STRENGTHEN WHAT REMAINS: ELIAS AND HANAN’S STORY

Sunday 22 June 2025 began like any other day at Mar Elias Church in Damascus. The church was full, with more than 300 people gathered, including Elias, his wife Hanan, and their five children.

Partway through the service, gunfire broke out at the church entrance. Elias remembers the terror clearly. “The gunshots grew more intense from the front door,” he says. “The door was thrown open… a terrorist shooting right and left. People were shouting. The church had turned red.”

Panic filled the room as people tried to hide. Hanan crouched between seats, while Elias heard his brother Geryes shouting for people to “Get down.” Geryes, along with his brother Boutros and another man, Milad, rushed toward the attacker. They tackled him to the ground, but moments later, he detonated a backpack bomb. All three men, and Geryes, were killed instantly.

“Everybody witnessed their courage” says Elias. “If they hadn’t acted, there would have been more casualties.” At least 22 Christians were killed in less than a minute.

Searching for their children

In the chaos, Hanan searched desperately for her children, all five of whom had been at the service. “The whole church was destroyed,” she says. “I failed to see any of my children. I didn’t know where to search.” She found five-year-old Taqla first, then prayed, “Lord, please, let me find one more child. I’ll be content to find just one more.”

Then Ibrahim ran to her. As they walked toward the door, she remembers, “As we headed to the door, we walked by bodies on the ground.” Outside, a blood-covered girl kept following her. Hanan looked down and recognised the shoes. It was her daughter Sarah. “I didn’t recognise her face,” she says. “Her face was swollen and her hair was burned. She wasn’t able to see anything and was just following my voice.”

Miraculously, all five children survived. Elias and Sarah were badly injured and taken to hospital. Later, Elias learned that his brothers, sister, and several relatives had been killed. “I broke down,” he says. “After we came home, there was emptiness.”

The trauma remains. “The children still fear the smallest sounds,” Hanan says. “If they hear fireworks, they think they’re being attacked.”

“EVEN IF WE ARE AFRAID, WE WILL STILL GO”

The attack is part of wider violence against Christians in Syria. Since the fall of Assad’s regime, the country has become even more dangerous for believers. Many Christians have left, but some, like Elias and Hanan, are still deciding. “For the sake of our children, we are considering not remaining here,” Elias says. “If it’s God’s will, we will stay. If not, His will be done.”

For now, they continue worshipping at Mar Elias. “We go to church, but fear still exists,” Hanan says. “Yet even if we are afraid, we will still go.”

Elias holds onto faith through Scripture. “We have no ambition but to remain faithful,” he says. “I knew the Lord wouldn’t forsake us… Our faith is built on rocks, not bubbles of soap.”

Local Open Doors partners are providing vital economic aid, Bibles and prayer support to our brothers and sisters. They are also supporting the persecuted church through crucial trauma counselling, and through counselling schools that train believers to support others. More than 60 graduates are now equipped as trauma counsellors, strengthening the church as they bring professional support to traumatised people like Elias, Hanan and their children. As Hanan says, “Even in the darkest moments, God can bring healing and growth.”

This support is just the start. Across the Middle East, in the face of persecution, our church family need your support so they can heal from their trauma, be equipped for future risks and keep growing and flourishing. This is not a dying church – this is the body of Christ standing firm and faithful in the face of fear. Today, will you help strengthen what remains? Why not start by praying? Use the points below…