Suffer the Children

With the conflict in Syria and neighbouring Iraq continuing unabated, one of the most tragic consequences is the impact of these conflicts on families and children. With more than 50% of people living in extreme poverty, and, in Syria, half of the country’s children not attending school, we can only speculate as to the impact this will have on the future generations.

With children missing out on education, the resulting drop in literacy levels will significantly impact their lives – how can they move out of poverty if they cannot read and write? What will be the impact on tertiary education? Where will future doctors, teachers, lawyers and the like come from? Without education, the country faces a serious crisis for the next generation and beyond.

Christian organisations working in refugee camps are setting up schools, where they can provide some levels of education whilst also providing a safe haven and place of security and love for the children, many of whom are severely traumatised by their experiences of war.

• Pray for those working in refugee camps, specifically in schools, that they will find minds eager to learn, and be able to teach with wisdom, sensitivity and love.
• Pray for an openness in the hearts of children to the Gospel, and to come to know the Father God, when so many have lost their fathers in the war.
• Pray that the spoken Word of God will be available in their heart language and will fall on fertile ears and hearts open to receive and accept the Word.
• Pray for an ending of violence and war in Syria and Iraq.