Christians are speaking about the aftermath of the earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria a few weeks ago leaving at least 44,000 people dead.
Abdallah is pastor of the Alliance Church in Aleppo, one of the few regions still controlled by opponents of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. He said that, even before the earthquake, people were living in economic crisis, unable to afford their basic needs due to inflation and constantly rising prices. Afterwards, with many buildings destroyed, forcing people to live in the streets in freezing weather, it became much worse.
The main needs are for shelter, warmth, medicines and food. But getting international aid in is itself difficult, as the necessary state approvals are taking a long time to come through.
Worse than living through war
Middle East TV station SAT-7 has been reporting on the crisis in Syria ever since the earthquake struck. Its You Are Not Alone programme spoke to two families who had taken refuge in the Aleppo Christian Alliance Church. As aftershocks continued, the Maraashli family explained that even the slightest signs of movement, such as ‘water shaking inside a bottle’ now trigger fears of another earthquake.
A week after the quake, Janny, a young woman who survived by sheltering at the church, recounted her family’s escape – giving thanks to God. She told SAT-7: ‘We were asleep and suddenly the earthquake happened. It continued for 70 seconds. It was the most terrifying 70 seconds. We lived through seven years of war and were not as afraid as when the earthquake struck. We fled the house fearing that worse could happen. A building close to us collapsed but ours did not. The Lord protected us: there was not one crack.’
