(Video capture courtesy Alpha Relief/Global Advance)

International (MNN) — One of the big questions that people have when they hear about the refugee crisis is: “How did this suddenly get so big?”

If you start with Syria and the Arab Spring (now called the Arab Uprising) of 2011, you can see where the spark began.   Syrians joined in the protest against the authoritarian regime of President Bashar Assad. He responded with brutality, which fueled the flame of rebellion, which eventually became a civil war.

While fighting continued in Syria, another group–a militant Islamist group–rose up in Iraq with plans to re-create the Caliphate (a Muslim government under the supreme rule of the Caliph, a direct descendant of Muhammad). Within weeks, they rolled across parts of Iraq and Syria and called the territory they controlled the “Islamic State.”

About half of Syria’s population–11 million people–have been displaced, either inside Syria or have taken refuge in other countries (mainly Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan). They were joined by hundreds of thousands fleeing ISIS in Iraq. Add in those fleeing the Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS chapters, and other militant groups, and you have 60 million people who have been displaced because of war, conflict, and persecution.

(Video capture courtesy Alpha Relief/Global Advance)

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, that’s the highest level of displacement in the world’s history–exceeding the numbers for the first time since World War II.

ISIS declared war on all Christians, who are among those millions who have fled to places like Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. The Kurdistan region of Iraq and Egypt have been remarkably generous, too. Together, they have taken over 7 million refugees from Iraq and Syria. There are so many that the demographics of the countries have changed. 25% of the people in Lebanon are Syrians. it’s 10% in Jordan, parts of Turkey, and elsewhere.

Domestic public services are overloaded. Water and sanitation systems are overwhelmed. There’s not enough room in schools and hospitals. Because of the competition, social tension is at an all-time high. So, they escaped death, only to survive as refugees, forced to rebuild their lives from nothing.

(Photo courtesy Global Advance)

Yet even in the midst of such darkness, the hope of Christ is shining brightly. The humanitarian crisis wing of Global Advance is Alpha Relief. Global Advance’s David Shibley explains, ”They have been involved in ministry to the persecuted church for a number of years. We are very grateful to be partners together in ministry. They have very strong contacts in the Middle East: a particular pastor in Jordan, another one in Lebanon.”

Alpha Relief partners with men like these to provide emergency extraction, refuge, and relief aid to those in desperate need. Shibley acknowledges the needs are bigger than they can support alone. However, “We simply need to respond however we can, the best we can. Though we cannot do everything, we CAN do something. That’s what we’re doing. We’re bringing humanitarian relief through the ministry of Alpha Relief.” Christian families have infiltrated predominately-Muslim controlled areas with the love of Christ, evangelizing and discipling Muslim converts in a new faith in Jesus.

Alpha Relief supports missionaries equipping new believers and secret house church gatherings, which spread the gospel message to extended families and neighbors. Here’s how, says Shibley: “All of our giving to relief outreaches is in cooperation with pastors who are on the ground and who know the condition of their flock. Many times, they’re mobilizing their church to assist.”

He can’t emphasize the need enough. The pastors he’s talking about are personally involved with reaching out to the refugee communities in Lebanon and Jordan. The challenge: “Often, they simply run out of food, they run out of blankets, they run out of bottled water, and just the very basic needs.” Alpha Relief can stand in the gap with resources. More than that, “We do that within the context of personal prayer and ministry that is provided by these pastors and others, so it’s not simply giving them the humanitarian aid that they need, but also in ministering to their spiritual needs.”

On top of basic survival needs, there are special safe houses which offer counseling and rehabilitation for former Muslim radicals and those persecuted by Muslim family members after their conversions. Many guests at the safe houses are equipped to return to their communities as undercover missionaries and house church planters.

The crisis has been going on for a long time. Many of the aid projects from the United Nations are perpetually underfunded. Some programs are out of money. Until there’s a face with a name put to a situation, that’s not likely to change much. Shibley says that’s why they’re bringing in two pastors (from Lebanon and Jordan) for their Global Summit next month. Part of their purpose is to provide respite for church leaders who desperately need rest. Part is that these pastors are among 52 other church leaders who are the movers and shakers in this world. “We want to get a first-hand report from them and to assess from them the situation that they are close to every day.”

Through Alpha Relief, Global Advance also educates churches in the U.S. about areas of intense persecution and acts as a conduit for support and involvement. The ministry believes in following the example of Jesus Christ who demonstrated compassion to those in need.

Click here for a list of MNN partners who are assisting with the refugee crisis.

Source: Mission Network News

Surviving Syrian refugee family members hold
close to one another.
(Photo and caption courtesy of Christian Aid Mission)

Syria (CAM) — [EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an article posted directly from Christian Aid Mission’s Web site. Click here to find other ways this organization is helping the indigenous church assist Syrian refugees.]

Three years after a pastor moved his family from a war-torn town in Syria to the more serene city of Sweida, a deadly bombing there last week brought the violence home. Along with other Christian leaders in Syria, the pastor must decide whether to stay or flee.

