The Gospel News

Recently we were able to meet with our one Syrian brother whom we baptized a few years ago. He escaped through the mountains to Turkey, where he has now been joined by his extended family. Our brother had already shared the good news of Christ with them in their home village in Syria, but the situation there made baptism almost impossible. So it was with joy that we were able to baptize our brother?s nephews and brothers HUSSEIN, JELAL, BARI, HARMODE and MENNAN. Here they are together with Hannan (third from left) in a tea house after their baptism:

They are very frightened young men, all from the same village. They have all been called up to serve in the Syrian army and also in the rebel command which is in control of their home village. The village has been shelled and bombed, is without

Jan-April 2014

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electricity, water and sewage; all food has to be brought in from afar and is very expensive; no wages or pensions are paid, indiscriminate killings have occurred, and the whole area is largely deserted apart from the elderly and those otherwise unable to escape. They are desperate for news of their remaining families. There is a legit- imate concern about many refugees and asylum seekers that they are simply seeking a better life in the West. But the situation in Syria is different - 100,000 dead, several hundred thousand wounded, basic amenities, income, food and employment cut off for millions, fighting everywhere, and a few million refugees. The situation is truly desperate. There are Syrians everywhere in Eastern Turkey, rich ones, poor ones, some on foot, some in cars, but all uprooted and desperate.

Turkey is not a friendly place for refugees. The police arrest and hassle anyone who looks like one, and Turkey will not give asylum to anyone. Humanly speaking, that is understandable. Because of its geographical position, Turkey is flooded with refugees and asylum seekers - from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq. And now a few million from Syria. Short of putting landmines on their long, mountainous border or shooting at the crowds of desperate people surging over those borders, there?s little Turkey can do about the influx of millions of desperate