Christmas faith over fear in Syria

His small hands carefully hold the small wooden Christmas nativity. Sitting on his bed, Elie adjusts the figurines inside, switches on the tiny twinkling white lights on the stable and places the set on the cupboard beside him. Elie loves Christmas. This year, he’s determined to bring the warmth of the season into the bedroom he shares with his sister, Marita.

At first glance, nothing reveals the trauma this nine-year-old carries. Elie looks like any other boy. Playing soccer, he chases the ball, attempts tricks with it and celebrates every goal as if he has won the World Cup. Like many boys his age, he dreams of becoming a professional soccer player when he grows up.

But despite being so young, Elie and his family have endured horrors.

A bomb that changed everything

Like many other Syrian families our partners have recently ministered to in Damascus, Elie, Sally, Ayham and Marita have been indelibly marked by a common date: June 22, 2025. That afternoon in St. Elias Church, families were gathered in prayer when their lives were forever changed. Elie sat next to his mother. His sister was still on her way to the church.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out. In the middle of the service, an attacker stormed the churchyard and opened fire before entering the sanctuary and exploding a bomb, killing himself and others. That day, 22 Christians died and 150 were injured in the bomb attack.

Both Elie and his mother have vivid memories. When the shooting started, Elie remembers how his mother instantly threw her body over his and brought the two of them to the floor, searching for safety between the pews.

“My mom told me it’s just the sound of airplanes, but it wasn’t,” Elie says, his dark brown eyes looking up as he recalls her words. “I heard the first, the second then the third. The third sound was very intense.”

Sally adds: “I tried to shield Elie the best I could. As a mother, I wanted to reassure my son. I told him, ‘Don’t be scared, it’s alright. The Lord will see us through.’”

As quickly as possible, Sally guided Elie out of the church. Meanwhile, she called Marita to tell her not to come to the church. Elie sustained a minor injury, as a shard of glass grazed his head. He points to his hair, showing us where he was wounded and later got stitches. But Sally’s shoulder was badly wounded.

Elie remembers seeing his mom faint, collapsing to the ground. “She was bleeding from her shoulder,” he says. The young boy frantically searched for help. “They carried her in a car to a hospital,” he remembers. His grandfather was severely wounded and was taken to another hospital. He recovered but later died because of other causes.

“The day of the explosion was horrific,” Sally says. “None of us who lived through it will ever forget it. What hurts me most is falling and being injured in front of my child. He thought he had lost his mother and cried out for help. That still haunts me.”

A stronger faith

Eighteen months isn’t much time to heal from the violence of June 22, 2025, and the ensuing trauma. The emotional wounds are still open; the nerves are still raw. For many, every day is a reminder of the injuries they sustained.

Sally's shoulder injury is so severe that she couldn’t return to her work as a manicurist, leaving the family with only one income. “It is too painful, and I have no strength in that hand,” she explains. She may never be able to return to her job. Elie’s father, Ayham, works hard as a tradesman in cars and cattle to sustain the family on his income in an economically distressed country and region.

When Sally talks about the attack, she fights back the tears, trying not to show emotion. But her expression says everything.

“I am sad over what we went through, and the ugly recall that still lingers,” she says. “What marked us the most was fear. We get scared a lot nowadays. The children fear everything. They’re scared that something terrible might happen again.”

At times, fear causes a young boy to pose adult questions. “I asked our priest, Father Youhanna, ‘Why did that person [terrorist] act the way he did and why were we present there?’ because that is what I constantly wonder about,” Elie shares.

He remembers and agrees with the priest’s answer: “He told me that Jesus was with us during what happened, and He protected us. But it was not the same with that fellow. That’s why he entered and acted that way. I think the same thing, as well. I trust God. I pray that He would protect my family and that what took place shall never be repeated.”

For this family of four, faith has always been integral to their lives. Since Marita and Elie were young, Sally has instilled the importance and power of prayer. “It is very important for children, since their early years, to count on God with each step they take in life,” she says, with the quiet wisdom of someone who has lived through difficult times, including a decade-long violent civil war. “I taught them that. They learned that God is with us every step we take. He does not forsake us.”

Sally has taught her children how to pray. “I instilled the habit since they were young,” she says, “We pray every day before going to bed. After we pray, we sing some worship songs they know, so they can go to sleep with the melodies of worship songs in their thoughts. Before we sleep, we say: ‘Thank you, God, for everything You are giving us.’”

At such a young age, Elie has already seen how prayer strengthens him and his family. “Praying means peace and love to us,” he says.

The truths Sally told Elie during the bomb attack to assure him are the same she has imparted to her children since they were born.

“It is very important in our country to surrender ourselves to the Lord,” she shares. “I always strive to remind the children of the most important sentence: the Lord is always with us, so that whatever they do, they do it without fear. I always encourage them that we must move on with our lives because the Lord is with us, and there’s nothing to be said but that His will be done.”

After the attack, Sally realized that her faith is even stronger than it was before the bomb exploded. “That moment, I cried to the Lord and He answered me, and He protected us,” she says. “This experience led us to a stronger faith.”

A different Christmas

Like many who were worshiping at St. Elias the day of the attack, Elie hasn’t been emotionally ready to return to the scene, still afraid of what memories might surface—but also fearful of the same thing happening again.

The fear was so real that Elie and his family didn’t even celebrate Christmas—his favorite season—with their church last year. Normally, they go to church together at Christmas. But after the attack, even six months later, Elie didn’t have the courage to return to church.

“I did not attend church last year” he says, sharing how his family celebrated Christmas at home. Last year, in addition to the trauma of the bomb attack, the family was also mourning the death of their grandfather. They barely even decorated the house.

“Last year, Christmas was different because we were mourning the death of my grandfather,” Elie says. “We did not put up the [big] Christmas tree, but I did put up a small Christmas tree and manger in my room,” he says. He loves to show off what his bedroom looked like last December 2025. One by one, he places the small Christmas tree and the manger on the cupboard between his and Marita’s bed.

Typically, the family makes Christmas a big celebration. “We decorate the Christmas tree together and light it,” Elie shares. “We set the manger in our living room, and we play worship songs. I love it the most when we put the statues in the manger, especially when we place baby Jesus. To me, Jesus is love, peace. He came down to save us from evil.”

Again, Elie shows a deep and maturing faith as he expresses profound thoughts about Christmas—especially knowing what he and his family have walked through over the past year.“Jesus came to rescue the believers from the evildoers,” he says. “He came to teach the faithful that no one is infallible. He came to make the sinners believe. Some of them did; others did not. The person that caused the explosion didn’t have faith in Jesus. That man wanted to kill people who came to pray because Jesus did not dwell in his heart, and he was not a believer. He came to kill people inside the church, the house of God.”

He adds, “There is constant wondering on my mind: Why don’t they believe?”

This Christmas, Elie says he hopes he can overcome his fear and return to church and celebrate. For him, being with family is what Christmas should be. He seems increasingly determined to overcome his fear. “I long to go to church,” he shares. “At the same time, I fear going there. I imagine I will hear shooting. My mind tells me there’s nothing to fear, but my heart says that something might happen.”

It’s difficult to see someone as young as Elie grappling with such heavy thoughts. He is a reminder that throughout the world, persecution reaches not only adult believers but also the youngest and most vulnerable—children of the persecuted church.

Elie reiterates his hope: “I want to go, I’m not as hesitant as before because everyone is encouraging me,” he says confidently. “People are telling me that it will not happen again, and that the person did that because he was a faithless individual.

“Father Youhanna goes there all the time, and nothing happens. I’m reasoning with myself that nothing will happen; my faith gives me strength.”

A triumphant return

About one year after the bombing, Elie made the decision to return to St. Elias.

His mother was elated over his decision. “I am happy that he has faith in God as I taught him, and that it is the reason he’s motivated to go to church,” she says. “The Lord is strengthening him. Whenever Elie doesn’t attend church, it makes him very sad. I always hope he will return to his former self.”

Hand-in-hand, he and his father walked toward the church entrance, talking as they prepared to enter.

“How do you feel now that we are heading to church?” Ayham asked his son.

“I’m a bit nervous,” Elie admitted. “What happened was not easy.”

“What are you still afraid of?” Ayham said.

“That something might happen,” said Elie.

“It’s all in the past now,” Ayham said, reassuring his son. “A new life awaits us. Christmas is coming and look how the church [building] is being rebuilt.”

The priest was already there, waiting for family. He welcomed Elie warmly. Smiling, the courageous 9-year-old entered the church and sat with his family—just yards away from where the terrorist exploded the bomb. Elie looked up at Priest Youhanna, now standing in front of the congregation, certain that God is with him and that faith has overcome fear.

He was, finally, home.

Christmas wishes

This Christmas, Elie will once again be able to celebrate the birth of his Savior with his church family.

He shares his 2026 Christmas wish—not the typical children’s holiday request: “I wish that the coming Christmas will be filled with goodness and for a drastic change in the current situation and that nothing else [bad] befalls us. My wish is to attend church and celebrate.”

Reflecting on what his mother and his church have taught him through the years, especially since the attack on St. Elias, Elie has a message for children throughout the world.

“If you live in a safe country, you can attend church whenever you wish,” he says. “My mom forbids me from going to church by myself. I say to you, ‘Have faith,’ because faith is the most powerful thing in life. It cannot be defeated. Once you believe in Him, you become strong in every aspect. Nothing can defeat you. Those who are weak become strong.”