Pastor David Ortiz says his family is afraid that what happened to them will happen to other Messianic Jews in Israel.

“With us, they crossed the line, and we’re afraid of it happening to someone else,” Ortiz told Time.

On March 20, Ortiz’s son, Ami, removed a chocolate from an anonymous gift box left at his door and detonated a bomb that blew out all the apartment’s windows and was heard a mile away. Doctors found over 100 pieces of metal – nails, screws, and needles – implanted throughout the boy’s body. Although Ami survived, he will need to undergo six more operations involving skin grafting and the removal of shrapnel from his eyes.

But Ami’s mother, Leah Ortiz, assures concerned Christians around the world that Christians are not being persecuted in Israel. She called what happened to her son “insanity,” not religion.

The Ortiz family, who are originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., plans to stay in Israel despite escalated violence against Messianic Jews in Israel and Ami’s injuries.

"Jesus wasn't born in Brooklyn. He was born here,” Ortiz told Time. “We're staying."

There are between 6,000 and 15,000 Messianic Jews in Israel.