SYRIA: Danger Increases for Aleppo Christians

Date of Bulletin: 14 May 2014

SYRIA

Believers in Aleppo have asked for continued prayer, as tensions between army officials and rebel forces  have increased since April 12. The city has been without electricity and water for days, and shortages of  gasoline and food have caused prices to skyrocket to as much as five times the normal rate.

A VOM contact said that while traveling to Aleppo, the bus he was in was stopped for five hours because of  the danger of sniper attacks. "I know that we are living under a daily danger of mortars, but waiting for a bullet to go through the bus window to kill you is something different!" he said.

Communion services leading to Easter were canceled as a result of the increased danger, but Good Friday and Easter services were held as planned.

Voice Of the Martyrs Sources
Photo: Syrian refugees

Please Pray!

• Pray for Believers in Aleppo.
• Pray for VOM contacts in Syria who continue to serve Christ faithfully there.
• Pray for their protection and for their families.
• Pray that the light of Christ will shine brightly in the darkness of war.

For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;  I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.

- Psalm 61:3-4 -

Voice Of the Martyrs is assisting believers in Syria with encouragement and literature, and is also providing aid to Syrian Christian refugees.

#Syria #Aleppo #Pray #Christian #VOM #Pebbles4Christ

Save Syria

Open Doors has been active in Syria since before the war. They are helping the church in Syria to care for thousands of families in desperate need. "I believe the Lord has been preparing the church for this day," says Pastor Edward in Damascus. "Who else can give hope and really spread peace other than our Lord?"

The church in Syria is asking for your help. Please join other Christians to speak out, provide emergency relief and pray for our brothers and sisters in Syria.

 

 

The church in Syria is on its knees. Will you stand with them in their darkest hour?

Please sign the petition by visiting Open Doors.

https://www.opendoorsuk.org/campaign/savesyria/forms/signup.php?src=story3

Christian Weekly News 030

  from Christian Concern

This week CWN features, Phil Keaggy, Lindz West of LZ7 and Dr Patrick Sookhdeo highlighting the persecution of Christians in Syria and how Barnabas Fund is responding as well as the work of Christian Medical Fellowship.

Barnabas launches urgent petition on behalf of Christians in Syria

 

Barnabas launches urgent petition

on behalf of Christians in Syria

Syria

 

Barnabas Fund is today launching an urgent petition calling on Western governments to take action on behalf of Syria’s endangered Christian minority. We need your help to get as many signatures as soon as possible as the conflict escalates and their plight deepens.

Syrian Christians, who comprise around ten per cent of the country’s population, are increasingly vulnerable as the brutal civil war rages on. A siege over the last week at the Christian village of Maaloula – one of the most famous and historic centres of Christianity in the world – has magnified the stark threat to the minority community’s very survival in the country.

Al-Qaeda-linked rebels seized control of the village, where Aramaic, the ancient language spoken by Jesus, is still used; fighting against government forces is ongoing. The rebels have been attacking Christian homes and churches, destroying Christian symbols.

   

The bodies of Christians killed in the violent takeover have been left lying in the streets, and Christian residents have been threatened with beheading if they do not convert to Islam. Six young Christians have been taken captive.

Maaloula has been left a ghost town, as most of its population of around 3,000 has fled.

Many Christian communities in other parts of Syria have been ravaged in this horrific manner throughout the civil war. They are being deliberately targeted by Islamists among the opposition forces because of their faith.

The future of the Church in Syria, which dates back to New Testament times, is now hanging in the balance as Christians run out of safe havens. Around 600,000 have fled the country, and even more are internally displaced.

Barnabas Fund’s petition therefore calls on Western governments to take action to protect and help the vulnerable community.

Please sign the petition and forward it to others. You can download a copy to print and circulate in your church and community; paper copies can be obtained by contacting your nearest Barnabas Fund office. You are welcome to photocopy the sheet.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, said:

When we see the distressing footage from Syria on our television screens, we want to do something to help but feel incredibly powerless. Signing and circulating our petition is something you can do to make a difference. We must work together to make the plight of Syria’s Christians known to those with the power to intervene and influence events.

SYRIA: Christians Growing Despondent in Aleppo

Date of Bulletin: 11 September 2013

Rebels have tightened the siege on Aleppo in retaliation for territory retaken by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the south and centre. Sources report that Christians in Aleppo are growing despondent as they rapidly lose weight, health and hope. Those whose homes have been totally destroyed are now squatting in empty office buildings without amenities or food. Many fear that a rebel invasion is imminent.

Last week five busloads of Armenian Christians left Aleppo for the coast. Subsequently, rebels linked to the Syrian Islamic Front took control of the road to Aleppo, cutting SAA supply lines. Nobody knows what has happened to the Armenians.

A Protestant pastor in Aleppo tells how his young son recently asked him when the rebels will come and kill them for being Christians. He says the men of the church are preparing for a rebel invasion and for death.

Source: Religious Liberty News Bulletin

Please Pray!

Please pray for Syrian Christians caught in the middle of the conflict, particularly those in Aleppo. Pray that God will sustain them through this difficult time and deliver them from the hands of the wicked.

"Show Your marvelous loving-kindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You; from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings." Ps. 17:7-8

Voice Of the Martyrs works with partners in Syria to bring Bibles into the country.

Human Shields in Homs - Please Pray

Below is an exert of a letter from Dr Patrick Sookhdeo of Barnabas Fund.

