Through international ministry Open Doors, a Christian woman in Syria has been sharing her experience living in war-torn Damascus.
Hanna, whose name has been changed, discussed the daily danger her family lives with in her most recent report.
"While I'm telling you this... we're in the middle of a bombing," she said. "My husband and two girls just saw one bomb falling down over 200 yards from our house. We hurried downstairs to be safer."
Syria has been engaged in a civil conflict for nearly four years. Over 120,000 lives have been lost. Damascus, Syria's capital, is particularly dangerous. The city's population and status as a major religious and cultural center make it an attractive target.
Syrian inhabitants rarely feel safe. While many Christians are celebrating the Holy Week, Hanna is constantly on guard, and grieving the loss of another friend.
"We don't know what will happen in five minutes, or even one minute," Hanna told Open Doors. One moment you're here, the next moment you can be gone.
"A few days ago my relative was preparing Easter snacks in the kitchen when suddenly her life was over; a bomb fell through her apartment. We didn't find her body."
Nearly unbearable for Hanna, though, is the many deaths of innocent children due to bombings.
"I want to tell you about Tuesday," she began. "It was a terrible day. We cried and prayed all day. Tuesday they were bombing Bab Touma, the old city of Damascus. A lot of Christians live there. There is also a Christian school—a private one.
"When those kids went to school on Tuesday... a mortar fell in their midst.
"Some friends passed by the school and saw that parents and teachers were carrying their wounded children out of the school, dripping with blood. They saw them running to the hospitals in panic.
"For me, as a mother and a teacher, I can hardly bear to imagine what these people must be going through right now."
Hanna states that 12 people were killed and many more lost limbs in that school bombing—most of them elementary school children.
Despite the destruction around her, Hanna remains prayerful and thanks the Lord for his hedge of protection.
"I praise God that He is protecting me and my family," she stated. "Prayer gives me strength; it's a weapon in the spiritual battle that's going on here."
