Posted on 12/31/2014 6:02:57 AM PST by marshmallow
Refugees flee Syria and Iraq to Midyat, Turkey, which clings to its diminished role as the heartland of the ancient Orthodox faith.
MIDYAT, TurkeyOn most afternoons, Mor Barsaumo, a honey-colored, fifth-century stone church nestled in a warren of slanted streets, draws a crowd. In the narrow courtyard, old men smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, while children kick a soccer ball across the stone floor. In a darkened classroom, empty except for a few desks, a teacher gives private lessons in Syriac, derived from Aramaic, the language of Christ.
And now, the refugees also come.
Advised by relatives or other refugees, newcomers to Midyat often make the steps of the church their first stop. Midyat and its environsknown in Syriac as Tur Abdin, mountain of the servants of Godare the historical heartland of the Middle East's widely dispersed Syriac Orthodox Christian community. Now the region has become a haven as the fighting in Syria and Iraq has forced Christians to flee their homes.
All Syriac Christians come here. Most of the aid is delivered from here, says Ayhan Gürkan, a deacon at Mor Barsaumo and a member of the Tur Abdin Syriac Christians Committee, set up to look after Midyats Christian refugees.
Only four of Midyats eight churches are still used. Mor Barsaumo is the most central, and hence the easiest for newcomers to find. Its courtyard and schoolroom serve as a de facto community center for local Christians and refugees alike. Gürkan, smoking a cigarette by the church gate, is flanked by two Syrian refugees, Yusep Souleman and Nahir Mirza. Soulemans grandchildren play alongside local children in the courtyard.
Gürkan estimates that of the 500 Syriac Christians in Midyat, about a hundred are refugeesmost from Syria, with a handful from Iraq. Midyat is in southeastern Turkey, just 32 miles (52 kilometers)....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
The terrorists can tear down the walls of every church but they cannot destroy the holy temple that lives within every Christian. Once they realize this it will drive them insane.
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