[Field Story] “The majority of Syrian Christians leave their hometown…
With the majority of Christian families in Syria leaving their hometowns, voices have emerged that the future of Christianity in the region is at risk.
According to the British Christian Today (CT), Archbishop of Homs, Jacques Mourad, said in an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), “The ‘repressive sanctions’ against Syria are causing social problems such as extreme poverty and corruption.“
He said, “The free-fall education system in which teachers receive 15 to 17 pounds (about 25,000 to 28,000 won) per month is also a problem,” and “This is below the level of human dignity.”
ACN estimates that up to 500,000 people have fled Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011. Many of those who left are young people.
“Under Syrian law, young Christian women are forced to marry Muslims and convert due to a lack of men,” the archbishop said. “We are seeing families leaving Syria to ensure a better life for their children.”
“They have lost hope and confidence in this country, and they do not want their children to live in a country that is unsafe,” he said.
He also added, “There are many young people who are chosing to emigrate, which also is a significant problem.”
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Source: Christian Today
3. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:3-4)
Lord, as the civil war in Syria continues for 12 years, we hear that young people are being forced to leave their homes and churches, and young Christian women are being forced to marry Muslim brothers and convert.
We see how long war and Islam have blinded the eyes of the Syrian people, preventing them from seeing the living God. Although they believe they lost their country due to a disaster, we believe that they were dispersed as refugees in accordance to God's great will.
Our God who loves the Syrian people, may you pour out your authority that the nation of Syria may become children of Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit be with them. In this way, we desire for them to overcome the pain and sorrow of war, discern the times even in the midst of hardships and difficulties, and praise Jesus Christ, who has already won victory.
In all the places they are scattered in, may they experience God's guidance and the power of the cross through the churches and Christians, and let them be established as a diaspora church that expands God's kingdom in that land.
Therefore, may young people with God's vision be sent back to Syria, where the world thinks there is no hope, and may revival like the early church be granted upon the church of Syria!
In the midst of difficult times, may the current Syrian church play the role as the light and salt in the land and may Syria be a nation that is ruled by Jesus.
May Syria become a nation that will fulfill God’s mission and be victorious until the day all nations return to the Lord!
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