I was the first to depart because I actively participated in the Syrian uprising of 2011. At the age of 19, I was arrested, and upon my release, the fear of repeating the harsh experience of imprisonment made it impossible for me to continue living in Syria.
Murad as a Christian leader may resist the threats. Still, many Christians are giving up and choosing to leave Lebanon. It’s increasingly becoming a place where Christians can’t thrive and express themselves freely.
There is an enormous potential that the Syriacs can bring to the future of Christianity in the Middle East. By becoming a unique model for an empowered and vivid Christian community in the region, they show us all that the extinction of Christianity in the Middle East is not a forgone conclusion.