More than 1,300 Syrians are reported to have been murdered in a mere 72-hour time span — women, children, and entire families erased in a matter of hours. 

Christians spend a lot of time advocating for people of all faiths, including our Jewish friends, the Uyghurs in China, and more.  It’s an honor to stand in the gap and exercise our faith in tangible ways, allowing others to see the compassion and charity to which our Savior calls us.

Did you know that the single most persecuted religion in the world is Christianity?  There is a crisis going on in Syria for Christians and the Alawite minority, and we cannot be silent! 

The atrocities unfolding in Syria are devastating and heartbreaking.  What began as clashes between armed groups loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad and forces aligned with the new interim government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa — formerly head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group with historical ties to al-Qaeda that toppled Assad in December 2024 — has escalated into widespread, unnecessary violence.  This includes heinous attacks and killings, particularly against Christians and the Alawite minority. 

Churches have been burned, families displaced, and lives extinguished in a wave of terror that compounds Syria’s nightmare of war and ruin.  With such violence taking place, you’d think the legacy media, and many commentators and influencers, would be up in arms, relentlessly covering the horrors.  Their silence is deafening.

Major news outlets, once quick to cheer Assad’s removal, now seem content with brief segments, barely scratching the surface of atrocities committed by this new regime. 

Influencers, who champion all kinds of causes on social media platforms, appear largely absent, perhaps hesitant to wade into a conflict too confusing or politically charged. 

Even some human rights organizations, typically vocal about civilian suffering, seem oddly restrained, issuing statements but lacking the fierce outrage one might expect for mass killings of minorities. 

Could the silence be due to the fact that it is Christians who are facing this terror?  The question lingers as the world turns its gaze elsewhere.

Christians have faced persecution dating back to when Christ died on the cross for our sins.  That persecution has taken countless forms across time and place: stonings in ancient Rome, the Armenian Genocide during World War I, purges in communist states, the destruction of Christian communities in the Middle East by ISIS and al-Qaeda, and now targeted violence in Syria, shifting with history yet persisting as a thread of hardship.  Today, the people orchestrating these atrocities wield a hatred that mirrors the ancient malice long directed at Christians through the ages. 

The people of Syria enduring this nightmare, particularly Syrian Christians, desperately need our prayers.  So too do countless others around the world facing discrimination and persecution, whether through overt violence in Nigeria, systemic exclusion in China, or silent erasure in secular corners.  All are in need of our prayers.

Christians must not only pray, but also act.  As James 2:26 reminds us, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”  This serves as both a challenge and a guide.  Praying for Syria’s suffering, lifting up their cries for peace, protection, and help, is vital to our faith and rooted in Scripture, but the Word also demands more, so we must spring into action.  Raising awareness is a living deed.  Sharing their stories in our churches, places of work, and posts on social media platforms and supporting organizations that aid the persecuted are essential.

So let’s not settle for dead faith.  Concerned Women for America encourages every believer to pair prayer with bold action in this critical time — lifting Syria up to God while lifting their circumstances to the world.  Pray without ceasing, then step boldly forward.  Speak out in your community, donate to relief efforts, and amplify the voices of those who cannot speak for themselves until awareness and real changes are reached. 

Start today.  The people of Syria need our living faith now.

Image: watchsmart via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).