Our hearts are full


All ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up. – Luke 9:17

In the village of Ayo near Hama in Syria, we enter a room filled with internally displaced people (IDPs) living nearby.

We are people from MCC visiting Syrian partner organizations. There are some host community families here, too, but all the people in the room have one thing in common – the war in Syria has left them with very little.

The village is only 15 kilometers from the front lines between government forces and the opposing militant groups, so there is a constant stream of IDPs arriving.

This is a farming community, but it has not rained for some time and water has been cut off from the dam by the rebels.  We arrive as the rain also arrives and community leaders tell us that is a good sign!

Person after person in the room tells us about villages destroyed and families depleted. All of these families receive food boxes from MCC through the Syrian Orthodox Church. They tell us the food is nutritious and is an important part of their monthly food intake.

In the Greek Orthodox church in the nearby town of Krabou, we join another circle of IDPs. This is a Christian village but it has embraced Muslim IDPs as well.

Even as I try to focus on the unique experiences of each family, the stories of kidnappings and shellings, of fleeing and of food and housing shortages, seem to blend into one shared experience for me. A Muslim man tells us he left Raqqa with a Christian friend and both of their families have been welcomed into this community.  

Father George tells us that when the stream of IDPs began years ago, the community opened up their churches and schools to receive them. 

When we visit Greek Orthodox Bishop Nikola, he tells us that the region has a history of many ethnicities living together as one people and that, when the war ends, communities will have to find a new beginning for living together in peace.

In Hama, we hear more stories from IDPs who have received MCC food boxes. The priest offers thanks to MCC on behalf of the community.  

When we are finished sharing stories, we share a meal together, mounds of rice and chicken, eaten heartily by all.
Hunger will likely come again to this community, but for this day, the rice and chicken are like the two loaves and fishes that Jesus broke for the crowd and our hearts are full as well as our stomachs. 


Ron Byler is executive director of MCC U.S. 
  

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