In the wake of Monday's deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria, a reverend in the region is taking hundreds of the wounded and displaced into his church.
The already war-torn city of Aleppo, Syria, was one of the many cities devastated by the earthquake and the hundreds of major aftershocks that followed.
"You will see that so many buildings that were familiar to you, today they no longer exist," Rev. Haroutune Selimian said.
Selimian leads the Armenian Evangelical Bethel Church and School in Aleppo. When the quake hit, he opened the doors of the church. Every night since, up to 500 people are taking refuge inside.
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"We are providing food, drinking water, some warm clothing and blankets because these people are out of their homes," Selimian said. "They ran to the streets and they are never able to return back home."
Selimian said after a decade of war, people were trying to rebuild, but since the quake, the Christian districts they lived in are no longer recognizable.
"They started now rethinking about reconsidering leaving this place because they are losing hope," Selimian said.
On top of it all, Selimian said sanctions are preventing much of the aid from getting to Syria.
"They are fearing from the present and they are fearing the future," Selimian said.
Selimian said the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) has found ways of getting money in and is a good resource to donate to.
"AMAA is doing [this] for the whole community without any discrimination between denominations," Selimian said.
He said as they try to process the catastrophic sights they are seeing every day, people are finding hope by turning to each other and their church.
"Our refuge is God and we need that sense and that faith so that we can continue to stand on our feet," Selimian said.
