We held an event called "Voices from Syria - a talk by Reverend Andrew Ashdown" on 22nd October 2016 at our mosque.
Reverand Andrew Ashdown is an Anglican priest in the Winchester Diocese who has been visiting and leading groups to the Middle East for over 20 years.
He visited Syria several times prior to the conflict and is one of the few non-journalists to have travelled extensively in the country four times in the last 2 years, both as a member of international faith delegations and independently. He has spent time with ordinary Sunni, Shia, Alawite, Christian, Druze and Kurds; met with faith and community leaders in Damascus, Homs, Tartous, Lattakia and met with reconciliation committees in Homs and elsewhere.
He has also met with government and internal opposition figures; and visited refugee camps at Yarmouk, and in Lebanon and Iraq.
In November, he spent a few days at a monastery just a few kilometres from ‘ISIS’ lines, and he was most recently in Syria last month.
It was very disheartening to hear the Reverand share the damage and displacement of the people of Shaam. The town that would be flooded during these months of Muharram and Safar by millions of us.
Some feedback we received for the event from our community was:-
“Mind = blown. Special thanks to Father Andrew Ashdown for his incredible account of the conflict and for his courage to go to Syria to promote peace in Syria. God bless him and his family”
Moral of the story = don't trust the BBC
**Syria - Exploring the Conflict**
Absolutely fascinating insight into the crisis and current situation in Syria and wider context filled with first-hand experiences and tales of tragedy, bravery and bravery. Special thanks to Father Andrew Ashdown. Always great to have Father Duncan and co over from St Anne's Church & Parish Hall, Moseley, Birmingham, UK. God bless you all
“A beacon of light in the middle east has now become a meal for the world”
“Syria was buzzing in 2010, full of passionate drive to enhance diversity, living in peace and harmony and a pride for the middle east.
Today, it is heart rendering and absolutely painful to hear the real stuff by an imminent personality who spoke with so much valour and passion about a dream country that has lost shades of colours of life in last 6 years”.
“The reverend's first-hand experience was an amazing insight into the real story of Syria and how the media portrays it so very differently. And I do wonder if Syria will ever become the Syria we knew and visited annually! I sure hope so”.
Reverand Andrew was delighted to have met our community and had this to say:-
"Thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality yesterday. It was such a joy and a privilege both to meet you before the talk, and to share in the delicious meal that you provided, and to meet with and be with the members of the Mosque for the talk. I was deeply touched by the warmth of the reception; by your hospitality; Thank you for your invitation. I hope very much that we may meet again. May the Almighty bless you and your family; the members of your community; and the wonderful Inter-faith work of which you are a part."