds of sprinkler systems and children's laughter. We can forget what a dangerous world we live in.

But God never forgets. 

She escaped her village and desperately seeks a new home.

I'm home, in my safe little Texas community, but I hope I always remember how blessed I am and how much the world needs what I have. Not money--though many need that too. But the love and hope and peace that can only be found in God. It sounds so trite to say, but Jesus really is the answer. 

The stories I heard in Greece will stay with me. Maybe they'll make it into my books someday. Right now, I'm still processing, trying to figure out what to do with what I've learned. 

Have you ever been on a mission trip? If so, what did you learn? If not, do you want to try it? Comment below. I'm giving away an ebook copy of my latest book, Courage in the Shadows, to one lucky winner.