[Field News] Islamism Comes to Liberated Syria Instead of Democracy

Syria is a strategically important country surrounded by Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

It is an important country that neighboring countries want to get involved in.

The Assad family, who dictated long-term, suddenly fled to Russia, and now the Islamist rebel group HTS has taken over the government.

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No one can predict the future of the new Syria. We will have to wait and see whether Syria can become a country that does not fight with its neighbors in the Middle East and pursues secular peace and prosperity rather than religious fervor.

After half a century of oppression, the Assad family’s rule in Syria has come to an end. The Syrian people have every right to celebrate this, but their struggle is not over yet.

The final ouster of dictator Bashar al-Assad seemed sudden, but its roots were in the anti-government protests in Syria in 2011.

Syrians will now face challenges similar to those experienced by other Arab countries after the Arab Spring revolutions. The Arab Spring revolutions and the previous Middle Eastern revolutions were led by a variety of social forces—secular nationalists, students, intellectuals, leftist activists—but in almost all cases they were eventually overtaken by Islamists.

And they overthrew political authoritarianism and established religious authoritarianism. It was no surprise that Islamists took the lead. They were well organized, competently led, and disciplined—a crucial advantage in a power vacuum.

Assad tried to delay his downfall with brutal repression, but this only made Syria more vulnerable to another coercive rule. During the 14-year civil war, millions were driven into poverty and famine, and half a million people were killed.

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Syria, deeply scarred by war, cannot afford to have a single-party government anymore.

Source: Money Today

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be put into your lap. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you in return. (Luke 6:38)

After the Arab Spring of 2011, which dreamed of and cried out for Arab democracy, we hear news from Syria, where millions were driven to poverty and famine and 500,000 people lost their lives during the 14-year civil war.

Although the Assad family's dictatorship in Syria has finally come to an end after half a century, most of the areas of Syria that were thought to be free have now been taken over by Islamist forces.

Father God, who does not want to lose even one soul and wants to know the truth and be saved, when the souls of Syria seek the Lord with longing and broken hearts, may they meet Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life.

At this time, when the souls of Syria, who have become vulnerable to oppressive rule like a flock of sheep without discernment, seem to be taken over by the Islamic forces, please rule the souls of Syria with the rule of Jesus, the Shepherd.

When the Syrian church awakens and seeks the throne of Jesus Christ as the true king, please pour out the Holy Spirit in Syria with power and shake it to overflow.

May the global church respond sensitively to the situation in Syria and serve, and may they not hesitate to break their alabaster jar for Syria and the Syrian church, believing that you will repay them more than they give.

As the Syrian diaspora returns to Syria itself, may the gospel spread in Syria through the gospel that flowed in during their refugee life, and may the news of Jesus fill Syria.

So, may Syria restore its status as the high priest of the Arabs and become a nation that serves the Arabs and the nations to prepare the way for the Lord's return.