SYRIA: BULLET HOLES DECORATED IN ACT OF DEFIANCE AND FAITH

“I never imagined that everything I built could fall apart in a single afternoon,” Molham says, reflecting on the moment that altered the course of his and his family’s life. 

He is an engineer by trade, a husband and a father of a five-year-old girl called Christina, with another daughter on the way. His and his wife’s vision was to build a safe place for families in their town, Al-Suqaylabiah. Using their savings and Molham’s skills, they set up a café business with a ‘families-only’ policy. However, as the world beyond their café grew more restless, that rule became harder to maintain. 

“Since the government changed, men have been coming in with guns on their belts. It’s a constant weight on my heart,” he explains. “I’ve often thought about closing the café for good, simply because I was terrified for my wife’s safety when she helped me there.” 

“An attack on our existence” 

On Friday 27 March, a group of outsiders from another village tried to enter one of the cafés in the area. Barred from entering, they stayed outside watching the girls inside. A fight broke out before the men were chased away. 

But that wasn’t the end of it. A few hours later, more than a hundred men invaded the town on motorbikes, and chaos erupted. They yelled insults against Christianity and smashed windows, shops and cars, destroying as much as they could. 

“It wasn’t just a fight between boys,” Molham says. “It was an attack on our existence.” 

When he realised that the mob was coming for his café too, he took his pregnant wife and daughter and rushed them home before returning to the café. As fast as he could, he evacuated everyone, turned off the lights and locked the doors. Then, he fled back home.

“I wanted to protect everyone,” he remembers heavily. “But they had guns, and we had nothing. It is a terrible feeling to be so helpless.”  

His daughter, Christina, was terrified. “She held my hand so tight and told me, ‘Papa, come hide with me.’” 

DECORATING BULLET HOLES 

When Molham returned to the café the next day he found that the windows were smashed through, the chairs in pieces and bullet holes were on every wall. Everything that he had worked tirelessly to build was left desolate by the hatred of the mob. 

But instead of despairing, Molham did something extraordinary. 

As Easter approached, he did not immediately repair or hide the scars caused that day. Instead, he covered the bullet holes with Easter decorations. He transformed the marks of violence into symbols of life. By decorating the scars left by the attack, he showed his community that just as Jesus conquered death through the Resurrection, Christians can overcome evil and fear through faith. This act shows that even when darkness is all around, here is always hope.

A heavy burden 

The café was repairable, but the wounds that the attack had incurred on their hearts would take longer to heal. Christina, Molham’s daughter, still carries deep trauma from that day. To her, a missed call doesn’t simply mean a busy father, but suggests that the terror has returned, taking her father with it. 

“She constantly begs her mother to call me,” Molham says with tears. “It makes me wonder: how can I ever give her back the sense of safety she lost? I even find myself questioning if it is right to bring another child into a world like this.”  

Yet, despite the scars on their hearts and the ongoing impact of that day, they hold on to their faith in Jesus – the Light in their darkness of recent months. “We believe in God’s plan for us,” Molham testifies, “And we will keep fighting to live in peace.”