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Christians in Syria Hold First Service in 6 years

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Christians in Syria Hold First Service in 6 years
Syrian Church Holds First Service in 6 years
Syrian Church Hold First Service in 6 years

In Eastern Syria, the Syriac Orthodox church in the city of Deir Ezzor has held their first prayer service in six years, Premier Christianity reports.

On Saturday the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Ignatius Aphrem II, led a prayer service in the damaged church, St Mary.

According to AFP, the St Mary church still showed signs of the conflict it its congregation had experienced, “Stones, strips of wire, papers and remnants of rockets were strewn across the church floor, and bright sunlight streamed in from the blown-out windows.”

The Patriarch said, “It’s an indescribable feeling for us to pray in a nearly-destroyed church, which serves as a consolation for our hearts and a message of hope to the people of the city to come back and take part in building it anew.”

One man, Shadi Tuma, chose to remain in Deir Ezzor, “The hard times that Deir Ezzor went through pushed the families to leave, but there was a determination inside of me to stay in this city,” he told AFP.

“Deir Ezzor will always have coexistence. Christians will always have a presence here.”

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