Despite devastation of war and threats of Islamic State, Syrian Christians returning to city of Homs
March 26, 2015
Christians are gradually returning to the Syrian city of Homs, after a mass exodus that followed the outbreak of civil war in 2011, Aid to the Church in Need reports. But as Christians rebuild their homes and churches, they are threatened by the mounting activities of the Islamic State in the region.
The city of Homs has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Syria’s civil war, and thousands of Christians fled for safety. Eleven churches were destroyed or badly damaged, and the city’s industrial base was almost completely eliminated. Although the government regained control over the city last year, rebels still occasionally attack, and earlier this year a car bomb killed more than a dozen people in the center of the city. To this day, crime is rampant, as city officials struggle for practical control; fewer than half the city’s hospitals are functioning.
Nevertheless Christians are returning to their homes, and Church officials estimate that 40,000 Christians are active in the city’s churches today.
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