Like members of his congregation, the pastor must constantly evaluate the risks of staying–with the added weight of having to choose between fleeing to protect his family and remaining to disciple the converts who make up most of his church. The car bombing on Friday (Sept. 11) killed a prominent Druze cleric and 25 others on the outskirts of Sweida, and retaliatory violence has reportedly killed another 21 people. In the initial attack, a second car bomb exploded near a hospital in a neighborhood where at least 50 injured people had been taken. No one has taken responsibility for the bombings.

Sweida Province will be coveted territory for the Islamic State (ISIS), said the pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons.

“Sweida is a target for two reasons,” he said. “First, religious reasons: the Druze are not Muslims. The Druze are very educated and modern. Druze women dress quite modernly. Secondly, Druze are considered to be loyal to the government, which makes Sweida a big target to ISIS.”

ISIS militants can be found near Tadmore, less than 20 miles from Sweida, he said.

After leading a church in Daraa in southern Syria for 8 years, he had moved to his home village of Kharaba, about 30 miles east, when civil war broke out in 2011. From there he was still able to serve his church in Daraa, but the next year rebel militias took over Kharaba, forbidding Christian worship or even the ringing of church bells. Most Christians fled, and the militias resettled 500 Muslim families to take over their homes.

The pastor moved his family another 30 miles east to the Druze stronghold of Sweida. He has been able to continue visiting his church in Daraa once a month while leading a new church among Sweida’s Druze, who made up 3% of Syria’s pre-war population but account for 96% of the Sweida area.

Unlike his congregation in Daraa, where most people came from Christian families, those in his Sweida church are former Sunni Muslims displaced from other areas, and former Druze, a religion originating in the early 11th century as a gnostic mix of various philosophies and religions. The Sweida church’s ministry has expanded to serving people displaced by the war.

Christians make up 2% of the Sweida population, and between them and the displaced, most would like to leave.

“When we talk with the Christians here, we find that 80% of them want to leave,” the pastor said. “But there are two things that keep them here. First, most don’t have the ability to leave financially. Secondly, where would they go?”

Children help offload aid at a tent camp
for refugees in Turkey.
(Image, caption courtesy Christian Aid Mission)

Sweida’s Druze are preparing to defend their land against both rebels and government soldiers but have sympathizers on both sides. Residents report that the Druze have formed a militia to defend against rebels, but the Druze’s initial support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad has reportedly waned. The Druze cleric who was killed, Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, had spoken out against Assad’s regime. After the cleric’s death, Druze protestors blamed the government, smashing a statue of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar Assad’s deceased father, who previously ruled the country.

“The Druze are against the war; they do not agree with ISIS or the extremists’ armed militias, so they don’t want war,” the pastor said. “However, they formed groups under the observation of the government to protect their land. So, they are willing to stand up against any attack on them if it happens.”

Area Druze will try to defend their land, though they don’t have heavy weapons to withstand an onslaught from ISIS, other rebel groups, or government forces, he said.

Should ISIS advance on Sweida, Christians and especially their leaders would be among those sought in the group’s push to establish a caliphate ruled by Sunni Islam, said the Middle East director of Christian Aid Mission.

“As ISIS pushes westward inside Syria, Christians are in the cross-hairs,” he said. “They’re running out of places where they can safely flee.”

When two Syrian Christian workers assisted by Christian Aid Mission were killed last year, the organization helped their wives and children to escape to Lebanon. Since then, four other workers with ministries that Christian Aid assists have been captured and killed. Many such indigenous missionaries feel called to risk their lives to remain in Syria, while others may wish to stay but cannot abide the possibility of family members being captured, raped, sold into sexual slavery, tortured, or killed.

Seeking to help these Christian workers and their families to survive, Christian Aid has created an evacuation fund to have resources ready when indigenous missionaries need to move fast.

“Christian Aid Mission has had pleas from Christian workers in Syria to get their families out,” the Middle East director said. “We have connections in countries adjacent to Syria who know how to get them out. An emergency fund has been established to rescue Christians before they’re massacred. These funds will be sent to ministries who have the know-how to do the job.”

The aim is not to remove the indigenous workers from their ministries, but to provide a way for them to continue, he said.

(Image courtesy Christian Aid Mission)

“We are not helping ministries to abandon Syria, but rather trusting that God has other plans for reaching the people of Syria, even the most radical terrorists, with the gospel,” the director said. “Evacuated Syrian Christians can serve as a gospel witness among their people who are resettled in safe countries, or they can evangelize those still in Syria through Internet and media ministries. Almost all refugees seek to return to their homeland, so we could help preserve the indigenous witness from Syria to someday return, should the country become stable in the future.”

Syrian Christians who remain in the country would find a way to reach their countrymen, even if Syria is overrun by militants who vent their hatred of Jesus Christ, he added.

“God’s Spirit is not bound by armies and hostile ideologies.”

The pastor in Sweida said villages bordering militia areas are already seeing random terrorist attacks in which innocent people are killed.

He is not eager to leave a fruitful ministry. Of the 90 people attending services in Sweida, 70 were raised in other religious faiths. Last year the pastor baptized 32 people–three from traditional churches (Orthodox and Catholic) and 29 from Islamic or Druze families.

Christian workers in Syria said they would not leave their ministries unless they have made provisions for the work to go forward.

“We will not allow the ministries to be destroyed,” said the leader of a ministry Christian Aid assists in Syria. “We will make sure the ministry is still running.”

Source: Mission Network News