SYRIA – Vacation Bible School is a light in darkness for Syrian children
For children growing up in Aleppo, Syria, life is anything but easy. In a city devastated by war, bombings are common and death is never far away. But for some 350 Christian children in the city, there is a light amid the chaos: Vacation Bible School.
The children gather under the motto “Be merciful as our Father is merciful” to pray for their country and to pray for the conversion of the jihadists. “We’re not afraid because every day we challenge the bombs and death with our joy of living,” says Father Firas Lutfi , the priest in charge of the Vacation Bible School at Saint Francis Roman rite parish in Aleppo.
The Vacation Bible School is made of up Catholics and Orthodox children ranging in age from 3 to 15. During school time they also sing, play and make friends. Fr. Lutfi said the initiative is “a light for a martyr city of the Syrian civil war.”
Father Ibrahim Alsbagh, the pastor at Saint Francis church, observed that even in a partially destroyed Aleppo, Christians can manage to overcome their circumstances with the joy of being together and through an experience of life and friendship in the name of Jesus.
ACN Malta
