01/17/2025
A worthwhile read, and then prayer needed!
Despite popular rhetoric we are reading in current world news pertaining to Syrian HTS leaders, who promise to tolerate and protect minorities, there is a hidden reality that believers in Christ need to know about in order to pray effectively for the persecuted.
Tom Doyle, founder of Uncharted Ministries, received a recent update from their Syrian leader in the field who reported that the HTS is targeting the Alawites, a minority group who practice a sect of Islam. The Assad family, who ruled Syria from 1971 to 2024, were Alawites.
Says Tom, “Of course, this is payback, because Bashar Assad was an Alawite, and now the ruling leaders are going after the Alawites. Some of them (the Alawites) were terrorists, for sure, but there’s just good Alawite people that are living in fear—[there is a ] lot of death, lot of kidnappings, bodies along the road in Alawite areas that are just being left there.”
Doyle shares the chilling news that Christians are being threatened with the message, “You are next.”
“There is a Christian group that was doing something in Damascus, and they’re already being threatened that ‘This is a Muslim city, and there will be no more Christian activities here,’” reports Tom. “This is what’s happening just out in the open, but somehow it’s not being covered much. So we need to pray for the church in Syria.”
A Syrian believer, who’s a friend of the Uncharted Team, sent a recent message to Tom. “This friend of ours signs the letter, ‘Rest assured, my dear brother, we are all well through the Lord,’ even though there are clamp downs on when they can go outside of their homes, they’re not getting paid, their government is not functioning well, and there are open threats. Many of them know people that have been killed. But in the midst of it, the Body of Christ is shining.”
Tom asks us to pray for the Church as the HTS consolidates power. “Pray for our Christian family in Syria, who’ve been through so much with the Assad leadership for over 50 years, and now we have this new leadership that is starting to show its true colors, [which is] going to be open hostility to Christians.”
Lord Jesus, show us how to pray! You are the way, the truth and the life. You are TRUTH, and we need it. Reveal the truth to us as we watch the news and pray for the persecuted in Syria. Give us eyes to see and a heart that listens to the guidance of the Spirit to know how to faithfully pray for those suffering under repeatedly evil governments. May Your mercy rain down on Your believers and those being treated in cruel ways. Only You can shift this terrifying tide. And we wait for You, praying in Your almighty name, Jesus. Amen.
“O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? Turn and answer me, O LORD, my God! …But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.”—Psalm 13: 1-3, 5-6.
Https://www.mnnonline.org/news/alawite-religious-group-targeted-in-syria-by-militants/
