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As people return to devastation following the ceasefire in Gaza, a young Christian woman has shared how she endured the war and even found joy while sheltering for months inside a church.
Ola Saba, age 19, took refuge at Saint Porphyrius Church along with over 300 other people. She told SAT-7 ARABIC’s You Are Not Alone program how her family had fled there shortly after the war started and had been there for only five days when the complex was hit in an airstrike on October 19, 2023.
“I opened my eyes to find a disaster,” Ola said. “The wall behind me fell, and my family was lifting me from the rubble. Mom was telling me not to lean backwards so I don’t fall.”
Ola’s cousin and aunt were injured during the strike, which killed 20 people who were sheltering at the church.
As well as having to endure the constant danger of living in a war zone, Ola also had to come to terms with putting her dreams for the future on hold. When conflict broke out, she was in her first year at college, but her studies came to an abrupt halt. Ola’s hopes were lifted when she was later accepted at a university in Jordan, but a travel ban prevented her from accepting the place.
“I dream of continuing my studies and achieving my dreams,” she said.
Ola Saba described how she sheltered at Saint Porphyrius Church for months along with over 300 other people.
Reflecting on the experience of the last 15 months, Ola explained how her perspective and character have changed.
“After the war, standards of happiness have changed,” she said. “I used to care a lot about my looks and that no one should be wearing the same clothes as me. But since we were over 300 people living in the church during the war, we all wore the same things and ate the same things. This taught me to be joyful and thankful that I have a family and people around me. We were all the same; no one was better than the other.
“I got to know more people and I made more friends… We learned to live happily without the privileges that we had before.”
Ola said that the church pastor would gather everyone together to teach the Bible, and this helped her to become more patient. She said that she also found peace and strength in praying the Lord’s Prayer.
“I pray for peace for the whole Arab world, because the children are tired of the wars and conflicts,” Ola said.
After the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans started to return, though many of their homes are in ruins.
The UN estimates that more than 90 percent of all housing units in Gaza have been either damaged or destroyed, leaving over 1.8 million people in need of emergency shelter and essential household items.1
Ola’s family found their house had suffered damage in a bombing. “We went to see what was left and to get some things from there. To be honest, it is very sad,” she said. “The streets are all bombed. People were in the streets. They looked happy; we are all happy that the war has ended, but you can’t say we are 100% happy because of the long period we endured. And no one can forget the people they lost.”
You Are Not Alone also heard from Rev. Dr. Jack Sara, President of Bethlehem Bible College, who described how churches are helping displaced people with aid supplies. He said that many who had taken refuge in church buildings during the conflict were unable to return to their homes due to the damage.
“When there is a ceasefire, it means that for a day, and maybe another day, they can at least live without fear and without the horror they faced while living under the rubble. And unfortunately, those who returned to their homes came back to rubble, not houses that could protect them from the cold or the heat in the days to come,” he said.
Dr. Sara also reflected on the need for a lasting peace in the Holy Land, having lived through decades of conflict and turmoil. “God asked us to pray for peace,” he said. “This is our hope. This is our prayer always. But as a person who has lived my whole life between war and ceasefire, never have we experienced peace. At least not the peace that reassures us that tomorrow nothing will happen, or that after tomorrow, nothing will happen. But still, our hearts hope to see peace.”
Source
1 OCHA
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