“I have a calling. I want to help children,” Maya says.
Maya is using her experience to help others
Maya listened to God. She studied Medical Health because she wanted to work with children. After completing her degree in Damascus, Maya worked for Catholic relief organisation Caritas.
Her own experiences and terrible memories during her studies have allowed Maya to work with traumatised children and she has made the need for Bible-based trauma healing training known. Trauma healing is clinical therapy based on the principles of the Bible. It is designed to help bring healing to Syrian families and children who have suffered trauma from the daily experiences of war. The programme is run by the Bible Society in Syria.
Following her calling
During her degree she encountered violence and fear daily. This girl is tougher than most. She was determined to finish her degree in Damascus, a city that was amidst war and hit daily by rockets. Maya felt safe enough behind the walls of the monastery where she lived but the sounds of people suffering were haunting.
To get to the university, Maya would share a taxi with other students. Sometimes she would find herself in the crossfire between fighting groups on the road to her campus.
“All we could do was bow down, put our heads between our knees and try to hide,” she says.
Around her she would see people run for their lives. Some managed to escape. Others were killed. The war continued throughout all the years of her study of Medical Health. Maya refused to give up!
“35 girls quit, but I really, really wanted my degree,” she says.
In the end she was the only woman left at the university and she took her final exam to the sounds of bombing and shooting in the city. Her determination to follow her calling despite the horrors enabled her to complete her bachelor’s degree and help children.
Please Pray
Many Christians like Maya live amidst terrible war in countries like Syria. Please pray for protection over them. Also pray for those who live in fear for their lives as they follow God’s call on their lives. Pray also for the work of the Bible Society in Syria who continue to bless people through the Bible-based trauma healing programme.
