Thousands of Syrian Children were smiling this Christmas, thanks to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
In a recorded message to ACN, the organization’s project partner Sister Annie Demerjian thanked the charity’s donors for supporting children suffering in the ongoing Syrian crisis.
She said: “[ACN] brings smiles to more than 19,000 children all over Syria because of your Christmas gifts.”
For the eighth year running, ACN is providing Christmas packages for displaced children, including warm clothes, shoes, toys, devotional items and other essentials.
Sister Annie also praised ACN’s work with the elderly and disabled Christians in Aleppo, providing food, soap and other washing items, medicine, clothes and shoes.
She said: “You can’t imagine, when the old receive the aid, how they cry. They open their hands and they thank you and they told us that they pray for you. Really you are in their prayers daily. They are grateful for all that you are offering us.”
ACN supported a project in Aleppo, at the request of the city’s Latin-rite Bishop George Abou Khazen, to provide food packages for the poorest Christian families, which also includes financial aid for fuel and heating oil.
Sister Annie said: “I can’t express my feeling for how you will help to warm so many houses because of the fuel you are providing.”
During the civil war, more than 1,700 Christians were killed and more than 600 were abducted. The Christian population of Syria has declined by up to two-thirds within the last decade. In Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, the Christian population has declined by more than 80 percent since 2010, falling from 180,000 to 29,000.
Throughout Syria, ACN has provided educational scholarships, medicine, rent subsidies, repairs to homes and churches, and support for women religious and priests. Last year, the charity supported 185 projects humanitarian and pastoral projects in Syria.
Sister Annie said: “I am very happy to have this opportunity to send you a message to thank you for all that you are doing for our people and our families, especially those who are suffering from the consequences of the war.”
This article was published by Aid to the Church in Need and is republished here with kind permission. To learn more or to help, visit www.churchinneed.org
And today we celebrate...