Article

Life as a teenager in Syria

Pastor Samuel is a church leader from Aleppo, a city in Northern Syria, not far from the Turkish border. Syria has now been going through a devastating civil war for over four years, and the violence is taking it’s toll, impacting all areas of life for normal Syrians.

Pastor Samuel, met with a bunch of teenagers from his city to ask them how they were coping with the war and what their lives were like…

Q: What does a regular day look like for you?

A: Boring. Things make no sense at all. Every day is the same boring day. There is nothing to do for us and no place to go except going to school – if the situation allows us. There is nothing exiting, nothing new.

Q: What scares you?

A: Bombs and rockets.

A: Sudden death from bombings and rockets.

A: To be injured from explosions and have to stay in bed. I worry about the death of my family from bombings and then being alone. Plus, darkness.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: To study and graduate from university, and then find a job to work to earn a living in another peaceful country.

Outside the Church, we see God through the miracles – that He is protecting us. But I have questions…

A: I’d like to continue my studies in a Western country in order to have a better life. Plus I’d like to have my own business.

Q: What is your dream?

A: To see peace in our city. Really, I’d like to go and live in peaceful country, where there is no war. We are tired of war and of the unstable situation; we want to go to a safe country.

A: I dream of having a faithful friend and to have a joyful life full of excitement.

Q: Where does God stand in your life?

A: The most I feel God is when I am in the Church. Outside the Church, we see God through the miracles – that He is protecting us. But I have questions: what about those who are dying or getting injured through rockets? Where is God for them? But God is with us, because we are still surviving.

Q: What would you do if I gave you 50 euro (roughly £35)?

A: I would buy new clothes.

A: I would save half of it, because we are in a war situation and we don’t know what will happen. I would try to help very poor kids.

A: I’d buy a few personal new things and maybe I’d give some of the money to the Church, in order for them to help the needy.

Please pray…

Pray for these teenagers as the face an extremely uncertain future.

• Ask that God would continue to protect them and their families
• Pray they would have a purpose and place in a new, peaceful Syria
• Pray for an end to the war and violence