From the reports of the destruction caused by the earthquake, we were particularly moved by this picture. A girl's school backpack, with textbooks, notebooks, pencils. Someone pulled it from the rubble. On Monday morning, February 6, a normal school day should have begun. Whether the girl who owned this backpack survived - we do not know. The backpack is just a found object - and yet a silent witness to that moment that tore the people here from their everyday lives and plunged them into deep suffering. I

n the midst of this suffering, there are the local Christians serving. Regardless of the personal losses, the pain and also the exhaustion after more than a week of continuous helping.

‍We need to be here, they say. People come to us because they long for comfort and warmth. They do not want to be alone.‍

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‍As long as the Christians are there, the fire of hope is burning in Antakya (we reported).
Our BM-worker has also been sitting at this fire night after night.
Brother Gerhard has now returned.‍Today he reports about his experiences in Turkey.
About the faithful devotion of the Christians and their testimony in the destroyed city of Antakya.
About the heart of the local churches who stand together with us as ONE BODY OF CHRIST - IN THE MIDST OF SORROW.
Gerhard also shares about how we can pray and help to keep the fire of hope burning in Turkey.

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