The conflict between ISIS and Iraqi forces is still raging, but some Christian communities around Mosul are returning to their homes for the first time in years.

The Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena returned to their home in the town of Qaraqosh near Mosul.

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In this video, the sisters are seen surveying the damage that ISIS caused — including the destruction of their beloved church. As they walk into town, gunshots are heard in the distance.

“This church is like a mother to us. It is hard to see it this way,” said Sister Luma Khudhr.

Another Dominican nun, Sister Ferdous, said, “I can’t hate anyone … But it’s hard when you see the destruction. I can’t describe my feelings toward ISIS.”

They wrote in a letter to their supporters a few weeks ago: “It has been two years and four months since we left Nineveh Plain. It has been a long time of displacement, of humiliation, of exile … There are many Christian militants among the army, and some of them we know. So, they have been sending us photos of our Christian towns that are being recaptured. The photos are so very disturbing, as they are showing our churches, homes, schools, and convents, hospitals burned and destroyed after they had been looted.”

Related: On the Ground in Liberated Iraq

According to Maclean’s Magazine, the sisters searched “through their old rooms in the convent attached to the Immaculate Conception church, pulling out documents and personal items … One of the sisters discovers an icon she had kept with her since 1997 but left behind in the chaos of her escape — a portrait of the Virgin Mary cradling baby Jesus — fully intact. Later, she uncovers her master’s degree, which she needs to pursue her dream of a Ph.D. in physics.”

When these sisters fled ISIS, they thought they would just be away from their homes for a few days. Now, two years later, they have returned home.