A human shield in Homs

Let me tell you about one incident, which has not been reported internationally. It concerns Homs, and in particular the Christian neighbourhood of Hamadiya in the old city. A large proportion of the 60,000 Christians of Homs used to live there before the crisis, but almost all have fled. Rebel forces now occupy their homes. However, 86 Christians were kept in Hamadiya as a human shield. I have a list of their names. Church leaders told me that the rebels are holding the hostages to deter the government from attacking Hamadiya with full force. Without food supplies, apart from what they had in their homes months ago, without any medical care at all, several of the 86 Christians have already died during their captivity. The church leaders estimated last week that there are around 80 still alive. 
At one point the Red Crescent managed to get a little aid in for the Hamadiya Christians, but had to retreat again hastily. The Syrian government has assured church leaders it is willing to help get the Christians out. The Free Syrian Army has also told church leaders they would allow the Christians to leave Hamadiya. But the Salafi, al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist elements of the rebel forces refuse. And so the Christians remain, month after month, dying one by one.

Message from Dr Patrick Sookhdeo: The Tragedy of Christians in Syria (Click for full message)

Christians in Syria receiving food packages from Barnabas Fund.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Syria.

Prayer Needed: There is a Church in Syria

https://barnabasfund.org/

There have been Christians in Syria since Biblical times, and today the country is home to a flourishing Christian population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands of Christian refugees from Iraq have also escaped there from anti-Christian violence and cruelty in their homeland.

Until last year Syria was the one of the easiest places in the Arab world to be a Christian. The churches could practise their faith without much interference, and they were respected by the Muslim majority and even by the government.

But with the Arab Spring their conditions changed -- very much for the worse...

Please pray for our brothers & sisters in Syria.

Study: John MacArthur's The Reign of Rebellion

I've just spent a couple of hours listening to & researching John MacArthur's brilliant sermon, The Reign of Rebellion Part 1. It is a study of Daniel 11:1-35. This prophecy, which has since been fulfilled, is so detailed and so fascinating that I thought I'd share it here, with my notes so that you too can benefit from God's amazing words!

You can listen to and/or read John MacArthur's sermon by clicking here: The Reign of Rebellion Part 1

Below are my notes from the sermon + some details that I researched on the internet.

Summary Notes on John MacArthur’s

The Reign of Rebellion Part 1

(Daniel 11: 1:35)

[Daniel lived ± 607BC)

The key kings mentioned in Daniel 11:

3 prominent kings before the rise of the 5 “A” kings:

• Cambyses (son of Cyrus)
• Pseudo-Smerdis (was an usurper & impostor)
• Darius Hystaspes

1. Xerxes aka Ahasuerus [486 – 465 BC] (verse 2)

·         Found in Book of Esther

·         One of greatest oriental rulers

·         Very wealthy

·         Commanded largest army in Ancient World

·         Wanted to attack Greece

·         Defeated by Power of Greece

·         150 years later, the Greeks retaliated & came led by Alexander the Great (verse 3)

Xerxes aka Ahasurerus (486 - 465 BC)

2. Alexander the Great of Macedon (Greece) [336 – 323BC](verse 3)

·         Seized entire Persian Empire

·         By age of 33, he had conquered the known world & changed the course of history

·         He overran Israel

·         He died at 33 with no legitimate descendants (verse 4)

·         His kingdom was divided into 4 parts:

v      Cassandra took Macedonia

v      Lysimachus took Thrace & Asia Minor

v      Ptolemy took Egypt (i.e. south of Israel)

v      Seleucus took Syria (i.e. north of Israel)    (verse 5)

·         Egypt & Syria warred with each other for ± 200 years on Israeli soil. (verse 20)

·         Antiochus Theos of Syria divorced his wife to marry Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt. Antiochus’s 1^st wife murdered Berenice by poison. (verse 7)

Alexander The Great of Macedon (Greece) (336 - 323 BC)

3. Antiochus III The Great of Greece [223 – 187BC](verse 10)

·         King of North

·         Conquered by Ptolemy of Egypt & ruled Israel

·         Son of Callinicus

·         Had 75,000 soldiers

·         Attacked Egypt (verse 11)

·         Gave his daughter, Cleopatra, to Ptolemy in marriage (verse 17)

·         Attacked Greece, which was then ruled by Rome (verse 18)

·         Syria then had to pay taxes to Rome (verse 20)

Antiochus III The Great of Greece (223 - 187 BC)

4. Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Greece [175 – 164BC](verse 21)

   (brother of Cleopatra)

·         Gained power through intrigue

·         Devastated Egypt (verse 22)

·         Broke friendship with Egypt (verse 23)

·      Committed “Abomination of Desolation”, i.e. with help of apostate Jews he attacked Jerusalem (verse 28), slayed women & children & slaughtered a pig on the temple alter & made the priests eat the pork. (verse 31). In 3 days he killed 40,000 Jews & sold 40,000 into slavery.

·         Israel helped by Hasidic Jews (Judas Maccabeus) (verse 34) [also see First Maccabees 2)

Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Greece (175 - 164 BC)

    

5.            Anti-Christ [Still to come sometime in the future!]

The Anti-Christ (Still to Come)

You can listen to and/or read the equally brilliant The Reign of Rebellion Part 2 by clicking here:  http://www.gty.org/resources/Sermons/27-29#.Tko91GG6nlg