Missionaries find meaning in work

Donna and Tim Sirinides were in Fort Scott recently to raise funds for their mission in Greece. They are friends of former First Presbyterian Church minister Mansour Khajehpour who brought them here for Fort Scott 2012 Greek Mission Fest.(Ruth Campbell/Tribune)

Helping people put their lives back together after they abandon their homelands and strike out bravely to uncertain new existences has given new lives to a couple who formerly ran a pizza restaurant in New Jersey.

For the past 16 years, Tim and Donna Sirinides have been serving the Lord in Greece, devoting their lives to helping refugees from around the world.

"They've had a beautiful life that has been lost," said Tim, who is of Greek heritage, referring to the refugees.

Local businessman Jerry Witt shakes hands with Tim Sirinides at the Liberty Theatre. Sirinides and his wife, Donna, are missionaries in Athens, Greece. The couple visited Fort Scott recently to raise funds to help refugees and others they serve.(Ruth Campbell/Tribune)

Greece is a crossroads for refugees from Africa, Pakistan, the Middle East, Iran and Bangladesh, to name a few. Some are women who have been trafficked for illicit purposes. Their destinations tend to be Norway, Finland and Germany.

With the economic crisis of recent years, the Sirinedes's work has taken on added importance.

The couple shared their aspirations and asked for support from local residents at the Fort Scott 2012 Greek Mission Fest on April 24 at the Liberty Theatre. Former First Presbyterian Church minister Mansour Khajehpour, who met them when he himself was a refugee from Iran, brought them to town.

After about 110 people attended the recent event, Khajehpour said he and the Sirinideses plan to return to Fort Scott for another Greek mission in 2014. The couple will be in the states through the early part of the summer.

"We started with what we call Helping Hands, a Greek NGO (non-government organization). When we first got there, there wasn't much help for refugees, so we started just by feeding them," Tim said.

"Then we rented a small building and served tea," which Tim noted is a large part of the cultures their ministry serves. Slowly their outreach grew to include showers, facilities for washing clothes and teaching languages. As more families started to arrive, they began to minister to women and children.

At first, the Sirinideses were serving sandwiches to 1,000 people a day. Since then, they have converted to giving tickets to their meals and offering hot repasts to 150 people per meal three times a week.

Under European Union law, the country a refugee stops in is where he or she must be processed. If they go to another country without being processed, in Greece, for example, they will be sent back, Tim said. Due to lack of money and not wanting to encourage refugees to come to Greece, the government does nothing, he said.

Being torn from their home countries leaves refugees stripped of their dignity, some of which the Sirinides try to restore just by being considerate toward the exiles.

With the Sirinides's help, those passing through the country form relationships with people with similar stories. "They love telling their stories. We provide that, too," Donna said. "Both of us have been tremendously blessed to meet and know these people."

Now the ministry is in transition, working with local churches using the Helping Hands model. Over the next five years, the Sirnideses hope to have five churches reaching out to "help the oppressed in their communities whether they're immigrants, refugees or trafficked women," Tim said.

Neither Tim nor Donna had lived outside of northern New Jersey before. The couple met as youngsters at Hawthorne Gospel Church and "stuck it out," Tim said.

The Sirinideses were married in 1980. Tim owned Prospect Pizza in Prospect Park, N.J. Someone who came into the shop challenged him to use his gifts to help people. Tim didn't think he had that much to offer, but he was ready to oblige.

Because of his Greek lineage and working knowledge of the language, Tim chose that country. His wife was less enthusiastic because she didn't know the language and didn't feel like she belonged.

"I actually wasn't as excited about going to Greece, but I would never change it now that we're there," Donna said. "I also just love what we do. I feel if I can make a difference in people's lives, it makes it worthwhile getting up in the morning."

Now they both feel like they've found their niche.

"I love helping people. I like spending my life helping people," Tim said. "There's a lot of need. I love networking. I love getting people to help others."

For more information, visit http://www.skippackchurch.com/missionaries/sirinides-family.