[Today's Prayer] Persecution watchdog warns of 'ethnic cleansing' of Christians in Syria

In Syria, rebels led by Islamic fundamentalists have seized humanitarian supplies that could feed tens of thousands of people, prompting warnings that the situation amounts to ethnic cleansing.

“We recently delivered food and supplies to a local church,” David Curry, president of Global Christian Relief (GCR, formerly Open Doors), a U.S.-based persecution watchdog that has maintained an on-the-ground support network in Syria, told Christian Post (CP). ‘We've been doing this for the last two years, but some of the inventory we have now has been taken by the rebels,’ he said.

“There are still some things left. We will distribute it as carefully as possible to those who are currently displaced. But the area is very dangerous for Christians right now. The aid that the rebels stole a few weeks ago contained enough food, water, and medicine to feed about 20,000 people.”

Aleppo has always been what Curry described as the historic center of the Christian faith in Syria, and he noted that the Christian population in the area has been declining, saying, “This trend will continue as fewer Christians feel safe here.”

The so-called “rebel faction,” Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is comprised of remnants of Islamic extremist groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. They led rebels to capture Damascus a week after ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces seized Aleppo and Hama.

“Considered a terrorist organization, they have ethnically cleansed Kurds and Christians from northwestern Syria (including Aleppo and beyond) in less than two weeks, and they are expected to expand this across the country despite civilian opposition,” Curry said.

According to Curry, when the Syrian civil war began a decade ago, Christians made up about 10 percent of the population, or about 1.5 million people. But after years of constant fighting and persecution by jihadist radicals, that number has shrunk to just 300,000.

After the rebels took over Aleppo, there were reports of bread and water shortages. They also imposed a curfew, restricting the daily lives of residents, including Christians who sought to maintain their faith and traditions. Nevertheless, Christian leaders who remain in the city are providing spiritual guidance.

President Joe Biden announced on Aug. 8 that the U.S. is monitoring rebels in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, and Curry outlined steps the new administration should take once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

“One of the things that Trump could encourage is the creation of humanitarian corridors and providing material assistance to migrant families. Right now, there is no way to protect and help them.”

(emphasis added)

Source: Christianity Today

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:24–25)

Dear God, we hear the sad news from the land of Syria that Christians are suffering under the threat of ethnic cleansing, food shortages, and curfews by rebels led by Islamic fundamentalists, and we see the dwindling Christian population in Aleppo, once considered the center of the Christian faith, where the Christian population has plummeted from 1.5 million a decade ago to 300,000.

Lord, we ask you to have compassion on our brothers and sisters in Syria who are suffering. As their lives and faith are being attacked by greed and violence, we ask that You would add Your grace to their lives and draw them to You, that they would keep the faith in the midst of these circumstances, and that they would be able to pray to You and be victorious.

The Christians in Syria have already received eternal life through Jesus and have passed from death to life; may they remember this grace. In the midst of this fleshly death, may the spirits of our brothers and sisters of faith in Syria be quickened. As we come to you in prayer, grant that we may hear your voice and receive grace to renew every dead spirit, body, mind, and faith.

Grant that in the midst of our suffering, we may remember You who died and rose again, that we may be people of faith who die with You, live with You, conquer death and rise again.

Lord, we also pray for the suffering Syrian diaspora. May this people, scattered here and there by a long civil war, now be used as an instrument to fulfill the mission of your kingdom in the vision.

And may this vision of the Syrian Church becoming the high priest of the Arabs be fulfilled through the Syrian diaspora. May the Syrian diaspora, scattered among all the Arabs, rise up with the Gospel and make Your will known in each Arab land!

Lord, we pray for the Church in Syria. We pray that the Syrian church, built on the rock of grace, will grow in faith through times of hardship. May they not fear hardship and persecution, but boldly go forth to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ to those who need the gospel.

We believe that the church in Syria will see a revival once again as Christians overcome hardship and go forth with the gospel. The number of believers has dwindled, but the remnant You have left will rise up boldly in Your mission!

Please use the prayers of the global church for this work, and as we hear of the suffering, please cause us to pray even more fervently for Syria!

Raise up the global church to follow You, who loved us to the point of death, and to take up the gospel with our lives for Syria. Let us go forth with the gospel in Syria and in all lands where there are Syrian refugees!

Raise up the church and the saints in Syria who will preach your gospel, even in the face of death, until the day when all peoples and nations return to you in praise and worship!

To the Lord for all peoples.