An interrupted church service in The Netherlands—intended to stop an Armenian family from being deported—has become well-known it has issued tickets for the Christmas period to control numbers, according to the American news-based Cable News Network.
The round-the-clock service has been going on relentlessly since Oct. 26—more than 1,400 hours.
Under Dutch law, police officers are not permitted to enter a church while a religious service is taking place.
Reason church leaders conceived the idea of meeting non-stop to prevent the Tamrazyans, who have lived in The Netherlands for nine years, from being removed from the country, CNN said.
The five members of the Tamrazyan family took refuge in the church on Oct. 25, 2018 after Dutch authorities turned down their request for asylum.
The Dutch Minister for Migration, Mark Harbers, has thus far refused to use his discretionary powers to intervene and allow them to stay
His office declined to specifically discuss the case when contacted by CNN.
Last week, CNN quoted the church as saying it was disappointed by the Minister’s inaction and vowed to continue the service.
“Just before Christmas, when we celebrate God’s humanity-loving and peaceful deeds, we feel strengthened not to forsake our responsibility for the Tamrazyan family,” Rev. Theo Hettema, chair of the Protestant Church The Hague, said in a statement.
Since then, hundreds of pastors and volunteers have taken part in the service.
Axel Wicke from the Bethel church and community center in The Hague told CNN the service had become something of a “pilgrimage” for people across The Netherlands.
“We have had to account for so many people who want to visit during Christmas,” Wicke said, adding that two of the services were being streamed on Christmas eve and Christmas Day.
According to Harbers, the church provided an “extensive file with new information” to the Minister to help convince him of the family’s case.
21-year-old Hayarpi—the oldest daughter in the family of five—said on Twitter she had been encouraged by the full attendance at the church.
This Christmas season, though, the family will spend time together holed up in a church that has offered them sanctuary, hoping and praying for a Christmas miracle.