The puttering sound of a small engine was carried over the calm sea to a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. Soon an inflatable boat carrying some 20 people came into view. Within an hour, two more vessels had landed on the beach. Most of those on board were from Syria, Afghanistan and various African nations – just a few of the hundreds of thousands of people who have made the short crossing from the Turkish coast in search of safety and prosperity in western Europe this year.

About 25km away in the village of Kerami Kallonis, a 57-year-old Greek Orthodox priest named Stratis Dimou, a tall man with sparkling blue eyes, received a phone call telling him about the new arrivals.

Guardian and Observer refugee charity appeal passes £1m mark

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Dimou immediately left his home for the small building that houses "Agkalia" ("Hug" in Greek), the charity he founded in 2009 to help refugees and migrants. He prepared sandwiches and set out bottles of water for the latest arrivals, who would reach the village by noon on foot. As they entered the country illegally, Greek law forbids people from transporting them.

Dimou, wearing an oxygen mask to counter breathing difficulties, said the charity had given away more than 60 tonnes of food donated by local people and helped more than 10,000 migrants and refugees. "Just recently three women arrived at the village – two of them were pregnant. All three had lost contact with their husbands and their children. We took action and reunited the families," he said.

"It was then that one of the husbands stood in front of me and kissed me. Love has no religion. Saint Paul writes in the Epistle to the Corinthians: 'If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal'."