Pastor Essam Habib of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Seventh-day Adventist Church successfully brought his parents to safety in Iowa on December 15, 2024, after a harrowing journey that coincided with the Syrian government’s collapse. The pastor traveled to Syria from November 27 to December 19, 2024, to escort his parents to their new home, but found himself witnessing the fall of a government and fleeing the country amid chaos and violence.
Pastor Essam and his wife, Farah, had worked for two years to bring their parents to safety through the immigration process. After finally receiving approval for green card visas in late 2024, Pastor Essam made the journey to Syria to accompany his parents to Iowa.
A World in Turmoil
Our world is continually changing. There are wars and rumors of wars. Matthew 24: 6-7 says, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…”
Many people see turmoil and worry all around them. The parents and family of Pastor Essam Habib are well acquainted with the difficulties and strife of family life in a turbulent Middle Eastern country.
The Reality of Living in Difficult Circumstances
Having moved to the United States in 2017, Pastor Essam made his last visit to Syria in 2023 because of his father’s traffic accident. His father was not receiving adequate medical care, and Pastor Essam knew he had to go home to help his father and family.
Shocked by the conditions he observed in Syria, Pastor Essam was taken aback. Economically, things had worsened. His father, now retired, was no longer receiving 90% of his firefighter’s retirement pension payment.
The government was a dictatorship and provided only limited necessities. Everything was under the government’s control. While still blessed, his parents struggled in every aspect of existence. Throughout the country, there was no more value for human life.
Pastor Essam returned to Iowa, sad and with the knowledge that he had to find a way to rescue his parents.
Honor Your Father and Your Mother
He and his wife, Farah, worked for two years to bring their parents to safety. They prayed about the situation, yearning for their parents to join them in Iowa. Each time they spoke with their parents, they asked how they were surviving. The reply was that they “did not know!”
God tells us in the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother…” Knowing the move would be difficult for them, Pastor Essam and Farah also recognized they would be fully responsible for their parents. They also believed God would provide… financially and in all ways. Whenever Pastor Essam had cold feet, Farah convinced him that they must continue the effort to bring her in-laws to safety.
Pastor Essam and Farah recognized there would be challenges. Their parents don’t drive, don’t have health insurance, or speak the language. They would be dependent in every way. Farah reminded him that God would provide.
Bringing Them Home
Pastor Essam and Farah began the application process for the parents to come to the United States on May 1, 2023, and they continued to pray at every phase. There were many documents and steps to navigate through the immigration process.
Finally, in late 2024, the United States granted them their immigration interview in Beirut, Lebanon. However, there was a conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, and things were growing worse in that area of the world.
Because of the growing tension, Lebanon was no longer processing immigration requests. Their interview was scheduled, and their files were sent to the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
Next, a visa was required to travel to Amman, Jordan. Pastor Essam had hired a company to get their visas six weeks earlier. However, the company had not submitted the visa application within the required three days before the original interview date.
There seemed to be no hope for them to make it to their scheduled interview in Amman, and it often took a few months to reschedule another interview. It appeared impossible for them to meet the interview’s timeline. However, God had a plan. Prayers continued, and their visas to Jordan were received one day before their interview!
They made it safely to Jordan and the US Embassy and their interview. Another issue arose. The Embassy’s process requires medical exams, and the results submitted to the Embassy before the interview. Pastor Essam contacted the US embassy, and they made an exception by allowing the interview before the medical exam. They could do the medical exam after the interview! Prayers continued.
This strengthened the family’s optimism as they saw how God made this happen. It was encouraging to see how things were unfolding.
Within a few days, they received notification of their green card visa approvals. They returned to their home in Syria for a farewell to friends and family.
Witnessing a Government’s Fall
In the meantime, Pastor Essam planned to travel to Syria from November 27 to December 19, 2024, to escort his parents to their new home in Iowa. God had another plan, and once again He led.
As he was driving to Chicago from his home in Iowa, and flying from Chicago to Syria, the opposition was preparing to overthrow the government after 14 years of conflict. They would soon control more cities and the borders.
Three days after arriving at his parents’ home in Syria, all borders closed. Political opposition groups began warring.
He was unsure if he or his parents would ever be able to leave Syria. So, he traveled to Damascus, Syria, where he thought things would be less dangerous. Instead, what he found was a city now foreign to him. There was chaos in the street, as people were randomly shooting in the air, and prisoners were freed from jail. Others were breaking into buildings to steal property and guns.
The day he was in Damascus coincided with the government’s fall, and he witnessed the horror of a country’s government in collapse.
Escape to Safety
The next day, he traveled from Damascus to Beirut, Lebanon, where he arranged to meet an international cab driver who would drive him to the Lebanese border. As he waited for the driver to arrive, he saw prisoners walking on the road. They were still shooting, leaving still-warm bullets on the ground like sand.
Once he met the driver, they sped on their way with the taxi moving at 180 KM per hour (112 mph), as they hoped to escape any wayward bullets.
Traveling the road, they witnessed burned tanks, overturned police cars, burned public transportation buses, and armed people shooting in the air. So frightening!
A few hours later, they arrived at the Lebanese border. Pastor Essam gave glory to God for helping him make it safely out of Syria.
Upon arrival in Beirut, he found that only one airline was operating flights, with no other departure options available until January 2025.
Originally, he and his parents were to fly to the United States from Jordan, and their plane tickets had been booked. Now they must fly from Lebanon, and by the grace of God, reservations were successfully made! This was because two days after arriving in Lebanon, three more airlines began flying because of a new truce. If this truce had not happened, they would have been stuck there indefinitely.
God’s Blessing, a New Home!
On December 15, 2024, the three of them arrived safely at their home in Iowa. Pastor Essam says, “Since then, it has been only a blessing having my parents live with us, safe and sound.”
“Having a family worship every night and seeing my non-Adventist parents eagerly waiting for their turns to read the word of God has paid off all the work we have done and reminded us once again that God is good and everything works for His Glory when we give Him our hearts,” Pastor Essam said.
Carol Bradley is Communication Director for the Cedar Rapids Seventh-day Adventist Church in Iowa.
