Syria (MNN) — Hope surges in Syria after last week’s announcement that the U.S. intends to lift sanctions on the beleagured nation.
The U.S. legislative process will take time. But the potential has already increased the value of Syrian currency and stirred attention from international investors.
“We did not expect this coming in this way and so abruptly,” says Nuna* with Triumphant Mercy Lebanon. “With that change, I can only imagine a boost in every part of Syria. We heard [recently] of people celebrating when they heard the news. People were dancing on the streets.”
Nuna explains that rebuilding Syria has been impossible. “You are not allowed to do any work because there are so many sanctions. If the U.S. discovers that any money goes into Syria, then there is a ban on you.” (Read more about the 2019 Caesar Act here.)
For years, Triumphant Mercy has found small ways to legally be the hands and feet of Christ in Syria. But now if the Syrian families they work with in Lebanon eventually return home, there will be deeper ways to help rebuild.
Syrian refugee children at a half-built apartment block near Reyfoun in Lebanon, close to the border with Syria, give the peace sign, 2016 (Photo courtesy of Eoghan Rice via Flickr)
“So now [it] is a different game,” says Nuna. “It’s a huge ministry opportunity to just go in the land and work.”
Syria’s new government and its stance toward religious minorities is unpredictable. It’s much too soon to tell if these ministry hopes will come to pass. But God is up to something! Please pray for gospel light to spread in Syria.
“Let’s pray that the motives will not be just economic or just so that the Abrahamic Accord will come to pass, but more so that the people of Syria will rise again, and that they will really see that God had mercy on them,” says Nuna.
“Really, I think this is an act of mercy from God, and I want to see people recognizing it. Let’s pray for the Syrian people, who have been oppressed for so long, that they will recognize God’s appointed time for them, and they would come to know Him.”
Learn more about Triumphant Mercy Lebanon’s mission here.
*Pseudonym
Header photo of child holding a Syrian flag courtesy of Ahmed Akacha/Pexels.
