Trips Blog

The day had been a long one in Aleppo and had ended with a 90-minute worship service at the Presbyterian Church. The children had sung, young people had received awards for winning a Bible competition, our Outreach team had each been given a plaque to celebrate our partnership, the Word had been preached by our own Jack Baca and we had ended the service with holy communion. The sanctuary had been packed, with extra chairs added in the aisles, and people out the back door – and all of this on Tuesday night which was NOT the regular time for worship…

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Out the back door and around the corner from our hotel in the heart of Bab Touma stands the National Evangelical Church of Damascus where our team gathered for worship on Sunday morning. The Rev. Boutros Zaour and his congregation welcomed us with open arms. There were many hugs, much laughter, and a few tears as old friendships were renewed, and new brothers and sisters were met for the first time. It was a fitting and wonderful way to end our time in Syria.

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It was a split-screen kind of day for our team. With no program for our five pastor teammates, they set off with Nuhad for a walking tour of Damascus, guided by dear friend Samia Koudmani. Old Damascus is filled with sites, and from our home at the Beit Al Wali hotel, it makes for a good day of sightseeing and (gasp) shopping.

Marilyn and I were on a different track...

We first heard of the Hook and Thread Ministry on our first visit during the war in January 2014, when we spent time with the Damascus Church.

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When we come to Syria, and this is my ninth time (the eighth since the war began in 2011), the first hurdle is always getting a visa. Three times when I have been on an Outreach Foundation team, the visa was denied, or more accurately, “never arrived.” This trip was different; our visas were granted before we ever left the states, so we had no worries upon arriving. Our prayers had already been answered, by the diligent work of our church family in this land.

Friday, we faced a different hurdle.

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In a side window of our driver Bashar’s van is a round decal with a picture of Jesus in the center, surrounded by the words King of the Kings and Jesus’ Friends. As I looked through that window at the bombed-out buildings and thought about the problems facing the Syrian people, I saw in the same pane of glass the reminder that as Christians, we are invited into a friendship with Jesus.

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New. After years of catastrophic war here, we saw glimpses today of how God, through his Church, is able to make things new: from the rubble, from despair, from crushed hopes and eager dreams destroyed…

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What a day! Aleppo is one of the most ancient cities, if not the most ancient city, on this planet! Evidence of a civilization here is known 6,000 years before Christ.

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Crossing the mountains from Latakia on Monday morning brought us to the old city of Hama. A warren of tightly packed streets led us to the unobtrusive front door of the National Evangelical Church, founded in 1869. This was a first visit for all of us.

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Today was a day of worship and fellowship at the Presbyterian Church of Latakia, Syria. A full church greeted our team led by the preacher of the day, the Rev. Dr. Edwin Gray Hurley III.

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They stand just outside the door of the Presbyterian Church of Latakia: six headstones, marked with the names of missionaries who first came to this part of Syria in 1856, from the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Free Scottish Church.

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For several months now, our team of eight hardy souls has been preparing for yet another trip to visit part of our Christian family in Syria. We come from different parts of the United States, but we are bound together through faith in Christ, membership in the Presbyterian Church, involvement with The Outreach Foundation, and an affirmative answer to Christ’s call to be involved in relationships with those of similar faith in different parts of the world.

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