San Jose Syrian Christian church prays for Syria, Iraq

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Prayers from the Bay Area are being offered to those far away. Friday night, a Syrian Christian church in San Jose held a vigil to raise awareness about the ISIS attack on their community in Syria and Iraq this week.

The bishop of Mar Yosip Church delivered a solemn service in the ancient Assyrian language.

"They are the very last group of people that speak the language of Jesus," parishioner Sergis Mushell said.

There are members of the parish who are terrified for family in Northern Iraq and Syria after ISIS militants took hundreds of Assyrian Christians hostage this week.

"Yeah, we talk to some of them. And you know, they're in bad shape. We need weapons to protect ourselves," parishioner Vanya Pazanda said.

Parishioners like Pazanda are calling on the U.S. Military to intervene. But it's not just the attack on their people, they've also watched as ancient artifacts of their ancestors were destroyed.

"News of the museum in Mosul, showing the winged bull, Lamassu, taking a sledge hammer to it, this is an ancient artifact that's existed thousands of thousands of thousands of years," church board member Baz Hina said.

"To me, as far as I know this is a Holocaust, this is 21st Century holocaust," parishioner Carmen Benjamin.

They say the U.S. Government should pressure Turkey to allow their people safe haven there.