Aid for Aleppo

UPDATE, December 13, 2016: A cease-fire agreement has been reached to evacuate rebel fighters and civilians from Aleppo. The Syrian government now controls the city. CAMA remains focused on providing aid to civilians living in Aleppo or recently displaced from the city. Please continue to pray.

By giving to CAMA’s Syrian Refugee Relief fund, you are assisting both those displaced from Aleppo and the many Syrian refugees living in Jordan and Germany.

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Posted December 12, 2016

Aleppo, a city almost twice as large as Paris, was once considered Syria’s largest city. Now Aleppo is a city devastated by civil war.

Since 2012, the government led by President Bashar al-Assad controlled the west side of the city and the rebels controlled the east. Yet after another aggressive offensive in mid-November, the Syrian government has gained control of over 90% of the city.¹ In their gains, more Syrians have been killed and thousands more displaced.

The Devastation

The destruction and suffering are growing increasingly worse.

– Half of Syria’s population is currently displaced, with 31,500 people displaced in the last few weeks from Aleppo alone.

– 4,500 children in the city have been killed in the last four years.

– 100,000 people remain in the shrinking rebel-held portion of Aleppo.

– Fewer than 1 out of 3 hospitals are functioning.

– Food, fuel, and medical supplies are dwindling.

– Humanitarian aid is blocked.

The Hope

In the midst of all of this, there are Alliance churches ministering in Syria, even in Aleppo. And The Alliance in the U.S. is asking churches and their congregations to pray:

1. Pray for Syrian families displaced by recent fighting.

2. Pray for those in desperate need of medical attention.

3. Pray for the Syrian church.

Will you also pray for the CAMA team working on delivering aid this week into Syria?

CAMA has partnered with Allegheny Center to deliver funds to the Alliance national church in Syria. The funds will go towards providing heating fuel for the winter, but will also provide needed food.

Aleppo is CAMA’s first priority, but other areas in Syria are in need of aid too. The UN estimates 1 million Syrians are living under siege, more than half of them children.²

Pray that Syria will know peace.

“O Day of Peace that Dimly Shines”

O day of peace that dimly shines

Through all our hopes and prayers and dreams,

Guide us to justice, truth, and love,

Delivered from our selfish schemes.

May the swords of hate fall from our hands,

Our hearts from envy find release,

Till by God’s grace our warring world

Shall see Christ’s promised reign of peace.

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb,

Nor shall the fierce devour the small;

As beasts and cattle calmly graze,

A little child shall lead them all.

Then enemies shall learn to love,

All creatures find their true accord;

The hope of peace shall be fulfilled,

For all the earth shall know the Lord.

References:

1. Frederik Pleitgen et al., “Aleppo: Syrian Regime Forces Seize Most of Old City,” CNN, December 8, 2016, accessed December 11, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/middleeast/syria-aleppo-conflict/index.html.

2. Julian Borger. “US and UK Explore Possibility of Aid Airdrops in Syria,” The Guardian, December 4, 2016, accessed December 11, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/04/us-uk-explore-possibility-aid-airdrops-syria-drones.