Posted on 08/03/2013 6:39:44 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
Tens of thousands Syriac Christians – members of the oldest Christian community in the world – have fled their ancestral provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah in northeastern Syria, residents have said.
"It breaks my heart to think how our long history is being uprooted," said Ishow Goriye, the head of a Syriac Christian political Hasakah.
Mr Goriye, told The Daily Telegraph how, over the past two years he has watched as Christian families from Hasakah pack their possessions on the rooftops of their vehicles and flee their homes "with little plan to come back".
Conflict in the area, desperate economic conditions, lawlessness, and persecution by rebel groups born from the perception that Christians support the regime, remain the main reasons for why Christian families are fleeing the area.
"It began as kidnapping for money, but then they started telling me I should worship Allah," a male Christian resident of Hasakah who was kidnapped by jihadists said.
Save Thy people, O Lord,
and bless Thine inheritance.
Grant victory to Thy Church over her enemies,
and protect Thy people by Thy Holy Cross
Where do they go?
I think the U.S. only lets in muslims.
There was the famous, sumptuous, gorgeous Umayyad Mosque that we saw as tourists. There were about a dozen imams sitting in a circle around a beautiful, stunning thing, tall, gold thing with a largish top that held something for which they were praying.
They believed it was the head of St. John the Baptist. Imagine, imams praying around what they believed to be the head of Jesus' cousin/relative.
Pray for the believers in the middle east, they’re already in tribulation,
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
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