Faith in the warzone of Gaza

Every day, since the very first moments of the war until its end, has been among the hardest days of my life. On the first day, when I heard the news, I realised that we were about to live through something very difficult, but I did not understand then that we would experience the most painful and cruel days of our lives. I never imagined that a person could live with such fear, anxiety and hunger, or that our children would be deprived of their education and their sense of safety. 

At the beginning, I believed the war would last for one or two months, but every day became harder than the one before. The most painful feeling for me as a mother was standing helpless, unable to fully protect my children or give them the life they deserve. Feeling unable to provide safety for your children is one of the hardest things a parent can experience. 

Moments of fear 

I remember one day when my children were going to school. The moment they were leaving, there was heavy bombing very close to them. All the parents ran into the streets in panic, each one searching for their children, just to make sure they were still alive. Those moments of fear are something I will never forget. 

I also remember very clearly the night of Palm Sunday, 13 April 2025, at two in the morning. We were forced to leave our home immediately because of bombing near the local hospital. I do not even know how I carried my one-and-a-half-year-old in my arms while we were searching for any safe place to go. In that moment, I felt that all I wanted in this life was for my children to stay alive. 

Another moment that broke my heart was when my daughter lost her closest friend during the war. She lived through some of the hardest days of her life. Every day she cried and asked to see her friend again. She did not even have the strength to visit her grave, and until today I still cannot fully understand or accept those days. The pain of our children is a pain that stays in the heart forever. 

Prayer became our strength 

But in the middle of all this suffering, I truly felt that God was with us. Prayer became our only strength. During the war, we gathered in the church and prayed together, and even during the heaviest bombing we raised our voices and sang, “Lord of Hosts, be with us.” 

In those moments, prayer was the only thing that gave us peace and the strength to continue. 

Like many Christians here [at Bethlehem Bible College], I lived through the same feelings of loss, hunger and thirst, at a time when even clean drinking water was not available. We felt weak as humans, but we held on to our faith that God would not leave us. 

The cease-fire felt like a true miracle from God. It was as if God knew that we could not continue anymore, because continuing meant real death for us. Every day my prayer was only that the Lord would protect my children and my family. 

The pain we lived through is something I still carry inside me, and these memories will remain with me for the rest of my life. But even in the middle of darkness, I believe that God was holding us, protecting us and giving us the strength to survive.