MEET SHAMS

Shams with 5 of her 6 children in their unfinished home

We were displaced from the Aleppo countryside, where we had land which we were farming and living from. But our house was destroyed in the war, and our crops were burned. It was very dangerous, and the economic situation was very bad, so we fled to survive. We moved three times until we reached this place in the Damascus countryside, where my husband and I live with our six young children.

The transition to living as internally displaced was extremely difficult. We were used to our home, our land, and our simple life. Although we thank God that we have a roof over our heads, our house is very difficult to live in, especially in winter. First, it is unfinished as you can see, but maybe worse is that there is not even glass on the windows. We must put tarp on them to try and prevent the wind and the cold from coming in. But it doesn’t protect well, it is not safe, and it obstructs the natural light from coming in. That’s why we were very happy to receive winter assistance from the church this year. We received warm clothes and shoes, as well much-needed carpets, which helped us stay warmer.

My husband is the only one to work. He takes any job God provides, such as carrying material on construction sites, clearing blocked pipes or sewers, or anything else, just to pay for rent and afford some minimal part of our basic needs. Despite his efforts, it is not enough to cover all our expenses. Besides the rent, food is the most expensive, as well as medicine when one of us is sick. Every month we are not sure whether we’re going to be able to pay rent or not. We live in constant fear of being evicted at any moment and becoming homeless.

I got to hear about the church from other families that we know. After we reached out to them, they visited us and saw our situation, then registered us to benefit from the assistance they provide.

We have been receiving food baskets for two years now. We feel so happy when the church calls us to come pick up our parcel. The food assistance has helped us on so many levels. First, it is a guarantee for us that no matter what happens, we have something to eat at home. We don’t worry anymore about securing the essentials, such as oil, sugar, rice, etc. We feel less pressure on our shoulders, and we are not afraid of hunger anymore.

Our relationship with people from the church is great. We feel like they are family. We thank God for them, and we praise Him for putting people on our way who care about us and want to help us. We feel that God Almighty is with us, because He sends us such great people to support us.

We have renewed peace of mind. Our children feel more comfortable, seeing their mother and father happy, and knowing that there is food for them. We hope they will be inspired by the church and learn the blessing of giving without expecting anything in return. We are all doing better psychologically and we regained hope that the future will be better.

Unfortunately, our children are out-of-school, so our hope for the future is that we can teach our children helpful skills and knowledge, that they might provide well for themselves and maybe even support us as we grow old.

Thank you for praying for us. We pray for this nightmare to finally end so we can soon return to our home, rebuild it, and cultivate our land again.