A call for prayer and action for the people of Syria
PC(USA) LEADERS ISSUE STATEMENT
Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
and Linda Valentine, GAMC Executive Director
LOUISVILLE -- Our Christian friends are enduring great suffering, along with all the Syrian people, under the escalating violence of the Assad regime and the counter-violence of armed resistance groups. The international community seems unable to agree on ways to bring the violence to a halt or to find a path of engagement that can lead to a peaceable resolution of the conflict. As believers in Jesus Christ, who declare that our God is “able to find a way when there is no way,” we must go to God in prayer on behalf of all who are suffering and ask for wisdom as to how we might provide comfort and support.
Here are some things we all can do:
1. We can pray for all the parties involved – victims of violence, their perpetrators and members of the international community who are seeking ways to support a peaceable outcome to this disaster.
2. We must pray especially for our Christian partners, knowing that as in other places in the region, they will remain a minority at risk regardless of the outcome. Christians in Syria – who are an essential component of the fabric of Syrian culture and history – trace their Christian heritage back to the apostolic era and make up about 10% of the population of 22 million. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has partnered with Syrian churches for most of the last two centuries. Please join your hearts in prayer for our sisters and brothers with whom we have been made one in the Body of Christ.
3. We can become more fully informed about what is actually happening in Syria and within the peace-seeking efforts of the international community. The background material provided below can help us begin to get a perspective on what has happened, and there are numerous paths to keeping our prayers informed and relevant through media emanating from the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. Our mission partners also provide valuable perspectives.
4. We can respond to this ongoing tragedy, with its loss of life, injury, and devastation of homes, neighborhoods, cities and towns by generous giving to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering and to the designated giving account DR000081 – Middle East. Your gifts will be used to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced families and others impacted by this crisis. Funds will also help our mission partners in the region as they respond.
5. We can ask our government to support a mediated process of cessation of violence by all perpetrators (including the Assad regime and armed opposition groups), and refrain from military intervention in Syria (which we understand, in this case, will be certain to result in more loss of lives and lead to adverse outcome to the Syrian people and the region).
Background:
Syria’s “Arab Spring” events started in March 2011 in the city of Deraa and spread rapidly throughout the country. People took to the streets spontaneously, and were quickly joined by dissidents – at first mostly secular, intellectual liberals – who had been planning for a few years. Peaceful demonstrations were calling for political freedom, an end to corruption, action on poverty and the lifting of an emergency law. The Assad regime’s response included promises of reforms (which were perceived by some as empty slogans, while others welcomed the promises) on the one hand and brutal suppression of protests on the other hand.
The atmosphere of protests and brutal government response provided an opportunity for several opposition groups to not only join in the protests, but to hijack what started as peaceful calls for reforms. These opposition groups (some heavily armed) include Islamists as well as secular groups and Army defectors. Different opposition groups are supported by different Middle Eastern countries (such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar) and other forces such as Al Qaeda. Some reports have documented the smuggling of arms via Lebanon to insurgents and militia in Syria. Two opposition groups – the Syrian National Council and the Syrian Free Army – have been given refuge in Turkey. The Assad regime is supported by many in Syria’s two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.
Assad is from the minority Alawite sect (an offshoot of Shia Islam) and still has many supporters, especially among minorities. The biggest protests have been in Sunni-majority areas. Clashes between opposition groups and the regime in some cities in Syria continue to intensify to dangerous levels, particularly the city of Homs. More recently, a few small towns have come under the control of armed groups. Some analysts are warning of an all out civil war in Syria. Innocent civilians, including Christians, are in fear and suffering. A few thousand have fled to neighboring countries, and more have become internally displaced. The United Nations reported that as many as 7,000 Syrians have been killed, including security forces and Army personnel.
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Assad, but Russia and China have blocked a Western-sponsored draft resolution on Syria at the UN. Instead, Russia and China support a mediated domestic political process and cessation of violence by all perpetrators in Syria, and back Assad’s call for reforms. The international community’s efforts to secure a peaceful resolution to the crisis have failed thus far. Interferences by other Middle Eastern and Western countries have exacerbated the situation. Syrians are bewildered as to why they are made to pay for an international desire to isolate Iran. In a meeting of the heads of churches of Syria on 15 December, the patriarchs "rejected all sorts of foreign intervention from any foreign party" and "called for the lifting of the sanctions."
On February 23, the Secretary-Generals of the UN and the League of Arab States appointed former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a Joint Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis. Mr. Annan’s task is to consult broadly and engage with all relevant interlocutors within and outside Syria in order to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis, and facilitate a peaceful Syrian-led and inclusive political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people.
A prayer for the Syrian People
Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace,
as you appeared to Paul
on the road to Damascus,
shine forth in these dark days
to show us your way of peace.
Put an end to violence
and murderous threats.
Fill every heart
with the Spirit of peace;
in your holy name we pray.
(Acts 9)
http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/pda/syria-situation-report022412/
Syria
Situation Report
February 2012
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has been watching with concern the growing humanitarian situation in Syria as thousands of families flee the violence in the country.
The crisis in Syria began in March 2011 — a period when political uprisings and social upheavals commonly known as the “Arab Spring” affected Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other countries in the region — with small incidents followed by demonstrations and protests in the city of Dar’aah in the southwest, adjacent to the Jordanian border. . Peaceful demonstrators were calling for political freedom, an end to corruption, and the lifting of an emergency law. The Assad regime’s response included promises of reforms on the one hand, and brutal suppression of protests on the other hand.
The atmosphere of protests and brutal government response provided an opportunity for several opposition groups to not only join in the protests, but to hijack what started as peaceful calls for reforms. These opposition groups (some heavily armed) include Islamists as well as secular groups and Army defectors. Different opposition groups are supported by different Middle Eastern countries (such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar) and other forces such as Al Qaeda. Two opposition groups – the Syrian National Council and the Syrian Free Army – have been given refuge in Turkey. The Assad regime is supported by many in Syria’s two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.
Clashes between opposition groups and the regime in some cities in Syria continue to intensify to dangerous levels, particularly the city of Homs. A few small towns have come under the control of armed groups. Some analysts are warning of an all out civil war in Syria.
Violence between the regime and armed opposition groups has reportedly resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and the displacement of approximately 12,000 people who have fled to neighboring countries.
On February 23, the Secretary-Generals of the UN and the League of Arab States appointed former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a Joint Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis. Mr. Annan’s task is to consult broadly and engage with all relevant interlocutors within and outside Syria in order to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis, and facilitate a peaceful Syrian-led and inclusive political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people.
Response
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has provided One Great Hour of Sharing funds to the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon as they provide humanitarian assistance to families that have been affected by the recent crisis.
Funds will be used to:
- alleviate the short term subsistence (food) need for families over a 4-6 month period, March-August 2012.
- provide medical assistance and basic medicines for the elderly and those in need or chronically ill (women and children), in addition to milk for children.
- assist families that have lost some of their members, who were killed and who were their main support.
- assist elderly people, homes, orphanages and basic infrastructure.
In addition, PDA will continue to work with our mission and ecumenical partners and will provide support as needs are identified.
How you can help
Give. Gifts to the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering help us to provide immediate and effective support to communities in need. Please consider giving to OGHS to support the needs of this response and others like it. Information on different ways to give can be found on the PDA website. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.
Act.
- Contact Ambassador Susan Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; urge that there be a prioritization of humanitarian needs in the response in Syria and across the region.
Urge that the U.S. support the role of Special Envoy Kofi Annan whose task is to engage with all relevant interlocutors order to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis, and facilitate a peaceful and inclusive political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people.
Urge refrain from military intervention in Syria, which we understand, in this case, will be certain to result in more loss of lives and lead to adverse outcome to the Syrian people and the region
Use worship and prayer and resources to lift up the needs of the people of Syria.
Prepare Gift of the Heart hygiene and baby kits. More than 16,200 kits are currently on their way to the region.
Pray. At this difficult and uncertain time, PDA asks that you keep the people of Syria in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray:
- For all those whose lives have been and continue to be affected,
- For those who have lost friends and family during this crisis,
- For those who are displaced,
- For those working to deliver humanitarian assistance,
- For an end to violence and the beginning of negotiations for a solution that meets the democratic aspiration of the Syrian people,
- That access will be open for humanitarian assistance to get through to those in need.
Three helpful looks at the Middle East crises
Len Bjorkman has sent us three very helpful looks at the current crises in the Middle East. The first is a report from a three-day conference of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches. Then there are two recent articles that help show some of the complexity of the current crisis in Syria, which have been forwarded to him by a staff person of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches.
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Middle East Evangelical Churches call for "a Middle East that enjoys peace based on justice, freedom and the respect and preservation of human rights."
The Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches (Lutheran – Anglican – Reformed) held its first international conference on "Evangelical and Christian Presence in the Middle East," on February 13 - 15 in Beirut, Lebanon.
They issued a Final Communiqué which includes this brief summary of their conclusions:
An invitation was issued to all our regional and international partners and friends, inviting them to conduct a serious investigation into the truth of what is in fact happening in the different countries of the Middle East; and which differ from one country to another. Having done so, it becomes incumbent on all to inform the international community of these facts and to respond accordingly. It is our hope that this response shall be inspired by the Biblical principles upon which the Evangelical Reformation was based centuries ago. To us this means to uphold justice and truth and repudiate the violence that now so sadly prevails in the Middle East region – violence that comes from all sides and parties involved.
Click here for the full statement >>
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Assad won't be leaving soon
Robert Fisk writes for The Independent, in the United Kingdom, warns that "President Bashar al-Assad [of Syria] is not about to go. Not yet. Not, maybe, for quite a long time." Fisk argues that Assad has strong support from its immediate neighbors: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, all of which will refuse to support sanctions, and will continue to provide significant support in economic and other ways. More >>
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Syria's 'Arab Spring': failed or hijacked?
Fiona Hill, an Australian with a PhD in anthropology, reports on a visit to Syria where she became aware of the complexities of the opposition to Assad's government. She heard from many people their "disgust" at the "poor governance" they have endured for too long, even as they were equally aware of the divisions among the opposition groups, and their willingness to use inhumane tactics themselves. Read her report from ABC News (which is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) >>
