The number of Syrian refugees now exceeds four million. An additional 7.6 million are also displaced internally, having fled their homes to seek refuge elsewhere within Syria.
With the crisis now in its fifth year, more and more Syrians are abandoning their original hope to return to their homeland.
Frank is a Frontiers worker in a Middle Eastern country where he has had unprecedented opportunities to minister to Syrian refugees.
“The first two or three years after the revolution,” Frank explains, “refugees kept saying that they would go back to Syria as soon as the president gets ousted. Now they are saying they’ll leave for America or Europe if the United Nations calls and offers them a visa.”
For the majority of refugees, staying in one of Syria’s neighboring countries—Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, and Lebanon—is their last choice. While they are grateful to have escaped war back home, many are finding living conditions in host countries deplorable.
“Refugees are not happy in here,” Frank says from one of Syria’s neighboring countries. “They really feel that they have worn out their welcome.” The tension between refugees and locals is growing, and local authorities are beginning to complain. “They don’t want Syrians to get comfortable in their country; they hope that they will leave sooner than later.”
Located in one of the driest regions in the world, the government already faces a strain on its meager reserves. Refugees swallow up a significant amount of water, adding to the country’s water stress—not to mention the stresses on education, medical care, food, garbage, and police forces.
With living conditions for refugees deteriorating, more and more Syrians are hoping to resettle in the West.
As opportunities to resettle slowly open up, Frank and many other Frontiers workers are seeking ways to equip refugees with the skills they will need in a new country—or better, skills that will help them rebuild their own country should war end in Syria.
“What kind of refugees are we sending to the West?” Franks asks. “For those who eventually get visas for America or Europe, what will they have learned in their years waiting here as refugees? They could sit around and wait for that phone call from the UN, or we could give them skills they can use.”
What is needed, says Frank, are more workers who can offer English lessons, computer courses, or other skills.
But that is not all. While Syrian refugees are in great need of humanitarian assistance, they are also desperate to hear that God has good plans for them… plans for a future and hope free from evil (Jeremiah 29:11). Today, Syrians are more open to the Gospel than ever before, and many are eager to hear the Good News of love and hope through Jesus Christ.
Thanks to workers like Frank, Syrian refugees are encountering followers of Jesus—some for the first time in their lives—and hearing the hope of the Gospel.
“Despite all the horrific things that are happening in Syria,” reports Frank, “we know that hundreds of Syrians are coming to the Lord… there may be even thousands.”
In these times, Jesus’ disciples are there, testifying to Syrians that God cares for them, hears their cries, and can be found by them.
In these times, God’s promise stands: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me … and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
Is God calling you to serve Syrian Refugees?
**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.**
Main photo by Russell Watkins/DFID
Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/hope-for-a-future