The Syrian Pastors Who Stayed

For pastor Valentine Hanan, war and displacement have been a part of his life since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011. Raised in Aleppo, he has moved four times with his family to escape the fighting. During the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad by a coalition of Islamist rebel forces in December 2024, he returned to Aleppo, where he serves believers from the Kurdish minority group at Christian Evangelical Alliance Church of Aleppo.

Throughout 2025, Hanan and his church weathered sporadic armed clashes in the city. But in January this year, tensions between the Syrian government and Kurdish militants escalated to new heights. Fierce fighting in the Aleppo neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafieh forced Hanan and other church members living in the area to flee their homes.