Dee comforting Shadia, one of our Syrian refugees whose widowed mother and brothers have lost everything due to the earthquake.
The need in Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the earthquakes this week is impossible to articulate. Families are living in the streets. Many in Afrin, Shahba and Aleppo Syria, are without food and water. The people in Shahba and Aleppo are now refugees from Afrin because of the earthquakes. Others have been refugees for 5-9 years from other areas of Syria.
For the survivors, each day is very difficult, life-threatening. With devastating and heart breaking stories coming in each day, we are as a ministry are focusing on the immediate needs of those close to us that have been so deeply affected.
Dee and I had arrived h in N. Iraq just a few days before the earthquakes and thankfully our teams here are fine as are we. Of course we are so grateful for this, but our hearts break for those who went through the worst of it.
I never know how the Lord is going to use us but I have always sought an open door to meet needs. Following the earthquakes, I sent the following message in a text to our families in the program on behalf of you and the ministry of Indigenous Ministries:
“Ms Dee and I are asking those who have families in Latakia and Aleppo about how they are. Please contact our office if your family has been affected by the earthquake; let us know how they are. The Lord is watching over your families and also He watching over you and your life.”
Yesterday, at a food distribution, we met with several of our families listening to their concerns and comforting them as they shared that their loved ones are living in the streets having lost everything.
We told them that many in the US are praying and we told them of your thoughts and your heart of concern in Christ for them. The photos we are sharing are from our families in our program – not from the web.
The immediate need is for $50,000, and $2,300 has been donated since the quakes. I’ve spoken with pastors in Syria and those who are giving aid to families in their communities in Syria. and we will be working directly with these communities. The greatest need right now is food and water. We will be working to help an initial 3,000 people through the churches.
Right now you can uphold our brothers and sisters in the Lord and encourage them with your prayers, and you can help them with a financial gift.
Last night we met with a Syrian family and she shared that their family home was flattened and destroyed – for many of us, this kind of loss is hard to imagine.
Would you be willing to help us in meeting even small needs to help people that have lost everything?
May the Lord bless you as you lift them up in prayer and give a generous gift.
John W. Cook