Syrian Christian Refugees No Better Off in Turkey.
Turkey has taken in about half of all of the Syrians who have fled their country due to the civil war. As of last year, Turkey had received a total of 1.9 million refugees and is, typically, the first choice of Syrian refugee families as it is right on Syria’s border.
But for the 45,000 Syrian Christians who have chosen Turkey, life, at best, is only slightly better than in Syria.
About 14 percent of the Syrian refugees in Turkey are staying in camps because Turkey doesn’t have anywhere else to put the constant waves of people that keep pouring across the border.
For Syrian Christians who make the journey, they must pretend to be Muslims in public in order to avoid being attacked. They also have to limit their worship of Jesus to the privacy of their homes.
Many of these families cannot enrol their children in school because the children don’t speak Turkish, and men who attempt to get work are often only able to get very low paying positions, at best.
One refugee, going by the name of Linda, said that her husband, who is an electrician, has only been able to get temporary jobs at construction sites. His pay is $25 Turkish liras, which is the equivalent of about $8.28 per day.
Linda continued: “When ISIL militants raided our house in Baghdad last year, my daughter Nuşik was seven. She stopped talking on that day and has never spoken again since then. We are now living in Yozgat. We are working hard to provide her treatment, but she still won’t speak. We do not have a future here. Everything in our lives is uncertain. Our only wish is to provide a better future for our children in a place where they are safe and secure.”
- Pray for Christians Syrians refugees in Turkey and other countries, where they find themselves still being oppressed and rejected because of their faith.
- Pray for those Christian refugees who have applied for asylum in western countries. Pray that their applications will be looked on favourably by governments, and they will find a safe haven for themselves and their families.
- Pray for refugee children, many of whom are deeply traumatised by what has happened to them and their families. Pray for them to find healing through the love of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
- Pray for them any Christians working with refugees, that they will continue to show compassion, love and grace, and be channels of healing, hope and life to these desperate people.
Psalm 10 vs 17 – 18: “O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more.“
Source: http://www.gospelherald.com
