Life and Ministry of Syrian Alliance Pastor Issam Farah

It was early Saturday morning, July 9, 2022, when I received the sad news that my good friend, Rev. Issam Farah, had died of a heart problem. Our relationship went back to 1992 when we were the first students to travel to Lebanon to study at the Christian Alliance Institute of Theology (CAIT). Our friendship grew throughout the years, and we became like members of the same family. Rev. Farah was a kind man, with a strong and solid faith. Calm and secure, he brought joy to all around him. His passing is a great loss for the C&MA in Syria and the surrounding region. We appreciate your prayers for his wife Nahed and for his sons, Ibrahim and John.

A Syrian pastor from the coastal area near Tartus city, Rev. Farah was born in 1965 and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in 1979 when he was 14 years old. He felt the Lord calling him when he was 18, so he started to minister to the youth in his town. He showed dedication and his efforts were fruitful. Rev. Farah married Nahed in 1991. She shared his vision and calling, and in 1992 they moved to Beirut, Lebanon, to pursue a degree in theology from CAIT.

After graduating in 1994, Rev. Farah and Nahed moved to the southern city of Darra where he pastored a C&MA church for five years. In 2000, they moved to Jedidiah, a city in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus. They started pastoring there and established a C&MA church. He was ordained with the C&MA in Syria in 2002, and their new church building was dedicated the same year. In 2016, Rev. Farah was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the C&MA in Syria and Lebanon, and he pastored in Jedidiah until his death.

Faithful to his calling to the last day, Rev. Farah served and helped the people with love and integrity during the war. He was a gifted preacher and discipled many young leaders, one of whom graduated just last month from CAIT. The church has continued growing, despite the difficulties of the war. Rev. Farah also was a family man, a loving husband and father, and he led his two sons, Ibrahim, 29, and John, 25, to faith in Jesus Christ.