Thank you for your prayer for SYRIA last week and the Geneva 2 Conference commenced on Wednesday and is continuing at the moment.
The fact that the Syrian Government and Opposition groups came together along with 40 different nations and agencies for this event was a significant answer to prayer.
While the UN chief Negotiator, Lakhdar Brahimi himself was unsure how to bring these parties together for discussion, many were pessimistic about the outcome. There were bitter attacks on each other from the onset of talks but prayer can bring change of hearts and minds and bring understanding, especially to bring relief to the suffering people.
The most important issue to be solved immediately is the access for humanitarian aid for millions of Syrian refugees mainly inside of the country.
“Blessed are the Peacemakers”
There is no greater significance of the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the Peacemakers” in today’s context, as it applies to millions of Syrians right now!
Let’s pray for a special breakthrough in this aspect this week as it is God’s time for Syria!
See Geneva 2 Conference: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46978&Cr=Syria&Cr1=#.UuJv7…
Pray for Syrian Christians:
Syria is the only secular State in the Arab World and has a large Christian population who has experienced the freedom of worship for some time. The war is threatening the unity of the Syrian society both ethnically and religiously. The Churches in Syria has been the instrument of sending relief to refugees in the country and at times the Syrians have preferred to receive aid through churches than other agencies.
According to reports: “Fear and distrust looms large in this humanitarian crisis. Even if they don’t take political sides, fleeing Syrians are coming from either government or opposition-held areas. Hoping to return one day, they have no idea who will be in control, and many are afraid they’ll be persecuted, or worse, upon their return. For that reason, many refugees refuse to have their photo taken, even by foreign journalists. The level of trust in accepting aid from a church or mosque is often higher than that which people are willing to place in a vast foreign agency.”
Similarly, the Syrian government and the opposition forces it is fighting are generally far more accepting of aid delivery from local churches than foreign agencies.
Rupen Das, director of community development for the Lebanese Society of Education and Social Development – an important NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) based in Beirut – says of its aid efforts in Syria, “The only space we could get in without being aligned with the opposition or the regime, was actually through the local churches. They occupy “a neutral space … with no conditionality…”
In Irbid, Jordan, Arab churches including Baptist, Nazarene, Assemblies of God and others, provide a conduit to refugees not yet receiving UNHCR assistance, or those who are too afraid to register for it.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe