IS overran Iraq's second city, Mosul, then went on ahead into the Christian city of Qaraqosh in the Nineveh Plains in 2014. That is where the girl's family, Abadas, lived. It was also the largest Christian city in Iraq before IS's occupation.
Hundreds of thousands Christians and other minorities were able to flee to the northern region when IS invaded. But Christina's family stayed behind because the father, Khader, is blind. Other Christians, either too old or frail, also decided to stay, hoping that the IS might be merciful to them but they were mistaken.
One of the invaders gave an order to take out any gold or valuables. The Christians brought to them whatever they had of money, gold, clothes, even ID cards, and they took it all.
But unfortunately, for Ayda, Christina's mom, a jihadist walked up to her and took her little girl away.
She tried to plead for her daughter, but a gun was pointed at her which forced her back onto the bus where the Christians were bundled.
Her parents' hopes were declining as two years went by without hearing from their daughter.
"My biggest joy would be when my child, Christina, would return to us," Ayda said in 2015.
A year later, in September 2016, Ayda said "part of our heart is missing".
"I fear my Christina grows older without me, that I will never see her again," she added.
After three years of captivity, Christina has been reunited with her parents.
Christina Abada, who was about to celebrate her sixth birthday, was released by the Iraqi Special Forces at around 10am last June 12, 2017.
One Christian woman told a World Watch Monitor contact from the Ashti refugee camp, near Erbil, where her parents have lived for the past two years, "It is a very happy moment; everybody is dancing and clapping and singing."
"She looks OK, quite healthy. I believe she must have been in the house of a family who took good care of her. She was even wearing gold earrings, so it must have been a wealthy family," she added.
"Although everybody was very happy, it was also sad to see that Christina herself is in shock about all the people around her," the woman said. "Everybody is asking questions and speaking to her, but she does not say anything back, really. She also seems to be overwhelmed by the huge crowd of people welcoming her."
