‘Life has been miserable for four years. The humanitarian conditions in Syria are very bad - no medicines, no services, nothing at all. Just war and blood, war and blood. Nothing is as it was. Everything is destroyed. That is Syria, just war.
So, we decided to leave Syria. The journey is hard. When you get to the sea the boat only carries 20 or 25 people, but they put 45 people in it. It cannot hold that many people. It may sink in the middle of the water. It’s all children, women, babies and young people. It’s like we run from war and death to war and death.
My family are still in Damascus in Syria. I will try to get them as soon as I can. For me there is nowhere like Damascus. It’s the heart for Syrians. I cannot describe what it means for me. It’s more than love! I’m sure I will go back but it’s all about time; as soon as the world can return Syria to Syria - no fighting, no bombs. We just want a quiet village, a quiet home with a family living happily. No need for blood, no need for wars, no need for anything but happy families.’
Not only do these negative headlines not reflect the truth but they don’t reflect that biblical story of love which binds us all together. To ‘love the stranger’ is a command that is written in to the memory of most Christians but that command comes with a reminder - that we were once strangers ourselves. That might not be our own personal experience, but our lives are part of a greater story. Our story begins with Abraham, called by God to leave his homeland (now modern day Iraq) and to travel. Our story continues with the people who left Egypt to escape a tyrant to journey through a wilderness in search of a promised land. Our story is carried by Jesus himself who had nowhere to lay his head. We are descended from strangers and with that is the amazing commission to welcome those who come to us as strangers!
So we’ve got work to do. We don’t think it’s ok that news headlines are telling stories which dehumanise our brothers and sisters. So we’re fighting back. We’re going to change the story. Imagine if youth groups all across the country took the lead on changing the story? If they had conversations with their friends that challenge the stereotypes and the negative stories, if they challenge their churches to open their doors and offer the welcome to strangers that our king modelled.
Check out christianaidcollective.org/change-the-story and begin a journey with your youth group that rewrites the headlines.
Hannah Henderson is part of the Christian Aid Collective.
