Pray for Aleppo, a City Under Siege.

Over the last couple of weeks, fighting between the Syrian army and rebel groups has intensified in the Syrian city of Aleppo. In one single day in mid-July, 250 rockets fell on the city’s Christian-majority western side, which is currently under government control.

The situation in Aleppo is set to deteriorate even further, as rebel groups plan a siege of the city. The siege is expected to last for months, especially as, in recent weeks, government forces’ advances around the city’s outskirts have severed the only remaining route into the rebel-held eastern neighbourhoods, effectively already placing them under siege.

Reporting on the planned siege by rebel groups, one local church leader told Barnabas Fund: “It means that we no longer have any chance of living. Some believe that it would almost be better to die.”

Farah al-Atassi, of the opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC), told Al Jazeera yesterday: “There are around 400,000 civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo on the brink of starvation. [Then] just last Sunday, two days ago, the Russian and the Syrian regime air forces bombarded the six remaining hospitals and medical facilities in [the city].”

According to local rescue workers, five of those medical facilities are now out of action, leaving just one hospital in working order for the whole of Aleppo.

The church leader added that Aleppo is experiencing “the worst moments in its history” and that prayers and cries of despair can be heard day and night. The situation, he continues, is going beyond “that which can be endured.”

• Pray for Syria, and especially for the city of Aleppo. May their prayers and cries for mercy be joined by those of Christians around the world as we cry out to God on  behalf of this city.
• Pray for the lifting of the siege from both government forces and opposition forces, and for humanitarian aid and medical supplies to reach those who desperately need them.
• Pray for the Christian community in Aleppo, that they will not lose heart. Pray for encouragement even in the midst of despair, for comfort from the Holy Spirit, and for faith that will stand sure and firm on God, the Rock of Life, the source of Hope and Healing.
• Pray for a move of the Holy Spirit in this nation, for and end to the conflict, for healing of broken lives for many to find life and hope through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 130 vs 1 – 2: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!“

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news, https://www.barnabasfund.org/news