Ferial sees a good future after meeting Jesus

One of the ladies opens the Bible and starts reading Psalm 1. All the other women in this simple living room read the passage in their own Bible. Ferial smiles. She feels like being placed by streams of water. New streams, as she is displaced. Her situation is far more challenging than the life her family was used to. “I feel peace, inner peace.” Learn how she found inner peace through a Center of Hope in Latakia.

You needed to walk quite some stairs to reach the top floor in the apartment building where the 52-year-old Ferial Jamil Labbad is living with her husband Ghandi and their two children Anna Maria and Ohannes. The names of the children already say that this is a Christian family as both Ferial and Ghandi were born in Christian families. A Muslim parent wouldn’t choose those biblical names for their children.

When the war in Syria started in 2011, Ferial and Ghandi were living in Aleppo. Everyone remembers how, after the fighting and destruction in Homs, Aleppo became the Syrian city that made daily headlines because of intense fighting and bombing. When the bible study is over, and the ladies have left after quite some time of sharing, praying and small talk, she shares, “There were a lot of airplanes over our house, my children were young. I was afraid for them. We took them out of bed and hid in the bathroom,” she describes the situation in the city. Sometimes she pauses, staring, as if she is seeing what they went through.

They lived in an area of Aleppo that was badly hit by the war. “We were living so close to the militia groups.” Both sides were striking each other with mortars and missiles. “Our whole building was weakened. We were at the upper floor, the wall cracked in the middle, the windows were broken, there was debris. We didn’t have any bread and the children were hungry.” This lady went through all the horror of war, the threat of extremists, and yet she seems so strong, so positive.

One day Ghandi got in trouble only because he tried to buy some flour to make bread. She says it was the protection of God that made him walk away from there. “I felt that God was with us in every moment. One time my husband and children went into the market. On their way back, there was a lot of shooting, also at them. They started running, my children were crying.”

Living conditions were terrible. “We couldn’t take a bath or take a shower as there was no water. Our clothes became dirty. We spent almost three months with no water. My husband told this to friends who were living in the Latakia countryside. They asked him to come, they would find him a job.” Although it was difficult, he went there and left his wife and children in the besieged city.

His friends indeed got him a job. He rented a house and asked his wife and children to join him after about a month. “I had to go with the kids alone. My husband couldn’t come back because of the checkpoints. I was praying to God to go with us. We left home crying, especially the children because they loved the house. We only brought some clothes with us. We said goodbye to the neighbors, as we had in mind that we would be back soon.” Eight years passed by since that day in May 2014.

More than half of all Syrians were displaced during the past eleven years. Over six million left the country as refugees, another six million were displaced in their own country. Moving to Latakia was something many Syrians did at that time. “It was the safest region in Syria. I was afraid because we didn’t have our own home. God will provide, He won’t leave us, my husband said.” The first period in Latakia was hard. “I cried a lot and I was very upset. I fought with my husband, yelled at him. Our situation before in Aleppo was so different. In Latakia we only have one bedroom and a living room.”

The apartment is small to have four persons living there. The four share the same bedroom, there is little space left for other things than the four beds. What is striking in the kitchen is the lack of food in stock. There are some glass pots with rice, lentils, and sugar, a quarter of a white cabbage on a plate and some pots with herbs and a bottle of oil. The battery on the counter is indicative of life in Syria where batteries are needed to deliver electricity so people can have some light during the hours that there is no mains electricity coming into the cities. In Latakia there is only electricity three times a day, each time lasting only half an hour. Although Syria isn’t in the news anymore and cameras are now on other parts of the world, the suffering of the Syrian people continues. Christians living in areas controlled by the rebels, are persecuted. Churches are closed. Persecution for Christians who were born as Christians does happen less often in the government-controlled areas. Those who convert from Islam to become a followers of Jesus run into a big risk of all types of persecution, in the first place from their family and community.
 

 'I felt that my children were safe here'

Her husband had to remind her time after time that they had come to protect their children from the war. She calmed down. As there were no bombs exploding, no danger of snipers in the streets, no jets flying over the city or extremists threatening them. “I felt that my kids were safe here. I started to thank God that we had taken the right step. I understood that my husband’s idea was better than mine. The children were relaxed, and they could finally sleep. I once woke up and saw them sleeping peacefully. In Aleppo they didn’t, they woke up every 10 minutes.”

