RECENTLY WAS ABLE TO GET MARRIED, TOO.
MARRIED, TOO. LIVING THE DREAM.
>>> NOW TO SYRIA WHERE IT MEANS
CHRISTIANS CAN RETURN TO
CHURCHES ONCE UNDER ATTACK.
BILL NEILY GIVES US A RARE LOOK
INSIDE A VILLAGE THAT’S
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS.
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS. >> GOOD MORNING, GUYS.
CHRISTIANS IN SYRIA HAVE HAD
LITTLE TO CELEBRATE OVER THE
LAST EIGHT TERRIBLE YEARS OF
WAR.
WAR. BUT IN ONE SMALL TOWN, WHERE
CHRISTIANS HAVE HIDDEN IN THE
MOUNTAINS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS,
THEY CANNOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS
AND THEIR FREEDOM.
>> IN THE BIBLICAL LANDSCAPE OF
A COUNTRY SCARRED BY WAR LIES A
PLACE ALMOST BROKEN BY IT.
IT’S A CHRISTIAN TOWN IN MAINLY
MUSLIM SYRIA AND ONCE A PLACE OF
PILGRIMAGE.
PILGRIMAGE. >> REBELS CAPTURED IT AND FOUGHT
OFF SYRIA’S ARMY.
I WAS THERE CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE FIREFIGHT.
500 YARDS AWAY, REBELS ARE
PINNING THEM AND US DOWN HERE.
A CHRISTIAN MONASTERY BECAME A
SNIMER’S NEST.
SNIMER’S NEST. THE BULLET HOLES REMAIN BUT
TODAY THE CHURCH IS READY FOR
CHRISTMAS AND READY TO
CELEBRATE.
CELEBRATE. >> TO HAVE A RESURRECTION IF YOU
LIKE.
LIKE. >> FOR ALMOST 2,000 YEARS, THIS
HAS BEEN A PLACE OF REFUGE FOR
CHRISTIANS.
CHRISTIANS. THEY LITERALLY DUG THEMSELVES IN
TO THE SIDE OF THESE MOUNTAINS.
NOW AS SYRIA’S WAR DRAWS TO AN
END, THEY SAY THEY FEEL SAFE
AGAIN.
AGAIN. >> IT WOULD NOT BE -- ANYMORE.
>> SNIPERS HAVE NEVER TRIED TO
COME BACK?
COME BACK? >> BUT THEY HAVE SUFFERED, AND
THEY GRIEVE LOST LIVES LIKE
MILLIONS IN SYRIA.
FOR MANY, THERE IS NO REBIRTH.
REBUILDING THIS TOWN ISN’T
QUICK.
QUICK. SOME WHO FLED HAVE NEVER
RETURNED, NOR HAVE THE TOURISTS
WHO ONCE CAME HERE IN THEIR
THOUSANDS.
THOUSANDS. LIKE MANY SYRIAN CHRISTIANS,
MOST PEOPLE HERE SUPPORT
PRESIDENT ASSAD AND BELIEVE
AMERICA DIDN’T DO ENOUGH TO
DEFEAT ISLAMISTS LIKE ISIS.
THERE’S NO HATRED IN THE TOWN
WHERE THEY SPEAK ARAMAIC, THE
LANGUAGE ONCE SPOKEN BY JESUS.
AND WHERE THEY CELEBRATE HIS