For fathers in Syria today, the need to keep their families safe means much more than you or I could imagine.  Due to the conflict that has besieged this region for more than a year, fathers are leaving jobs, homes, and communities behind to find security for their children. They are embarking on dangerous journeys, often facing violent attacks along the way, and then starting over in a new land with no savings and only the clothes on their backs. 

This Father’s Day, please remember the fathers, like Hassan, who are doing everything they can to provide for their families in the very worst of circumstances. 

Take Hassan for example. Hassan is my age and has a wife and four children – three of whom still live at home. Until six months ago, they lived in a comfortable house in Damascus, Syria where Hassan ran a successful plumbing business that employed several people. On December 16, 2012, however, Hassan and his family witnessed things they never imagined in their own neighborhood – the bombing of a mosque and a school, and the killing of dozens of people.

“I saw the flashes on the walls while my son was playing with his friends in the street,” explained Hassan, “I hastily took my wife, daughters and son, and we left our house behind. My wife and daughters went to stay with relatives while my son and I slept in a mosque in Damascus for 20 days, and then we all fled Syria for Jordan.”

Hassan obtained passports and completed the official papers so that they could go to Jordan. They paid extra money to speed up the process that would otherwise have taken two months.

“We left because of the bombings, the kidnappings, and the terrible things we saw,” Hassan explained. “My wife and I were very afraid for our children and ourselves.”  

At the border, the officials didn’t let Hassan cross because he lacked a particular stamp. Leaving his wife, son, and one daughter safely in Jordan, he and another daughter went back to obtain the stamp. Along the way, they came across an army group who beat him while his daughter watched. They took his money and badly damaged his eye but eventually let him go.

When Hassan had received the necessary stamp and made his way back to Jordan once more, he was again attacked by soldiers.

“They asked me why I was returning to the border,” Hassan recounts. “My daughter fainted when the soldiers pointed a weapon at me and said ‘We will kill you now.’ I begged them saying ‘Please do not do this – I want to go back to my family.’ Finally they let us go.”

At last he was reunited with his family in Irbid, Jordan where they were able to rent a small basement apartment. All their money was spent on housing – nothing was left for food, household items or medical care.

Hassan got to know the people from the local church in Irbid. He met the pastor and had his eye examined by a medical team when they organized a temporary medical clinic in the church. The family has also received food and other supplies.

“I have seen by my own eyes that the church is doing a good job with the refugees, distributing materials for them and giving them support,” says Hassan, “One of the things that gives me relief is the verse I see on the wall when I enter the church:  ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:28-30). This encourages me and gives me relief. Even though I still have material needs, these words give me comfort for my soul.”

This Father’s Day, please remember the fathers, like Hassan, who are doing everything they can to provide for their families in the very worst of circumstances.  Over one million families are displaced within Syria or have taken refuge in neighboring countries. World Renew is partnering with members of the Integral Alliance and is working through local churches to provide for their urgent needs.  Please join us.  Your prayers and gifts are an essential part of this ministry. 

To support World Renew’s response to the Syria Crisis, please donate online…

Or call us or send your cheque marked “Syria Conflict 2012” to one of our offices:

World Renew US
2850 Kalamazoo Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
Tel: 1-800-552-7972

World Renew Canada
3475 Mainway
P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD
Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8
Tel: 1-800-730-3490

 

Syrian refugees (not Hassan) queuing up outside UNHCR to get an appointment to register for refugee status, Amman, Jordan.  Photo: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund