{"id":2924,"date":"2018-05-23T20:26:29","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T20:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/?p=2924"},"modified":"2018-05-24T19:29:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T19:29:34","slug":"obu-team-travels-to-athens-to-serve-refugees-and-returns-with-opened-eyes-and-burdened-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/obu-team-travels-to-athens-to-serve-refugees-and-returns-with-opened-eyes-and-burdened-hearts\/","title":{"rendered":"OBU Team Travels to Athens to Serve Refugees, and Returns with Opened Eyes and Burdened Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Catherine Finch<\/strong><\/p>\n

While OBU is located in the central Oklahoma community of Shawnee, its impact reaches across the nation and around the world. In fact, a central component of the University\u2019s mission statement is a call to \u201cengage a diverse world.\u201d One of the quintessential ways OBU achieves this aspect of its mission is through Global Outreach Trips or \u201cGO Trips.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/b>In January of this year, a team of 17 students and mentors traveled to Athens, Greece, to serve and share the love of Christ with refugees in the area.<\/p>\n

In an effort to help students think both globally and locally, the Avery T. Willis Center for Global Outreach partners with students, faculty and staff to provide support and opportunities for students to reach out to people in Shawnee, Oklahoma City, the United States and all around the globe. GO Trips provide unique opportunities for participants to learn new perspectives while experiencing the integration of faith and learning.<\/p>\n

While in Athens, the 13 OBU students and four mentors who accompanied them spent most of their time in one of the most densely populated places in Europe, Kypseli. Although identified as a \u201cneighborhood,\u201d the area is a far cry from the American idea of what a \u201cneighborhood\u201d encompasses. Home to 200,000 refugees and immigrants from around the world, Kypseli does not feature the comforts and security one would identify with a neighborhood in America. Rather, it represents a place of uncertainty, where people huddle together to escape the dangers of their homelands while dealing with the pressing issues of poverty and displacement. The OBU team was fully submerged into the world of these refugees and saw a side of Greece many do not expect or want to see.<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n