The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

"We have to strengthen the faith of the people, anchor them in this country, and encourage them to be witnesses of Christ, to be the salt of the earth and light of the world: we cannot allow our presence here to become insignificant."

"However, we still lack the funds to complete the reconstruction of all the homes that were very badly damaged or completely destroyed; we are waiting and hoping that governments, like those of the United Kingdom and Hungary, will step in and help us on this front."

The Syrian civil war has caused the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since World War II, with some 12 million refugees and Internally Displaced People. Today, Christians in Syria form only 3 percent of the population, whereas before the war they accounted for 10 percent.

“When I was young, my relationship with God was good, but since then, I’ve struggled at times. I always ask, ‘Why, Lord, why all this pain?’”

The village was badly damaged during the fighting of recent years but the Christian community has returned—in large numbers. By now, 405 of the 580 homes that were destroyed in Bashiqa have already been rebuilt and about half of the Christians, or 1,585 people, have returned.

"What happened in Homs was very hard. Still, we did not think about emigrating because we have strong commitments here and ties with our local community—the idea of emigration was totally unacceptable to my father. He feels rooted in the land and leaving Syria is not for him."