July 2023 Persecution Magazine

Front Lines of Ministry
A DEEP DIVE INTO THE LIVES OF CHURCH PLANTERS AND PASTORS
A SYRIAN PRIEST’S MISSION TO SHARE THE LOVE OF
CHRIST IN A COUNTRY FACED WITH DESTRUCTION
I
came into the Christian faith at the
age of 16 and was drawn to Eastern
church music and oriental art, which
reminded me of the Apostles Peter and
Paul, founders of the church in Antioch,
the Bible state. I studied the Bible with
my friends in Sunday school. That’s when I
sensed that Christians living in the Middle
East had lost their attachment to the Bible
and the Church for many reasons.
One of the main reasons was their
presence in a non-Christian society that
does not give much freedom for Christian
education. Society intimidates Christians
and views them as inferior. My family
as well had faced and dealt with that
situation. I felt a responsibility toward
this issue and decided to start studying
theology at a university in Lebanon.
Later I took additional courses in Greece
for a year and a half to graduate in 2005.
At that time, I returned to my city to work
in the field of Christian biblical education,
ready for any challenge.
The next year, I got married to a Christian
woman who also served at church working
with teenagers at Sunday school. She had
agreed to support me in my mission, and
we are still serving together along with our
three children. From 2007 to 2009, I was
the general director of Christian education
in my city, and later in 2010, I became
responsible for the educational curricula
in the church as well as the auditor for
the religious educational curricula in the
Ministry of Education in the country.
“Love should not only be expressed
by words and preaching, but also by
living together in peace, partaking
in the bread of mercy, and helping
the sick. Thus, the message of Christ
is completed in a wounded world.”
In 2011, the armed conflict started–the
conflict the Church has long rejected
because our Lord is LOVE and He came for
peace and mercy for all.
During that time, I continued my
educational work and organized ministry
teams to assist the displaced. I started
this work formally in 2013, and I am still
working with my youth team in helping
widows, the displaced, and the poor
whose situations are the result of war.
Then, when the recent earthquake
occurred, the pressure increased and
the need became great; however our
capacity to help was limited because of
the international economic sanctions
imposed on Syria . And unfortunately,
the poor have suffered the most from
these sanctions. I was ready for this
challenge—to be a servant in a land where
the martyred saints have lived since the
first century—but I did not imagine the
magnitude of difficulties to face.
The needs grew beyond material things
to become psychological and, of course,
spiritual. Thankfully, our Lord granted
us success because, “The God of heaven
crowns our work with success, and we, His
servants, rise and build” (Nehemiah 2:20).
With all these challenges, you can
understand the difficulties the church in
Syria faces.
The long war and the economic sanctions
undoubtedly contribute to weakening the
spirit of hope and faith among Christians.
Moreover, preaching in this case requires
double efforts and different tools.
For example, we try to follow the Lord
Jesus as He was teaching the crowds, but
while teaching with His word, He also gave
them food to eat and healed their diseases.
The spiritual message was accompanied
by physical miracles which allowed them
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Persecution | JULY 2023