10 LESSONS FROM SYRIA:  when faith is under fire

Picture from The Guardian:  www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/dec/14/the-week-around-the-world-in-20-pictures

SYRIA

• Estimates of the total number of deaths in the Syrian Civil War, by various war monitors, range between 580,000 as of May 2021, and approximately 618,000 as of March 2024.
• The most violent year of the conflict was 2014 when around 110,000 people were killed.
• At least 26,000 of those killed were children and 16,000 women
• 13 million Syrians have been displaced and 7 million refugees have been forced to flee Syria (25% of the population).
• 450,000+ Christians fled the country.
• More than half of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance
• 1 Person died violently every 10 minutes

During a recent visit to Syria, witnessing the aftermath of eight years of war, hearing missiles being fired and feeling the impact of distant explosions, the only thought that came to my mind was: “God have mercy.”

The trip wasn’t just about showing solidarity with a church under siege but also about understanding the realities of faith under fire. We hoped to catch a glimpse of how a Church endures a prolonged conflict and how its followers respond to the realities of war. We met believers and visited churches in Damascus, Jaramana, Homs, Aleppo, and Muhrada.

City after city and town after town bore the painful scars of a brutal eight-year war.  It seemed like a giant came and stepped on this nation and crushed every building he could find.  BUT, what ISIS and the rebels could not achieve, was crushing the spirit of the church.  The war in Syria has not only produced a strong and vibrant church but has revealed lessons of faith that few would have the privilege to experience.   We found strength in the midst of brokenness and beauty amongst the ashes.  The church in Syria truly reflects the words of Brennan Manning – “In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.”

However, observing the church in Syria brought a new conviction of how a Church should influence a nation.  Not by fighting evil with evil nor by cursing darkness, but simply by living Christ and being light.  We encountered many heroes of faith and divine meetings and hereby include TEN LESSONS learned from the Church in Syria.

1. IMPARTIAL CHRISTIANITY

The first thing that caught us by surprise was the respect that the community had for the Church; soldiers, Muslims, and non-believers alike. During the eight years of war, the church had discovered a key to reach the hearts of the nation – they remained impartial and never chose sides between the rival factions of government, rebels, or freedom fighters.  This gave the Church favour beyond comprehension.

From the border with Lebanon, up to Aleppo in the North, we went through more than 70 checkpoints.  At every checkpoint, our contact would greet the soldiers with these words:  “We are people from the church”.  While other vehicles were searched, we were waved through with a warm smile and heartfelt “ahlan wasahlan”, “welcome welcome”. This seemed surreal in a majority Muslim nation where you would normally hide your Christianity.

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  In order to live a full witness for Christ we cannot favour one party and demonise another. A true person of peace is one who listens to all and councils with impartial wisdom. Anyone who chooses sides, politically, culturally, or racially, becomes irrelevant as a reconciler and peacemaker.

2. INFLUENTIAL CHRISTIANITY

We stood amazed to meet Sandy, a 23-year-old secretary at the Baptist Church in Jaramana, a city that had been hit with more than 16,000 missiles during the war. She has seen suffering that passed her years of understanding and has witnessed hardships that a young person of her age should not endure. We stood amazed at her maturity and asked an honest but simple question: “Have you ever thought of leaving Syria during the past eight years?” Her answer literally left us speechless:  “When things change for the better I might consider leaving but during the war, we have decided to stay so that we can help people and be the vessels of change that make the difference.” 

For Christians in the West, the message is this: In order to influence our communities we have to do it from the inside outwards.  Safety and security should never be the reason to stay in or leave a country.  Our mandate is to “be Christ’ to those who suffer injustice and indignity in our nations.  Our hope is not based on political leaders or political parties.  With Christ in us, we are the answer to so many prayers rising up from within our respective nations.

3. INDESTRUCTIBLE CHRISTIANITY

As we stood in a deserted and completely destroyed town on the outskirts of Damascus, we could scarcely contain our emotions. We have seen many similar images before on Television, but a TV screen can never do justice to the reality of life when bombs explode.   The four-story buildings, folded up like broken concertinas, stood motionless as a testimony of the human ability to destroy and kill.

The pastor interrupted our thoughts as he pointed to a red poppy blooming amongst the rubble. “The destruction was born in the war…” he said, “but life is more visible in the context of death than anywhere else. In the midst of destruction, living stones are more visible than in a time of peace”

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  Light is not scared of darkness.  Christianity is not the victim of bad politicians.  Bad politicians are the consequence of a lack of true Christian witnesses.  Darkness can never overcome light but when light fades, darkness steps in.  Corruption and crime are not the fault of corrupt politicians but a result of a Church that failed to provide a moral compass in a politically volatile community.  Christianity is therefore the answer to secularism.  We don’t have to defend our moral values, we just have to live it.

4. INFECTIOUS CHRISTIANITY

The long nine-hour drive from Damascus to Aleppo is both exhilarating and dangerous, either because of the war or the traffic, depending on what route you take.  Due to the fighting in Idlib we had to avoid the main road and took the detour via As Sa’an.  The detour took us past small villages that bore testimony to the war with destroyed houses and plundered villages.  Our host decided to stop for coffee at the outskirts of Homs and a conversation with a stranger soon ended up with our host walking to the car to get a Bible from the back seat.  We realized anew that for him the journey was as much an opportunity to share the Gospel as it was reaching the destination.  Every meeting was an opportunity. Every individual is precious.  And every encounter is infectious.

We also realised that our host saw the checkpoints on the road to Aleppo not only as an opportunity to witness God at work but also a wonderful opportunity to bear witness of a God at work.  At one of the stops outside Aleppo, one of the soldiers approached our host and as he looked into the car and saw that we were Christians, he immediately asked a blessing.  Our host prayed for him and just as we pulled away, he stopped the car and simply said: “One more blessing, please”

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  If we miss the opportunity to be ‘infectious’ when we encounter people who are different than us, we miss an opportunity to change lives, communities, and eventually the future of our nations.  It starts with one blessing at a traffic light, accompanied by a love for souls.  We have a mandate to bless those who curse us and pray for those who seek to harm us.  In Syria Christians are known as people who bless, not people who judge.   Christians should always be known as people who can secure a future. Not people who curse the present.

5. INTENTIONAL CHRISTIANITY

As we entered the Idlib province security stepped up as well.  At one checkpoint the soldier looked at our host and asked the obvious question:  “Do you have any weapons?”  the answer came equally quickly but less obvious:  “My heart is my weapon.”  The soldier laughed and indicated that we can move through, but the words stuck in our hearts.

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  Our heart IS our weapon.  We will either give life or drain life, but it will depend on the substance of our hearts.  Our attitudes will reflect the Christ that we serve.  We will either unite or divide, in and outside the church.  We have to live intentional lives for our communities to change.  We can no longer expect political parties to provide what the Church has been entrusted with.  It is the role of the church, not political parties, to provide the platform for a healthy community.  Political leaders can only build on what the church establish – a weak church will see weak communities.

6. INVITING CHRISTIANITY

Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.  With an official population of 4.6 million in 2010, Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the war started in 2011.  Today Aleppo is probably the third-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus and Homs.   We had the joy of visiting Rev.Ibrahim, the head of the Presbyterian Church in Aleppo. Rev.Ibrahim explained that even though the Christian population has decreased by more than 90% in Aleppo due to the war, their Church has increased from 60 people to 200 people who attend their services – of which only 10 are Presbyterian.  He then explained it as follows: “If Syria is a garden of flowers, then the church is the rose.  The fragrance of which is reaching even those in government.”

For Christians in the West the message is this:  May we be found to be people of fragrance that draw people into the Kingdom.  May we be salt and light in times of political uncertainty.  May we be the reconciling component in a divided community and people of peace where people are fighting.  May our governments take note of us not because of our complaints and criticisms but because of our inviting fragrance.

