As our Christmas celebrations are behind us and we have moved into the New Year, we must again turn our attention to the world around us. In Syria, for example, Christians hide from neighbors for fear of persecution and involuntarily being drawn into a three-year old civil war. The current ruler’s indiscriminate killing of those seeking change has included many of the two million Christians living in the nation.
Despite the Christians’ attempt to remain neutral in a conflict between the Sunni-Muslims and the exiting dictator’s regime, no one has been spared as armies rampage through cities and towns eradicating mass populations in an effort to stamp out rebellions. Christian refugee camps established in neighboring Turkey go unoccupied for fear that pubic exposure in these compounds will only open them up to further persecution by local radical Islamic groups. Meanwhile, refugee camps for fleeing nationals in Turkey and Lebanon are beyond capacity as many of Syrian’s 22 million people have fled their conflict-torn home.
What most Americans do have in common with our friends in Syria is that we all pray for holy and silent nights, we pray for peace. In most places and times, Muslims, Jews and Christians live, work and worship in harmony. However, in areas where war and conflict persist the world’s attention must be focused because the lack of involvement of the good will aid evil’s perseverance. We pray the New Year will bring peace to places like Syria and other widely under-reported areas of conflict around our world.
