By Open Doors USA

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners”  Isaiah 61:1

As the international community watches in growing concern, the death toll continues to rise in Syria. According to a United Nations report in early January, more than 60,000 people – including government troops, members of the Free Syria Army (rebel forces), and innocent civilians – have been killed in the conflict. One rebel agency claims that more than 3,500 children are among the dead, but that is not confirmed by the U.N.

Adding to the confusion and distress, the U.N. estimates that more than 1.2 million Syrians have been internally displaced as of Jan.2nd. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees also reports approximately 700,000 additional Syrians have fled the country into places such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. The mass exodus volume has increased rapidly in recent weeks. The Associated Press reported that last week a wave of 21,000 Syrians moved into overcrowded and often dangerous camps in northern Jordan.

In addition to those in the camps, four million Syrians who are still inside the country need food, shelter, and other aid, according to the U.N.

The overwhelming numbers and facts, however, do little to reveal the individual sufferings—the grief, the tears, the broken hearts of those who are mourning dead, the anxiety over missing or fleeing family members, and the lack of food, shelter and clothing in the freezing winter – of those still in Syria and in the refugee camps outside the country. Syrians are struggling to cope with another “Arab Winter,” both literally and figuratively.

Read the rest via Syrian Christian Under Siege Need Our Prayers.

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