Millions of believers around the world today are in need of hope, help, and liberty. They are persecuted for what they believe and stand for. The Damascus Commission exhorts the Body of Christ around the world to stand by our brothers and sisters and assist in the rescue and rebuilding of their lives and families. In this context of persecution, we are called to come alongside a new generation of ambassadors for Christ who are being raised up to live and serve among the unbelieving people groups of the world and preach the kingdom message of God’s unconditional love and eternal life through Christ Jesus.

The story of the Damascus Commission is the story of God at work through His chosen vessels called to bear His name among the nations. Almost two thousand years ago, the Lord spoke to Ananias in the city of Damascus, instructing him on his impending meeting with Saul (who would later be known as Paul):

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15–16)

Before this encounter with Ananias, the Lord also appeared to Saul on the Road to Damascus and told him,

I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. [I am sending you to the Jews and Gentiles] to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ (Acts 26:15–18)

It is for this same reason that the Lord called the Damascus Commission: to strengthen and minister to the souls of vulnerable persecuted disciples of Christ among the nations, aid in their daily survival, and exhort them to continue in the faith and grow in the power of their witness.

In a world full of strife, wars, and unbelievable tragedy, we believe we are born for such a time as this, to be a voice of hope in hopeless places, a lifeline in dying places, and helping hands in hurting places. We follow the command of the Lord Jesus “to preach the gospel to the poor…to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18–19)

We are often asked of the reason of the hope that is in us and what brings us to the hurting people of the world. Our answer will always be the same:

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and following the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are rescuing and rebuilding lives, physically and eternally, one life at a time. Come and join us!

“There is nothing that delights my heart more than to see people of every tribe, tongue, and nation worshiping King Jesus.”

These are words that describe the passion and call of Fady Al-Hagal, a US citizen born and raised in the ancient biblical city of Damascus and the founder of the Damascus Commission. In 1988, Fady stood two miles away from the neighborhood where he grew up, in the house of Judas, on Straight Street, the very spot where the Apostle Paul stood after his Damascus Road encounter with the Lord Jesus, and received healing for his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Fady heard the Lord say to him, “I am giving you a ministry like that of the Apostle Paul, to go to the nations as a chosen vessel, an ambassador for Christ, to share the good news of eternal life.”

After witnessing the civil war in his own homeland, Syria, resulting in the death of over half a million people since 2009 and the displacement of over six million people internally and outside the country, and seeing the surrounding nations of the Middle East engulfed in religious, economic, and political conflict spanning decades, leaving more than one and a half million dead, and many multiplied millions in despair, poverty, sickness, and physical and spiritual hunger, Fady sensed God leading him to establish the Damascus Commission. The Damascus Commission was born to be an instrument of truth, hope, and life among those seeking to discover the truth in the nations of the Middle East and beyond.

The Damascus Commission is committed to provide aid and biblical training to persecuted believers among the nations, as well as assist in rescuing and rebuilding their lives and future. Hearing the overwhelming cry for physical and spiritual liberation, the Damascus Commission exists to point the people of the nations to their ultimate Shepherd and Guide Jesus Christ.

We in the Damascus Commission are called to locate, support, and raise up an army of ministers and witnesses we call the Elijah Company—a group of transformational leaders, who like the Apostle Paul, will go into all the nations, will not bow the knee to false gods and false ideologies, and will share the truth that leads to eternal life and plant the eternal work of the gospel among the lost.

This is our time to go to wounded people groups of the Middle East and share the kingdom message of Christ in word and deed, bringing life and freedom to the oppressed, medicine to the sick, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and aid to the suffering, as we share the truth that transforms people for eternity. We are commanded by the Word to love our Lord and represent Him as we love and minister to the people of the world.

The Bible says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) We are commanded to love our brothers and sisters, especially those who are persecuted for their faith in Christ, and aid in the rescue, rebuilding, and equipping of their lives in the midst of their afflictions. Just as the Apostle Paul sent Timothy to encourage the people of Thessalonica to establish them and encourage them in their faith so that they would not be shaken by the affliction they face, we are called to go and encourage those suffering persecution for their faith in Christ.

1)   Offering physical and spiritual aid for oppressed and persecuted believers.

2)   Equipping transformational indigenous leaders to become more effective agents of holistic change as gospel ambassadors, disciple-makers, bridge-builders, and
church planters.

3)   Strengthening and supporting indigenous local churches in the Middle East as they seek to serve the most vulnerable and oppressed believers and un-believers in their midst.

4)   Partnering with likeminded ministries in the Middle East to establish ministry centers led by transformational leaders (Gospel Ambassadors) that seek to serve the masses that are subject to religious persecution.

5)   Training missionary-minded Christians and churches in the West and facilitating access to effective ministry partnerships aiding in the spread of the gospel and the survival of believers in the Middle East and beyond.