MEET PASTOR ABDALLAH

During the war, Aleppo suffered a great deal. It was besieged and a huge part of the city was completely destroyed. At the time of the earthquake, people who had long been displaced were starting to come back after they finished rebuilding their homes. So, when the earthquake happened, it shattered the little hopes people had left and shook them to the core. There was great fear and a massive need for help.

It has been a year since the earthquake happened, and the needs remain very high. Prices have increased in a scary way and the average salary of workers in Syria do not exceed 15 to 20 dollars a month. This is way too little and insufficient. It is hard for people to survive without basic assistance to provide for food, medical needs, or even rent and electricity.

What has been happening in Gaza lately also has a negative impact on Syria. Every day we hear stories of drones falling in different regions here. Every time there is a new challenge for the people: the war, the blockades, the earthquake, and now these regional tensions.

People are in a very difficult psychological state. Before even asking for material help, people ask us “Can you get us out of the country? Our youth and our children?” It shows how worried and drained the families and their children are. That’s why the church needs to continue helping people.

The families we support have no one else to help them and they feel so much joy and relief to know that someone is finally caring for them. But this is not the only way the assistance blesses them. It also gave us a unique chance to establish relationships with people from all background and to show them love and respect. Our church later decided to form a group to do monthly home visits to these people to follow up on them.

Already, we have seen the Lord using this to draw people to Him. Many people are curious to know more about our faith and ask many questions. We can see their eagerness and a new sparkle in their eyes. Many of them started coming to church, so much so that today, any church service, prayer meeting, or other gathering we have is full of people from all backgrounds.

We are trying to help people so they can stay in their land, and at the same time we are encouraging the believers of the church to be effective during these times. We see believers as light in the darkness, and we don’t want them to leave as well and to lose our light.

We feel a divine calling to be shepherds. Shepherds who never abandon their flock. This has been the strong desire of my heart. And when we see that this work bears fruits, that when we stay alongside people, some really see the light and have a desire to know more about Christ, it encourages us to continue our ministry, through material assistance but also through the spiritual opportunities that God gives us with these people.

We could not have done anything without people who reached out, supported us, and sent us what we needed to help people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to every person who donated, helped, or contributed. Pray for us, and we are still in need of your help in this hard situation. I would be happy to meet you someday and get to know you, and I send you a loving greeting from Aleppo.