Missionary Shares the Story of a Syrian Refugee Who Came to Christ Partly as a Result of Christian Aid to All, Even Muslims
What a missionary in Europe shared with us regarding a Syrian refugee who claims to having been converted to Christ
First, a note (from me): this confirms from another angle the story that we have heard from Christian mission/relief agencies that Muslims are startled to receive aid from Christians since, as they related, they would not give such aid to Christians. This has led to Muslims seeking to know more about Jesus and Christianity.
As the missionary related the story:
G-- , the three-week refugee from Syria, came to the house for a longer get-acquainted session. S.B., a fluent Arabic-speaking colleague from southern France, gave us a lengthy Skype interview to collect G--'s story. I'll not tell it in detail, but suffice it to say that what impressed him the most was the marked contrast between the work of Saudi-financed humanitarian aid in Syrian refugee camps in Turkey (where he had served as a translator), and that of Christians.
The Saudis would ask children's names as they handed out bread, and when a Christian name was mentioned, the Saudis would pass over the child, stating that he or she was undeserving because he or she did not come from a Muslim family. G-- realized that the Saudi relief agencies were culling out the most gifted, giving them one year of training in Islamics, and then sending them out to jihadist wars in Afghanistan or other locations.
On the other hand, Christians whom G-- met were willing to distribute food and other assistance to everyone, and would not seek recognition for their work. The Christians were not out to recruit members for a religious movement, G-- said, and this stimulated his interest in knowing more about the Bible.
G-- reportedly spent two years in a Syrian prison and escaped Syria within a day after the birth of their youngest girl. He has not yet explained his conversion to Christ to his wife. He's been offered a job as an Arabic teacher in the European city where he and his family has taken refuge. G-- has asked us -- and we ask you to join us in this regard -- that the scales will fall from his wife's eyes so that she will desire to know the Lord as well.
Would you like to help refugees from the wars in Syria and Iraq?
Christian Aid supports the work of indigenous ministries in the region that are responding to the Syrian refugee crisis. Gospel workers have distributed food packets, milk and diapers for babies, blankets, and shelter materials. They have also handed out New Testaments and other Christian literature to those who are interested in hearing the good news of Jesus Christ.
Our approach is focused on meeting people’s physical needs by providing humanitarian, medical, and educational assistance and ensuring access to clean water and people’s spiritual needs by providing Bibles and establishing churches in as many communities as possible.
Samaritan's Purse provides heaters to stave off the cold of winter for people living in camps in northern Iraq
In December, Franklin Graham and Fox New host Greta Van Susteren visited a refugee camp in northern Iraq where Samaritan’s Purse is providing help for Syrians who have fled a fierce civil war in their homeland. They met a 90-year-old woman living in a tent with her daughter. They could only borrow a heater for two hours a day in an attempt to stay warm.
“I thought to myself, my father is 95 years old. Could I imagine trying to care for my father, in a tent like this, sleeping on the floor in the rain and the cold?” Graham said.
Graham committed to providing 2,000 heaters for the camp to help refugees fight off the bitterly cold winter.
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