Syria Appeal - January 2020 Update
A Renewable Resource
…is a phrase often used to describe energy sources that are replenishable, abundant and in endless supply, like wind and sun. But over the past few weeks, pictures posted by Presbyterian congregations in Syria, celebrating events and gatherings, have come to inspire me with the thought that the Church, even in such a seemingly unlikely place, is a “renewable resource!”
This past fall, when Turkish troops flooded northeastern Syria to confront what they saw as a Kurdish threat to their security and sovereignty in the region, the instability rocked the area and exacted a heavy toll on an economy already collapsed after 7 years of war. Because of your generous gifts, Outreach was able to quickly wire funds to the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL) so that families of their three congregations in the Northeast (Hasakeh, Malkieh, and Qamishli) could purchase water (after the bombing of a local spring, bottled water had to be purchased in Hasakeh), food (the price of meat rose to $10/kilo in Malkieh – $80 is a typical monthly salary), and heating fuel (as I write, temperatures will drop below freezing tonight in Qamishli).
And yet, as 2020 began, the echoes of Christmas joy were more than evident (and participants in Sunday School and youth celebrations, abundant) as you will discern from these photos from the Presbyterian Church in Hasakeh. (Pastor Mathilde Sabbagh and her husband, Issa, had done their own part in renewing the Resource that is the Church, with the birth of twin daughters in December!). In early January, the Rev. Joseph Kassab, General Secretary of NESSL, along with Rev. Hadi Ghantous, who heads the Synod’s Ecclesial and Spiritual Affairs Committee, went up to the northeast and shared this:
Hadi and I spent 3 fertile, full days among the 3 congregations in the northeast. We met the people and worshipped with each congregation, encouraging them and assuring them that the Synod and its partners will continue to support them with prayers and deeds. The people’s impressions are that nothing has changed on the ground. The Kurds are still where they used to be, and control the land, with some security zones controlled by the government. Russian and Turkish patrols are going around to keep the Kurds “calm.” People are paying taxes twice, one to the government and one to the Kurdish Administration. Prices are high-even higher with the deterioration of the Syrian pound against the dollar. Today, 1 USD = 1130 SP, which means 23 times higher than before the Syrian crisis. Keep praying dear. We are fine. People are still able to laugh and joke despite the misery they live. God is great at making his creatures able to cope with their difficulties. Praise him.
And Rev. Firas Ferah, pastor of the Qamishli Church, shared this with me:
We are okay here. Today is quiet but we don’t know about the future…The Kurds have control within the cities (nothing has changed inside). The economic situation is bad, very bad. In Syria, for sure, but especially in the Jizeera (northeast). Everything is more expensive than two months ago: clothes, education, food….The people are scared about the future, but our church members are good. What you sent to help us made us happy and they give thanks in the three churches.
Friends, your gifts to the Syria Appeal bring relief and hope and also allow the Synod to assist some of the other 18 congregations whose families are struggling in the post-war economy. But the Good News triumphs and congregations are reviving. Your recent gifts through Outreach have assisted the Aleppo congregation in opening a small medical clinic to serve the poor, provided funds to the Fairouzeh congregation to replace wooden pews which had been ravaged by woodworm, and allowed the congregation of Kharaba, who are exiled from their terrorist-controlled village on the Jordanian border, to rent a space for worship in a nearby town and provide an apartment for a full-time pastor (which they had not had for 15 years!).
May God keep “adding to their numbers” and to him be the glory!
Marilyn Borst
Associate Director for Partnership Development
The Outreach Foundation gives thanks to God that you continue on this journey with us alongside the faithful, witnessing Church in Syria, especially now that peace is being restored, even as the needs of families and the Church’s ministries continue. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.