Hell Has Arrived in Syria

The Story of Yussuf

One of the families we visited was the family of Yussuf, a 30-year-old Sunni Muslim, married with two little daughters. He told us that he grew up in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights—an area very close to the Israeli border. Before the war broke out, this part of the Golan Heights was populated by Sunni, Shiite, Alevi and Druze Muslims, as well as Christians living peacefully side by side. After the war broke out, there was a split, and all these groups started to fight one another.

Yussuf told us that he was a Sunni, raised to believe that Israel was the biggest enemy of the Arabic people. However, at a certain stage of the war, the situation in the Golan Heights became so difficult that he and his family started to hope that Israel would interfere and occupy the whole of the Golan Heights. He understood that the Israeli government is much better than Assad’s regime. Assad’s army completely destroyed the city Yussuf lived in. They bombed, leveled and burned everything.

Many people that Yussuf knew are now dead—including family members and close friends. Yussuf shares a one-room apartment with his wife’s family in Fhes. We gave them food, mattresses, diapers, cooking pots, baby food, clothes and games. The family of Yussuf was very thankful and said that the believers who help them give them a lot of comfort in the difficult life situation they are in.

The Story of Muhammad

During one of our visits, we met Muhammad, a 17-year-old boy who was shot in his knee by the Syrian army while fleeing from Syria to Jordan. Injured, he managed to cross the border and was treated by the Jordanian medical workers, who finally let him join his family in Fhes. All these things happened only two weeks before our meeting, and when we visited his family, he had to leave in the middle of the meeting in order to go to work.

We asked him how he managed to work with such a serious injury to his leg, for we noticed that the entire knee was covered by sutures. He looked at us sadly and said that there was no other way. Eleven people lived in the house, and only he and two of his brothers could work. He explained that the refugees didn’t have a working permit, so they had to work many hours for small amounts of money. He works in a restaurant 10 hours a day for only six dinars, which is the equivalent of $7.50.

Before Muhammad left for work, we asked him if we could pray for him, and he agreed. We prayed for healing for his leg, and of course for the healing of his heart from all the hatred and anger he harbored in his soul. We prayed for the whole family, that the Lord would give them comfort in all the pain they were going through, and we invited them to come to the local church.