7. INVOLVED CHRISTIANITY

The treacherous journey from Aleppo back to Damascus was interrupted by a two-day stop over in a Christian village close to Hama, on the banks of the Orontes River.  On the day we left 3 hospitals were bombed and the following day the Presbyterian Church was bombed where six Christians died.  The attacks on the village over the past three years have been relentless, to say the least.  More than 10,200 bombs fell on the village, an average of one bomb per 1 square meter.  The leader of the small Evangelical Church described the challenges in detail:  “Being only 500 meters from the Al Nusra/ ISIS frontline we would often drive back home from a meeting with the lights completely switched off and then, arriving at our homes, we would crawl out of our cars and literally leopard-crawl to our homes.”  “BUT” she concluded, “we did not cancel one single meeting during the eight years of war.”

In Aleppo we experienced the same level of commitment as we visited the Franciscan monastery in a Catholic monastery.  During the height of the war, with bombs exploding all around the city, volunteers of the church fed 18,000 people every day.   More than half a million people were fed every month by people in desperate need of assistance themselves.  A testimony of an involved and selfless faith.

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  Our commitment to Christ and involvement in ministry should never be determined by external factors such as security, safety or even finances.  Our commitment is to Christ, regardless of the circumstances.  It is not reckless faith, it is selfless faith.  We seek the Kingdom of God FIRST and then look to our governments for justice and peace.

8. INSPIRATIONAL CHRISTIANITY

The word Inspiration originally comes from Latin which means “to breathe into”.  However, before inspiration was used to refer to breath it had a distinctly theological meaning in English, referring to a divine influence upon a person from a divine entity.  This applies perfectly to the Church in Syria.  The one pastor, living in the heat of the war zone, explained to us that they first prayed fervently that the war would stop.  “But,” she concluded  “today we pray that the Lord will fulfill his purposes through us and that the Lord will use us as His servants in the midst of the war.

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  That we will not try to escape hardship and troubles but continue to be God’s vessels of hope, peace, and reconciliation.  Yes, we pray for an end to corruption, crime and violence.  But we seek to BE the vessels of hope, peace,e and reconciliation instead of the BENEFICIARIES of hope, peace, and reconciliation.

9. INCOMPREHENSIBLE CHRISTIANITY

The message of the cross is foolishness to the world.  We stood amazed as we listened to the confessions of those who have suffered and witnessed unimaginable hardships.  “May our hardships translate into compassion for others.” Was the prayer of one pastor.  “We are people of the cross. We are people who live for the better of our nation.” Said another.  “We pray that our lack will never prevent us from being more generous.” Said another as we entered a room with tables packed to the rim with food fit for a king.

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  We cannot allow the enemy to hijack our mandate to love and replace it with fear and suspicion.  We cannot allow hardships to make us bitter and angry.  We cannot be led by the politics of suspicion instead of the word of God and a message of forgiveness and reconciliation.  As Christians, we contain the only Source of peace and we cannot afford to corrupt this source with hatred and division.  We are the people of the cross.  Light looks at its best when it is dark.

10. INNOCENT CHRISTIANITY

“Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps.” (Brennan Manning).  It is as simple as that.  This is not rocket science.  Christianity needs to be the innocent visible expression of a crucified saviour.  When we met the courageous, committed, compassionate,  friendly, generous and hospitable people of Syria we saw the marks of the cross and felt the peace that Christ promised.  We found a vibrant Church. We found that light is never scared of darkness. We found living stones amongst the skeletons of buildings. We found flowers at the graves. And we found the Living God dwelling among the people of Syria by Himself (Revelation 21:3-5) We found God, and we found that He is beginning to make everything new.

For Christians in the West, the message is this:  We need to return to the less complicated, innocent simplicity of a Christ who came to set the captives free.  We need to love, pray, forgive and bless.  These are the non-negotiables of Christianity.  We have complicated the Gospel of Christ to such an extent that the world doesn’t see Christ anymore but only the rules that we burden them with.  In Syria, the Gospel is blameless, simple and pure.  Innocent in the true sense of the word

We would like to honour the saints of Syria, our heroes of faith who serve unconditionally and unwaveringly.

Matthew 25:34  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 

• Please join us in prayer as we continue to lift Syria before the throne of God.
• Pray for the Church, the people and the new leadership.
• Pray for peace.
• Pray for God’s provision. Join hands with dia-LOGOS as we seek to strengthen “those who remain and is at the point of death”