In 2025, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports there are 42.7 million refugees worldwide – that’s 42.7 million men, women, and children who have been forced to flee their home countries due to war, persecution, or violence. In Greece alone, more than 214,000 refugees have crossed borders in search of safety and stability. But for many, the thing they need most isn’t just physical security – it’s hope. Specifically, the hope of Christ. And that’s exactly what Anne Lucas and her teams bring.
Anne serves as the Director of Short-Term Trips at e3 Partners. Since 2017, she has been leading teams – many of them college students – on short-term mission trips to serve refugees in Greece, typically twice or more a year. During these trips, teams set up medical clinics in partnership with local churches and ministries where they examine and treat patients, pray for them, and share the Gospel with locals.
The refugees who visit these clinics come from all over the world. During their January trip alone, Anne and her team treated patients from 36 different countries.
“It’s hard to safely send teams into some of the places these people are from, but they’ve come to us in Greece” Anne said. “Or rather, God has brought them to us.”
Meeting Physical Needs to Open Spiritual Doors
Many refugees in Greece face near-impossible barriers to healthcare. Even with proper documentation, it can take months to see a doctor.
“If you’ve got bronchitis today, in six months it might be pneumonia – or you might be dead,” Anne said. “Getting people treated is critical, and it opens doors unbelievably to share the Gospel. We want to model the healing, teaching, and preaching ministry of Jesus.”
Jesus met physical needs first. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and ministered to the outcast. That’s the model Anne’s teams follow. But what starts as a simple medical visit often leads to eternal impact.
From Trauma to Transformation
The stories Anne has heard from refugees over the years are heart-wrenching. Women sold into trafficking at age 10. Men who fled terrorist organizations or oppressive regimes. Families torn apart. Children born as refugees, never knowing the feeling of home.
“Some of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve ever heard come from these refugees,” Anne said. “And the stories go on and on and on.”
And yet, in the midst of so much pain, there is beauty. There is transformation. There is the Gospel.
One woman, Liana*, had been resistant to leaving her Muslim background, despite the rest of her family having become followers of Jesus. But in January, Anne witnessed Hashem* (e3’s refugee strategy leader in Greece) and his wife crying tears of joy as they led Liana to Christ over FaceTime. In May, Liana was baptized – alongside a man named Saleem*, a recent believer from Iran.
A few weeks later, Saleem helped baptize another new believer, Isaaq*, who had come to the clinic homeless and broken.
“Less than three weeks a Christian, and Saleem is already out sharing the Gospel and baptizing others,” Anne said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
Hope in the Scattering
Anne continues to see God moving among these refugees. Every week, believers share the Gospel, baptize others, start new churches, and bring hope to the darkest places.
“We may not be able to change the culture they come from,” Anne said. “Only Jesus can do that. But God is bringing them to a place where they can encounter Him.”
And from there, the Gospel spreads again – this time through the refugees themselves.
“When they finally get a phone and connect with their families back home, they’re telling them what’s happening,” Anne said. “The Gospel is getting shared. They’re carrying it wherever they go.”
Scattering for a Purpose
This global scattering of people? It’s no accident.
Acts 17:26-27 says, “From one man he made all the nations … and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.”
Paul preached those words on Mars Hill – in Greece. And God continues to allow people to be scattered for the purpose of drawing people to Himself. He’s bringing them right to us so we can point them to Him, if only we are willing. God scattered them. Now it’s our turn to love them.
How You Can Get Involved
- Pray for refugees and those serving them around the world.
- Give to support e3’s medical mission efforts in Greece and beyond.
- Go on a short-term mission trip and see what God is doing firsthand.
- Welcome the nations that God has brought to your own neighborhood.
* Names and images have been changed for safety and anonymity