Syria (MNN) — Syria’s new, 23-member Cabinet sworn in last weekend gives a token nod to government inclusivity. But Tom Doyle with Uncharted Ministries says the message of moderation that Syria’s government is trying to project is the opposite of what they are really doing.
“In fact, our national leaders in Syria [with] Uncharted say that as you go to all the checkpoints, they’re not even hiding it anymore. Their headbands, everything just says the Islamic State on it,” says Doyle.
These national believers tell Uncharted Ministries that leaders under President Ahmed al-Sharaa are openly threatening to wipe out Christians. Brutal targetings of Alawites, Druze and Christians have already begun.
Doyle points to the spiritual battle. “Last year, our team in Syria reported more people coming to faith in Christ than ever before,” he says. “So we know there are bigger issues than just a radical Muslim government taking over. The gospel’s on the line. Jesus is building His church in Syria in some of the most dangerous situations you can imagine.”
Two miraculous deliverances
Doyle says things are so desperate for Syrian Christians that their trust in God runs incredibly deep. “Every day they don’t know what they’re going to encounter, because HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) is just combing through these Alawite areas, these Christian areas,” he says.
“They are day-to-day telling us, ‘The prayers that are being sent up to the throne, God is using them to save us. We would surely be dead by now if there weren’t groups of people praying around the world.’”
Here are two stories of God answering these prayers.
During the sectarian violence that broke out in coastal Syria in early March, one Christian family could hear armed men coming door to door down their street. They were on their faces in their home, begging God for protection.
“We don’t have to worry,” their young son suddenly said. When his parents asked him why, he replied, “Because Jesus loves us, and He’s strong enough to protect us.”
Attackers of Christians and Alawites, March 2025 (Photo courtesy of Uncharted Ministries)
Doyle says, “And do you know, they heard the footsteps coming to their house… and the footsteps kept going. They walked right by. It was almost as if the house was invisible. They didn’t come in, they didn’t do anything.”
At another house, armed fighters discovered two Christian brothers and their families. The men dragged the brothers out into the street. Each was given a gun and commanded to shoot his brother. But neither would do it.
Their captors said they had three seconds to fire, or they would kill them themselves.
Doyle says, “They can’t find it in themselves to shoot their brother. So they’re prepared to die, praying to Jesus, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.’”
The captors counted to three, the brothers didn’t shoot, and then, “they get distracted by something that’s happened somewhere else in the city, and they take off, and the [brothers] are still there, they’re alive, and they came just seconds away from being murdered,” Doyle says.
To this day, the men don’t know what distracted their would-be killers.
Find your place in the story
Please keep Syrian believers in your prayers daily. Uncharted Ministries’ partners are boldly delivering aid and relocation assistance for fellow Syrians. The work is incredibly dangerous.
Pray for the above-ground church in Syria. Pray for the secret home churches of people from all backgrounds.
Learn more about Uncharted Ministries and how you can partner with them here.
Header photo of children in Idlib, Syria is a representative stock photo courtesy of Ahmed Akacha via Pexels.
