“Our lives are in God’s hands and we have our faith”

“After Mass ended, I left the church with my cousin and my mother. My mother wore a cross around her neck, and all three of us were not wearing veils. In poorer areas, Muslim women often wear veils to separate themselves from Christian women.”

“As we turned into a side street, we saw someone on a motorcycle heading towards the church. The next thing we knew, the man crashed his bike after hitting a hole in the road. My mother ran up to help him and she said: “In the name of the Jesus Christ, are you okay?” He got up quickly and opened fire on us with a machine gun which he pulled from under his vest.

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“As soon as my cousin and I saw the weapon, we hid behind my mother, who shouted at us to run. The gunman then shot her in the arm while she was trying to protect us. She fell down and couldn’t escape with us. The gunman was only a few feet away. My cousin and I ran into a small supermarket, where the shop assistant hid us behind the fridge. As we hid, we could see the gunman looking for us. When he couldn’t find us he turned to my mother again and fired more shots at her.

“It felt like all this happened in a few minutes. After the gunman left, we ran to where my mother was lying. I kept screaming for someone to help me, but no one did. I reached my uncle, who came right away.” ]

“I miss my mother very much but I am happy because she is a martyr and I don’t feel afraid of the terrorists anymore.”

“An ambulance came but the paramedics refused to move my mother into the ambulance until they had received permission from security officials. As we waited, another gun battle broke out and people fled. My cousin, my uncle and I stayed with my mother. She looked at me, saying: ‘Do not be afraid, I’m with you. Obey your father and take care of your sister.'”

“My mother lay on the street for about an hour. After the shooting stopped, I went back to the church to pick up my eight-year-old sister Karen, who had stayed behind in church because the children’s service had not yet finished. In front of the church, I saw three people I knew lying in pools of blood. By the time mum was taken into the ambulance she had died.”

“Today, I do not walk the streets alone anymore – I am always with my father. I miss my mother very much but I am happy because she is a martyr and I don’t feel afraid of the terrorists anymore. I hope to become a doctor one day because that was my mother’s dream for me.  This is my message to all the persecuted people around the world: ‘Don’t be afraid! Our lives are in God’s hands and we have our faith.’”