A man lost in the snow with his three kids says he relied on his faith and stayed strong for his children’s sake, the Associated Press reports.

Frederick Dominguez and the children, who vanished while looking for a Christmas tree, were rescued Wednesday by a helicopter from a snowy ravine, just as another storm was bearing down in the foothill region about 100 miles north of Sacramento.

“You just want your kids to be safe and you’re just praying, `God, keep my kids alive,’” Dominguez told reporters . . .

Dominguez described three harrowing nights in the wild as he tried to keep his children from panicking and succumbing to the numbing cold. [His son] Joshua needed constant reassurance. “I said, `Son, I would tell you what I bought you for Christmas if I thought we weren’t going to make it,’” Dominguez recalled. “My kids were relying on me, and I’m scared, but you can’t tell them you’re scared.”

The family told reporters they used humor and songs from church to lift their spirits.