Our Staff and Students Serving Syrian Refugees

The team of 9 from BBC arrived in Jordan on Saturday 23 march. We were welcomed by Jordanian brothers and sisters Jordan Theological Seminary (JTC). Dr. Hanna Misaad and Dr. Imad Shahadeh were among the people who welcomed us.

The following day, Sunday we attended worship at al Ithahd  (Alliance Church).  After church, we were welcomed by Mr Jamal Hashweh who spoke with us about the Hope and Mercy mission and gave us instructions as how to serve the refugees.

Sunday afternoon and evening we were out visiting homes with the help of our Jordanian brothers who have been doing this work for two years. They were pleased since we are the first Arab team to come and volunteer. All previous teams were Westerners.

We visited 11 homes some were Christian and other were Muslim Refugees. All however were moved to see Palestinians come to comfort them and help them in their moment of distress.

Today, we are driving to Mafrak in north Jordan we will resume our visitations with the help of Rev. Nour and his team. Rev. Nour is the pastor of Al Itihad church in Mafrak.

So far our team is in good moral and are blessed by serving others.

Continue to pray for us,

Alex and the team

Monday, March 25

We arrived in Mafraq and our driver took us directly to Al-Itihad (Alliance) Church which is one center of distribution to the Syrian Refugees.

As soon as we arrived we were overwhelmed by all the activities going on at the distribution center. The pastor who came out to welcome us could hardly speak to us for all the Syrian women who were trying to get his attention in their desperation to receive help. Even though we had just arrived, some Syrians began coming to us to share their frustrations and their needs.

Once inside the center, the pastor shared with us about the center’s activities. He and his team of Christian volunteers are giving their time and energy to serve as many of the refugees as they are able. They welcomed us warmly and expressed how happy they were that we came as they are constantly in need of volunteers.

Today, as on previous days, we will be visiting homes where Syrians live outside the camps. The big challenge for the Syrian refugees is that they are not allowed to work in Jordan. They are renting individual rooms in apartments for $150-$200 a month; these rooms are quite bare and a room may house a whole family.  The sad reality is that most of the refugees have no funds to pay their rent. This may force them to return to a Refugee Camp (which are overcrowded and dangerous) or to Syria. Some would rather face the threat of death through bombing in Syria than face  humiliation such as this in Jordan.

We have not yet visited the large Refugee Camp which has security guards and needs a permit to enter; the Alliance pastor is trying to get us the needed permit to enter the guarded camp.

We continue to covet your prayers,

Alex, George, Dani, Edward, Mike, Issa Jabra John and Basil.

Tuesday, March 2013

Pastor Nour from the Al Itihad (Alliance) Church invited all of our volunteers for breakfast and fellowship at his church in Mafraq.  After breakfast, we gathered at the church for a discussion on effective ways to serve the refugees. We then gathered at the store house to load items such as food, powdered milk, mattresses, blankets, mats, propane gas bottles and many other items.

Soon after our team split into three groups and each group went with a local volunteer to visit the Syrian homes. Actually, our job was easy because almost every family we visited had already been blessed by the distributions and visitations of the volunteers. We were welcomed in every home with open arms. People told us again and again that they welcome us not because of the material items that we were donating but rather for the love and understanding that we were sharing with them. The refugees were also touched to know that we are Palestinians. Some of our members shared with them about our suffering and the fact that we forgive those who do us harm. We admonished them to forgive in spite of the fact that their wounds are fresh. Our main message to the refugees was that God loves them and we love them too. That message moved their hearts. As we left the homes the families begged us to come back. Often we heard them say, “Come back without donations in your hands. We only want your presence and blessings in our homes.”

We continue to be overwhelmed by the poverty we see among these lovely people. They actually have nothing except the bare necessities of life: mattresses, blankets, a small gas cooker and a few utensils. Never the less, they are thankful and not complaining.  Among them are physically and emotionally wounded persons who need our prayers, counsel and a lot of help. The need is great, the supplies are limited, and the volunteers are overworked. The harvest is plenty and the workers are few.

We continue to covet your prayers,

Alex, George, Dani, Edward, Mike, Issa Jabra John and Basil.