According to a recent study, the number of displaced people in the world has hit 60 million, with Syria’s more than 4.5 million refugees in the spotlight. The need worldwide is overwhelming, but for ABWE workers Brock and Sarah Snow*, this need is opening doors for the gospel in the Middle East.
For the past 11 months, the Snows have been working with a team of national partners to share Christ’s love by providing practical aid to Syrian refugees who have sought shelter in their Middle Eastern community. Recently, their team received a donation of blankets and personal items that allowed them to help and forever change the life of a refugee named Rashid*.
Rashid is a father of seven, but he used to be the father of nine. Two of his sons died in an explosion in northeast Syria when a shell hit their home, trapping the boys in the rubble and badly injuring another of his sons.
Two years later, his one son still bears the scars of those injuries, and the pain of losing two of their sons is still fresh on Rashid and his wife’s faces.
When the Snow’s team visited them, Rashid and his family were cold, exhausted, and dejected. They had been to more than five mosques in their area, but no one would help them.
“When we came to them — Christians willing and ready to help — they were amazed,” said Brock.
After giving them blankets and hot water bottles, Rashid cried with relief. He had felt helpless and hopeless for so long. As Rashid wiped his eyes, he asked them why they were helping his family, which opened the door for them to share the source of their hope.
As they shared the gospel, a peaceful calm came over Rashid’s face, and that very day, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.
*names changed for security
