Horizons International Field Ministries, Global Locations, Key Initiatives, Middle East & North Africa, Syria

Director of Kurdish Ministries Takes Short Term Mission Trip to Syria

Ministry in Afrin

Horizons International’s Director of Kurdish Ministries, Nihad, returned this May from a short term missions trip in Syria between Aleppo and Afrin. He spent five days on this trip partnering in ministry with the Good Shepherd Church.dec659f7-94c2-410e-8839-8fecf6d76dd2-1.jpgNihad started the trip near Afrin where he spoke to a congregation of Kurdish refugees. He also went on several home visits and ministered to the children. He reported that there is an amazing work happening in this area, and Christ is felt powerfully among the believers, but they are also in great need.

One significant need is transportation. As of now, there are many people, but not enough cars. They’d love to have one or two vans available to pick up people from the surrounding areas and bring them to the church services as well as distribute food and clothes to the refugee camps.

The two photos above are from the Good Shepard children’s ministry. Nihad reported that there were many kids in a challenging situation. But praise God that they can go to the Good Shepard Church, read the Bible every week, and get support from the church community as well.156058e1-a92d-481e-986f-624321eaed3f-1

Another aspect of Nihad’s trip was visiting the many large refugee camps in the area. Nihad spent a lot of time sitting with families, preaching, and praying for them. The Good Shepard Church currently supports 900 families in the camps, but there are still many families unsupported (five whole camps). Nihad hopes that the church will be able to support all of these families, but this will require more funding from outside resources.

Ministry in Aleppo

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In Aleppo, Nihad visited and ministered with a house church affiliated with the Good Shepard Church. A local believer opened the church for meetings that have been overflowing with people every week. When Nihad preached to the congregation, he was amazed that there were about 90 people in attendance, with more than 20 people standing!

Nihad is asking for prayer and donations to support more families with humanitarian distributions and to purchase at least one more van to aid in transporting people to and from the congregations and camps. If you are interested in donating to this ministry, you can do so at the following link: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/GoodShepherdChurch