News / Thoughts

Syria: Another missile fell…

“A ceasefire is a lie unfortunately. Always know that, even if there is a ceasefire, the rockets and mortars are there. And when there is no ceasefire, the rockets and mortars are there. And life is going on in Aleppo.”

Those are the recent words of one of our Syrian contacts. The collapse of the week-long ceasefire in Aleppo a few weeks back, and the subsequent intensifying of the military campaign by the Syrian government, has seen hundreds die in just a few days. So where is the hope? Read below to see…

“Yet another missile fell”

“What has happened to our city?” laments an Open Doors contact from Aleppo. “This is what happened a couple of days before I left for Damascus: I was on my way to see my ailing mother and my aunt. Earlier in the afternoon a missile had hit the third floor of their building and one of their neighbors had been killed. Yes, people were already bemoaning such a loss and there was so much going on in people’s minds and hearts.

“As I approached the house, another missile fell on a person who collapsed on the ground, seemingly dead, right in front of me. I ran towards the person, but I was shocked to see that people all around didn’t seem to react at all. It looked as if not a single person reacted to the tragic loss of yet another neighbour, or at least co-citizen, who was no more with us. I just couldn’t believe that my neighbours and friends had become people with no feelings or emotions. No reaction whatsoever in a place that, some years ago, would have seen people rush down from their apartments and people from everywhere run to help.

“Just then, yet another missile fell close to us – and nobody even turned to look where it had fallen. They all went about their daily duties in a life where life and death are intertwined and they are both filled with the same emptiness… During those moments, I knew what trauma means and what war and violence bring about in people’s lives.

“I wanted to share this little story with you to pray even more for us. I don’t know what’s happening to us. I just know that God is good and He loves us!”

Pray now…

• Thank you, Lord, that you can reach people even in the most cut off and dangerous of places. Please bring comfort to the people of Aleppo now
• For Open Doors partners and all others assisting displaced people in Syria, that they would have resources and wisdom in how to support them
• That more people in the region would see and know the love of Christ and the church.

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