What your response to Syria says about you
You’ve probably seen the images. A toddler washed up on a beach in Turkey, children caught between military barricades in Greece, millions displaced at refugee camps. They are not the first, and they probably won’t be the last.
It should break your heart.
What is your response? Is there anything you can do to actually make a difference?
And what does your answer say about you?
If you’re expecting a guilt trip, you won’t find that here.
Even if you just uttered a prayer under your breath for a better world, that is something. There is a lot of suffering everywhere you look, and it can sometimes seem like too much to bear. It’s easier to shut your eyes to it, or focus only on the immediate problems in your own life.
The thing is, it is possible to make a difference in this world if everyone responds in even the smallest way.
If you are praying...
Thank you.
Prayer changes lives.
Prayer changes you.
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Here are some specific ways to pray for Syria and the refugees:
- Pray that Syrian refugees can safely start a new life, free from violence, wherever they end up.
- Pray that the fighting in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries will cease and peace will reign in that region. Pray for ISIS.
- Pray for wisdom for government officials and humanitarian organizations like GAIN as they seek to help migrating people seeking asylum.
- Pray that in the midst of the turmoil, people will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
If you post...
Thank you.
Sharing information on social media is a great way to help others know more about this crisis. It has been called the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII. And social media is a great way to get others involved.
You don’t have to have all the answers, or have read all the stories to get involved in this way.
Read one story and if it touches you, share that story. Knowledge is powerful.
If you stir others to action…
Thank you.
Taking the time to collect canned goods, host a Blanket Drive or a CarePacks Drive is needed. This can take time, but the need is strong. Thank you for finding a way to give to those refugees in need.
When you help by meeting the physical needs of ISIS refugees through organizations like Global Aid Network, people in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey will see years of suspicion about Christianity melt away.
Your practical aid builds relationships and a way to gain the opportunity to tell people about Christ.
If you give...
Thank you.
In times of crisis, money is often the easiest and quickest way to get help to those in need. It can easily translate into food, clothing, shelter or medical care – whatever is needed most at the time. Please consider giving to Cru’s humanitarian aid ministry, Global Aid Network.
If you hug your own kids a little tighter, or go to church on Sunday, or do some research on international policy, you are doing something. You are letting yourself engage with the world, and that says you are letting God work in your life. You are being the hands and feet of Jesus, welcoming the homeless and forsaken.
Taking a moment in your day to think outside your four corners of the world and know that beyond you is a world of fear, hurt and brokenness opens the gate to do more, give more, pray more. Keep taking those steps to learn what is happening past our neighborhoods and beyond our borders.
Learn more about GAiN’s ministry to refugees. These are 4 things you can do to help refugees in Syria.
