Ministry of Baptist Church of Tartous & Safita in Syria Mazen Hamati, Pastor of the Baptist Church in Tartous & Safita

الدعوة للخدمة Call for Ministry in 2003 … 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, [a] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10: 7-8 a صلاة خاصة Personal prayer to see the Great Commandment “alive” in Syria

Homs

We had to make a choice! Leave or serve!!

Humble beginning started with the church getting the vision and praying for it.

Ministry Amongst IDPs الخدمة بين النازحين Starting Point was in Safita (Christmas 2011) with around 16 displaced families from Homs. By April 2012, we were serving 45 families. Number of families served grew to 150 families in Tartous and Safita by October By March 2013, we were serving 500 families through expanding to Homs, Banias, Hama, & Latakia. Since then, we’ve been reaching 100 new families every month, such that today we’re serving 1,600 families.

Areas Population before the war Current Population (Estimate) Vulnerable Families served by Tartous & Safita Baptist Church Lattakia1,000,0004,000, Tartous500,0002,000, Homs1,000,000500, Safita400,000800, Mashtal Helou & Jweikhat 200,000500, Wadi el Nasara250,0001,000, Reef/Rural Hama & Kafarram 200,000400,00050 Banias300,000150,00015

Families served by العائلات التي تخدمها الكنيسة Tartous & Safita Baptist Church 1,615 Families (Average 5 members per family) 30% are children under 12 years of age 10% under 2 years of age In Tartous alone, 300 children are orphaned / having lost one or both parents. In Tartous alone, out of 200 internally displaced families, 300 children lost the last school year.

Our Ministry includes خدمتنا تشمل Monthly provision of milk & diapers for children under 2 years of age; food parcels for 1,600 families; also non-food items such as detergents, blankets … Medication for the elderly who have chronic diseases In parallel, God opened before us other ministry avenues such as counseling, moral and medical support, and hospitalization (surgeries)

Preparing Relief Packages

Started this month Remedial Classes for internally displaced children who lost their last school year…

Ministry amongst non-Christian families

Ministry amongst those affected by the war, the elderly too…

Outcome… Blessings البركات Wide spread of God’s Word in Syria through the ministry amongst Internally Displaced Families Reaching people from non-Christian background who initially had negative positions vis-à-vis Christ Distribution of Christian literature and Bibles People surrendering their lives to Christ Revival in the Church manifested in that the “church” as a whole now owns the ministry of compassion not only the pastor. Start of inter-church cooperation, both amongst Evangelical churches, as well as with historical churches.

Challenges… التحديات Large numbers of people are dying before receiving the Word of God Physical risk on us as we move about in the ministry field. Risk of being misunderstood by both sides of the conflict. The fast increase in number of displaced families is leading us to reduce the size of the food parcels to be able to respond to the needs of a larger number of families. The long-term timeframe of the crisis is giving rise of daily emergent needs, necessitating the presence of a fully- focused team. Absence of space to gather the people for ministry.

Prayer Requests طلبات الصلاة That the cup of war be taken away from our country Syria. That the Lord may crush the conspiracy of the evil ones… That He may send the power of His Holy Spirit on His church that it may reach out to the suffering souls That the Lord may give us to speak with great boldness and that many wonders and signs be performed … and souls return to Christ That the Lord may send more help that the house of the Lord may have food to satisfy the needs of the internally displaced … hundreds of whom are without any shelter. That the Lord may send more support for the wounded and the sick who need surgery, medication, and healing. That the Lord may send those who can help us build a center for children affected by the war, that we may be able to take care of those who have lost their supporters, and enable them to get back on their feet. That the Lord may send those who can help our children who are now disabled, and have special needs.

Thank you Mazen Tartous – Syria - cell