“You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls”
The mass exodus of Christians from Syria and Lebanon has raised alarms that the future of Christianity in both countries is at risk. According to Christianity Today (CT) in the UK, the 2023 World Religious Freedom Report by the Christian charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said, “The Christian population in Syria decreased from 6.31% of the total population to 3.84% between 2016 and 2021.”
Though the estimates of the number of Christians in Lebanon vary, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Fact Book estimates the proportion to be about one-third (32.4%) of the current population. This figure is lower than the 2010 reported by the U.S. State Department which estimated that Lebanon’s Christian population was more than 40%.
Greek Christian leader Youssef Absi said in an interview with CAN that “Christians in the Middle East are leaving their homeland despite the church’s appeals to stay.” “Christians no longer have hope for their homeland. ‘There is no light at the end of the tunnel.’ “, he added.
Both Syria and Lebanon have been hit hard by extreme economic hardship and the pandemic, and Syria’s problems have been worsened by the ongoing civil war. “It has been difficult to give hope to Christians, especially since the situation has not improved,” Absi said. “There have always been waves of immigration. Nowadays, economic, social, and political reasons are coexisting,” Absi explained.
“We are still doing everything we can to help believers and provide them with essential services, but we cannot replace the government,” he said, urging the West to lift sanctions that are negatively impacting Syrians.
He added, “I think our friends can put some pressure on governments, and sometimes religious leaders, to help in this direction or to have sanctions lifted.” (Source: Christian Today Comprehensive)
And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. (Isaiah 58:10,12)
God, may the Syrian and Lebanese Christians who have lost hope and are leaving their homeland due to ongoing difficulties find hope in You and Your promised Words. May they spread the gospel to the people who are left in their homeland so that people who hear the good news will find meaning and life in Jesus Christ. Please uplift the spirits of the church and believers of these lands so that they will serve the people of their homeland with prayers and the love of Christ. As the church stands in the gap and pray for Your mercy, may many who are in darkness will come to the light and continue to worship God.
Prayer 24·365
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