“All we have left is God”: A message from Aleppo

The situation grows ever-more desperate in Syria, especially for the shrinking groups of Christians still in the region. In the city of Aleppo, at one time home to the country’s largest community of Christians, what remains of the terrified population watches as the brutal civil war rages on.

Below is the author’s translation of a letter, written in French, from Sister Marguerite Slim of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition. Sister Marguerite works at Hospital Saint-Louis in Aleppo; this letter, from April 23, is addressed to her community’s donors in the free world.

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It has now been three weeks since we last had water, electricity, and access to Internet: everything is in the hands of the various Islamist groups and we have no way of knowing when these things will be given back to us. So it is difficult for us to communicate, but we really want to thank you for the generator which you have enabled us to buy: it is essential in these very difficult days.

Gasoline has become a very rare and expensive commodity due to the international sanctions and the difficulty in reaching Aleppo: the big generator which we had been using until now consumed too much of it.

The situation worsened last week due to the many missiles launched against the two Christian neighborhoods of Aleppo by the Islamists: we are safe inside the hospital, so we stay put and they bring us the dead and the many, many injured. We manage to take care of them, despite the lack of electricity, thanks to your generosity. Thank you on their behalf, from the bottom of my heart.

But we still need your prayers because the population is quite desperate. At times it is so difficult to be confident…..

The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Christian neighborhoods have by now run away to Lattquié or Tartous, due to the great destruction caused by the missiles. All we have left is God.

In the hospital we take care of the ill or injured, from 15 to 30 a day. There are also some staff who sleep over because it has gotten impossible, or too dangerous, for them to go home.

We hear the gunfire all day from around the city and the inhabitants are exhausted from these fights. Aleppo is surrounded by jihadi groups and the inhabitants all have but one word on their lips: Help us! Save us!

We do everything we can, and we manage to do our work as correctly as possible, by the grace of God.

Thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and your prayers, above all don’t forget us … Your support is indispensable, today more than ever.

Sœur Marguerite Slim