Pray For the Suffering Syrian Christians
When the revolutionary movements known as the Arab Spring began, Jubilee Campaign knew that the odds were firmly against successful transition to genuine democracy in most if not all of these countries. Yet we held out hope that the nascent democratic movements in the Arab world might bear fruit. Now after a full year of violence, bloodshed, and horror we know that the Arab Winter is just beginning and throughout the Middle East the frozen lack of religious freedom is killing our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We saw the pattern in Iraq, where at least half of Iraq's 1.4 million Christians have fled the country or died. Our government has finally realized its error in Egypt, but after the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists won the election the damage was done. Yet our government still supports the revolutionary movement in Syria and call for the resignation of Al-Assad at all costs.
Unfortunately, Jubilee Campaign's sources tell us that the peaceful protestors in Syria are not so peaceful toward their Christian minority. The culmination of these protests end in raids on Christian communities to take women from their homes and families and rape them.
Yet even this is not enough for certain Muslim extremists. Sheik Adnan Al-Arour commonly appears on Syrian TV to urge Muslims to kill, not kidnap Christian women. He even goes so far as to give quotas for specific Christian communities as he incites his followers to rape and murder. Such is the nature of Syria's Arab Spring.
Another community particularly victimized by the sectarian violence are the Iraqi Christian refugees many of whom fled to Syria to escape this same process in Iraq. The Iraqi refugees are easy prey, and far softer targets than the regime's military forces.
Despite the bleakness of the situation, our contacts tell us that the Syrian church is experiencing a revival and an outpouring of God's Spirit like nothing their churches have known in hundreds of years. Throughout Syria Christians are sharing their faith, and the Gospel is doing a mighty work.
Jubilee Campaign asks you to pray for the Church in Syria, which constitutes roughly 10% of the population. In human terms, the situation is dire. Even if the U.S. government ceases pandering to extremists there is very little it can do to positively affect the situation. While we cannot in good conscience wish for the corrupt, unjust regime of Al-Assad to continue, the Islamist government which replaces it will likely be worse, far worse in the case of the Christians.
Now it is time for us to pray that God will protect his people in Syria. Winter is upon them.
We saw the pattern in Iraq, where at least half of Iraq's 1.4 million Christians have fled the country or died. Our government has finally realized its error in Egypt, but after the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists won the election the damage was done. Yet our government still supports the revolutionary movement in Syria and call for the resignation of Al-Assad at all costs.
Unfortunately, Jubilee Campaign's sources tell us that the peaceful protestors in Syria are not so peaceful toward their Christian minority. The culmination of these protests end in raids on Christian communities to take women from their homes and families and rape them.
Yet even this is not enough for certain Muslim extremists. Sheik Adnan Al-Arour commonly appears on Syrian TV to urge Muslims to kill, not kidnap Christian women. He even goes so far as to give quotas for specific Christian communities as he incites his followers to rape and murder. Such is the nature of Syria's Arab Spring.
Another community particularly victimized by the sectarian violence are the Iraqi Christian refugees many of whom fled to Syria to escape this same process in Iraq. The Iraqi refugees are easy prey, and far softer targets than the regime's military forces.
Despite the bleakness of the situation, our contacts tell us that the Syrian church is experiencing a revival and an outpouring of God's Spirit like nothing their churches have known in hundreds of years. Throughout Syria Christians are sharing their faith, and the Gospel is doing a mighty work.
Jubilee Campaign asks you to pray for the Church in Syria, which constitutes roughly 10% of the population. In human terms, the situation is dire. Even if the U.S. government ceases pandering to extremists there is very little it can do to positively affect the situation. While we cannot in good conscience wish for the corrupt, unjust regime of Al-Assad to continue, the Islamist government which replaces it will likely be worse, far worse in the case of the Christians.
Now it is time for us to pray that God will protect his people in Syria. Winter is upon them.
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