In this first difficult time in Latakia, a neighbor told Ferial about the Nazarene Church. “She said that I should go there as they support people. I went and indeed they were a great help.” She didn’t miss a church meeting since that first time. “It feels like my mind and body are in the church now. I wasn’t concerned with Aleppo anymore or about our financial situation.”

The church was like a hen protecting her chicks. “They took us under the wings spiritually and financially. They motivated me to love Jesus even more than I used to do before. We didn’t feel abandoned, they made us feel loved.”

This brought Ferial much closer to God. “They taught us to open the Bible, to read it, to live it. I felt different, closer to the pattern of Jesus. God is alive in us. He is with us, taking care of us, nurturing us. I never felt as heart-touched by that before.” The church, one of the Centers of Hope in Syria, helped Ferial and her family to come closer to Jesus. “The children were also very happy in the church. They felt that Jesus is with them, hugging them, loving them.”

But they also continued to help in a practical way. “They helped us with the rent, with the food and with the children’s needs. And now, as the economic situation is bad, they employed me as a schoolteacher at the Center of Hope.” Ferial loves that job. “I love working with children so much. I like to educate them about Jesus and the church. I love this work, as children still can be influenced by teachers. I thank God that He put me in this position.”
 

'They kept us getting on our feet without fear, that made the difference'

An important investment the Center of Hope made was financially supporting Ferial's two children in their studies and with extra tutoring. “This helped us a lot. Without it I wouldn’t have been able to put Anna in the senior year courses. The church made us feel safe and not afraid. We weren’t scared, because we have brothers in Christ who are helping us whatever the crisis is or was. They kept us getting on our feet without fear, that made the difference.” Without this continuous support, their children wouldn’t have been able to finish their studies.

With the support of their brothers and sisters in faith, Ferial feels confident about the future. “I fear nothing. After we got to know Jesus, I see a very beautiful and good future. With all the crises: war, economic crisis, psychological crisis, electricity crisis, water crisis, I feel peace, inner peace. There’s no depression or sadness because we’re so close to Jesus. We say: Jesus won’t leave us. He will get us higher, to the summit of this life. I am sure we’ll have a better future.”

Ferial knows that many of you have contributed to our work in Syria and thus to supporting her. “I don’t know what to say to that. You’re very generous. I thank you very much. I thank God. He has given us those gifts, He is not leaving us.” As soon as she says this, she cries. She stops talking for a while, grasping for breath again, drying her tears. “Please continue to support, as the prices are now increasing daily.” She grabs a tissue and dries her eyes and cheeks. She pauses a while.



When asked, she gives several examples of the rising prices in Syria. “Groats today you buy 1 kg for 2500 SYP, the next day you buy the same for 3500 SYP. In one day, there is a big difference, unbelievable! Sugar is the same story, today it is 2000 SYP, the next day 2800 SYP. Every day the prices go higher.” No matter how much she and her husband work, they are not able to earn enough to buy the food they need. “In Syria there are two classes, the rich and the poor class. The poor class works hard just to pay rent, electricity, water, gas. There is nothing left for food, clothes or anything else. Please continue helping us.”
Surprisingly she adds. “I always wish I were like you. Even if we have nothing, we can try to help those who are in worse conditions. Some time ago I got five minutes to speak in church. I talked about giving to others, that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Every day I wake up, I pray to God, “Even if I have nothing, I want to give something’. I love to give.” Tears continue running over her cheeks.

What helps Ferial to grow in her faith is a discipleship group of women who study the Bible together and share about their lives with each other. “The ladies’ group is an amazing group. When we meet in my house, I feel that my house is blessed. My husband changes, my kids change, the house is blessed. My children now sometimes correct me when I speak negative. I always wish the women to do their discipleship meetings at my house, because I hunger for the bible. I always love it when the bible is What can we pray for Ferial? “I wish that you will pray for the eastern churches, not only for churches but for everyone in the Middle East. Pray that God would break this economical boycott. May God give wisdom to our government to make the situation better.”