NESSL Update: A cry for Aleppo
Written by Dr. Mary Mikhael*
The Peace of Christ be with you all.
Thanks be to God who is the Author of peace. To whom we continuously pray for peace in Syria and the M.E. and the entire world. Like Habakkuk we continue to ask, “O Lord, how long shall we cry for help…” Indeed God hears and God will save!
No doubt the whole world knows and watches what is going on in Aleppo. Streets are shelled with heavy rockets hitting civilians homes and places,and the people on the streets. Families are buried, children are smashed, no water to drink, no bread, no medicine, no food, and no place to go.
One person who has all his relatives still in Aleppo said,”Aleppo must pay the price for the decision of the German Parliament who acknowledged the Armenian massacre by Turkey hundred years ago”. He continued to say, see the sections that are heavily hit just the second day after the acknowledgement, all where the Armenian Christians live and have their churches”. He also said, “two thousand turkish soldiers have entered the city and around it,and do not allow the groups to stop shelling….They want to turn the city into rubbles”.
Our pastor in aleppo has written saying, there is not a second without the sound of shelling. And the rumor is that gangs are gathering themselves to enter to the city and practice their crimes among the citizens. This created immense fear of what may happen to the innocents whose wrong is that they stayed in their city. The pastor continued to say, Yet our people continue to come to the Church for worship, all are determined to stay in the cityno matter what… In fact there were in the worship service 160-200 people on Sunday. Our women continue their meetings, and we even started meeting our youth to encourage their faith and strengthen their sense of belonging to the church.
Praise be to God.
Sadly people in aleppo got used to witness death, destruction, and blood on the streets… But yes we ask how long death seem to race with life?
Friends,we appeal for prayers and actions by all who are able to do whatever is possible to save Aleppo and its people. Indeed God is a God of miracles and to Him we pray.
God please have compassion and save Aleppo for the sake of Jesus. Amen.
*Dr. Mikhael is a staffperson for the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, the immediate past president of the Near East School of Theology, and a former member of the Common Global Ministries Board of Directors.
The United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) continue to offer support for the work of many partners in the region to provide humanitarian response to the needs of Syrian refugees. Please consider supporting the work of Global Ministries’ partners’ relief efforts in and around Syria. You can do that through One Great Hour of Sharing (UCC), the Week of Compassion (Disciples), or through Global Ministries directly.