SYRIA — With the sudden takeover of Syria by Islamist rebels driving out the country’s President Bashar Assad, Christian there are in an increasingly perilous situation.

While many Syrians were celebrating on the streets, this new regime by Jihadist forces has the Christian community concerned that they are being taken back to the time when Jabhat al-Nusra broke and desecrated Christian churches and monuments, and imposed Islamic laws.

In the midst of this crisis Christian ministry Help The Persecuted says they will continue to stand with the Christians there who have endured not only intense persecution, but also economic hardship after several years of conflict as well as the recent earthquake.

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With the sudden takeover of Syria by Islamist rebels driving out Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime, there is renewed hope for the end of the brutal civil war. But Christians are now in an increasingly uncertain and perilous situation.

Before this offensive began, Syria was home to an estimated 300,000 Christians.

But the takeover by Jihadist forces has the Christian community concerned that they are being taken back to the time when Jabhat al-Nusra desecrated Christian churches and imposed Islamic Sharia law.

While some fled the conflict, the majority of Christians had no resources to leave and are facing a major lack of access to essentials, including food, water and electricity.

In the midst of this crisis, Christian ministry Help The Persecuted remains committed to stand with the persecuted Christians there as one of their on-the-ground field ministers Daniel explains.

*Daniel – Help The Persecuted Field Minister for Syria (name changed for security reasons):

It is okay for me, I’m not afraid if I go. I know that God is with me and protects me. If I die also for God is it also very okay with me. I am brave with that, and I will go back and try to work there. So pray for me that I can work normally and I can see the normally and help them.

Daniel who had to temporarily leave Aleppo is urging prayer and support so that he can return as soon as possible to continue ministering to persecuted believers, even if it means risking his life.

So what does this takeover mean for the long-term future for the region. Help The Persecuted CEO Joshua Youssef shares his perspective.

Joshua Youssef – Help The Persecuted CEO:

A lot of fear about whether or not these rebel groups will rightly judge and rightly govern with Christians and other minorities in country. So I would say there’s a lot of mixed emotions. Is this going to allow for a flourishing of Syria where you have all these different groups Druze and Christians and Muslims all working and governing together or does this turn out like Libya or Iraq where Isis came in through other Northern part of that country and wreaked havoc on Christians and so that’s what we don’t know right now.

And Help The Persecuted plans to expand its work in Syria to rescue, restore and rebuild the lives of many more persecuted Christians – enabling the church to remain and thrive.

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About Help The Persecuted

Rescue. Restore. Rebuild. Help The Persecuted has been supporting suffering Christians with practical and spiritual help since 2011 and in 2018 was established as standalone charitable organization. We pray our efforts will empower the global Church to flourish not just in Middle East and North Africa, but also in the Western world as we share in their suffering and bear their burdens. Help The Persecuted is a 501(c)3 organization and a member of ECFA, the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability