Years of crisis in Syria have left a nation of displaced people suffering from profound trauma. Entire homes and possessions have been lost, family networks torn apart, and social stability deeply fractured. Their memories of violence are fresh.
In the midst of such total loss experienced by Syrian refugees, God’s hope shines brightest.
Valerie, a single Frontiers worker in the Middle East, ministers in a clinic that serves Syrian refugees. She offers compassion and resources to those who have left behind families, homes, and livelihoods—literally everything—in hopes of finding safety and stability outside their homeland.
More importantly, Valerie encourages refugees with the good news that Jesus Christ is Healer and Redeemer.
To Frontiers workers like Valerie, these people are not just refugees. They are friends. Valerie recently wrote the following:
Last week, I visited my friend Aisha. It felt like divine timing, because just fifteen minutes after entering Aisha’s home, she received a call that her brother-in-law had been killed in Syria. I was able to comfort her and pray over her while she cried. She was greatly shaken by this news of yet another death.
The next day, my teammate and I went to offer condolences to Aisha’s grieving mother-in-law, a woman who has taken me in like I were her own daughter. It was a beautiful time to see these women rally around each other in prayer and provide comfort in a time of grief. I walked away touched, but also torn at the amount of death these people have seen.
This week, I prayed with a woman named Rahima. Her family is still experiencing significant trauma from the war. Her eight-year-old son has nightmares and still wets the bed. Her daughter gets extremely sick and scared at the sight of blood.
Rahima is tired and is fighting to grasp a hold of hope. She welcomed the truths I shared with her about Jesus being the healer and about how God has overcome the darkness. The Lord wants to heal this family, and I am praying expectantly that He will do it. Pray with me in asking God to bring light into Rahima’s home to heal the darkness.
Today, another friend named Amira stopped by unannounced. When she got up to leave she began to cry. Amira told me that her son has had fevers for the last month or so. These fevers leave him clenching his teeth in his sleep, stiffening his arms, and clenching his fists. Amira is afraid for him.
This was yet another holy opportunity to pray for healing in the authority of Jesus.
Please join me in praying that Jesus tenderly touches and heals each of these women and their families.
We praise God for sending laborers, like Valeria, to the harvest among Syrians. And we join Valerie in praying expectantly for God’s healing and salvation to be made known among those who have suffered the traumatic effects of war and violence.
Learn more about how you can help minister to Syrian refugees at the link below: frontiersUSA.org/refugeeproject
**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.**
Original article: www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/friends-not-just-refugees
