For the past six years, Syria has been torn apart by a lethal combination of civil war and tribal hostilities. To outsiders, there seems to be only villains and refugees.

But there are heroes. Enter the White Helmets: ordinary Syrians — teachers, tailors, builders, doctors— who didn’t flee the country and didn’t take up arms; instead, they return day after day to the scene of some of the worst carnage on the planet. Known by the distinctive headgear they wear, the White Helmets sift through the rubble of cities like Aleppo looking for survivors. They treat the wounded, work tirelessly to repair and maintain basic services like water and electricity, seek to re-unite families separated by the bombings and occupations, and bury the dead.

The White Helmets grew out of different local relief groups scattered throughout Syria. They number more than 3,000 volunteers in rebel-held areas across the country. They are all civilians — the White Helmets’ code of conduct forbids their taking up arms. Even some militants who had fought in the rebellion have laid aside their weapons to join the White Helmets.

Since they were first organized in early 2013, White Helmet units have saved and rescued 60,000 of
their fellow Syrians. One hundred forty-one White Helmets have been killed in the hostilities.
A war defined by lethal divisions and ancient hatreds has also produced a model of heroism that reflects the best of humanity: ordinary people who rush in to help after every attack and bombing that devastates their neighbors and homeland. Their credo is a single verse from the Quran: “Whoever saves one life, saves humanity.” *

A prophet is “one who proclaims” — and the White Helmets are “prophets” in the truest sense of the
word. In their selfless, dangerous work, the ordinary Syrians who wear the White Helmets “proclaim” the justice and mercy of God in the devastation of their homeland.

We, too, have many opportunities in our own everyday lives to be prophets of God’s love, to play the role of John the Baptist and Isaiah in our homes and businesses and schools, to proclaim in our own time and place that the peace and justice of God have dawned.

In whatever small, hidden, ordinary ways we can, may we take up the prophet’s call this Advent to
“proclaim” Emmanuel – “God in our midst.” -Deacon Jay

*From “The White Helmets of Syria” by Jared Malsin, TIME Magazine, October 17, 2016.

Photo courtesy of TheIntercept.com.