The crisis in and around Syria now drags on into its sixth year, and new reports of atrocities in the region continue to stream in. Millions of Syrians have fled their homes, over half of whom are children. The scope of this tragedy is nearly too large for most of us to grasp.
I recently received a note from Jeff Palmer, Executive Director of Baptist Global Response. BGR is a disaster relief organization “with a heart for helping people in desperate need”—an apt, though possibly understated, description of the Syrian crisis. Unsurprisingly, BGR has been working tirelessly in the region for the duration of the conflict. Several of our Summit missionaries are directly involved in this critical endeavor, and part of the Summit’s money goes to support their efforts. Just this year, I joined BGR’s board.
Here are some of the key highlights from Jeff’s letter:
How We Should Pray
- Pray for the millions who are suffering. Pray for peace in Syria. Pray that the Prince of Peace will come and rule in the hearts and minds of everyone in that region of the world.
- Pray that God’s love and God’s message would go out from all of those working through BGR to help in this terrible situation.
- Pray for the national partners who are in most cases the front liners in the response. Many of them are displaced and refugees themselves. Pray that they will show the compassion and the love of Christ to those they come in contact with. Pray for boldness as they tell their stories.
- Pray for our volunteers who are coming alongside the projects. Pray for them to be wise as serpents yet gentle as doves as they go. Pray that God would use them to minister to those in need and communicate what they have seen/experienced to churches here in the USA.
How We Can Get Involved
BGR has a number of volunteer opportunities in the region, from Iraq to Jordan to Lebanon to Greece. These projects offer medical care, education, food, and shelter to Syrian refugees. To learn more about joining these teams, contact BGR today.
As a reminder, for those of you here at the Summit who want to get more involved with refugees right here in the Triangle, our Serve365 team would love to get you plugged in: Summit Refugee Resettlement.
Conclusions
As you pray, remember:
- The majority of people caught in this conflict are normal people who, like you and me, want to provide food, shelter, safety, and education for their families.
- The almost 14 million people in need come from all walks of life. There are large Christian populations among those suffering. There are several people groups and multiple languages affected. Most of them have no place in the ideology of the current conflict. They just want to go home and get back to a semblance of normal life.
- We have an unprecedented door of opportunity to help people both physically and spiritually. Areas are open that have been traditionally hard to access. This is a unique time (a “kairos” moment) in history and the Kingdom for this part of the world.
