The festive season is a time of joy and celebration when we gather together with loved ones, share meals and exchange gifts. It’s a special time but Christmas is not the same for everyone.

For those displaced by conflict and chaos it’s a reminder of what’s missing……

-Home, where there once was laughter and singing.

-An uncle, a brother, a sister, a mother lost in the rubble.

-The streets they once played in.

-The family gatherings that will never feel complete.

-The classroom that’s been empty since the conflict began.

-The dreams, they had to let go. 

Last year, when bombs fell on Douris, Lebanon, families faced terror. Georges, a father of five, remembers it vividly. In an interview with ADRA he recalled what it was like when bombs fell in his hometown and changed everything:

“The parents would be sitting, and the children would say,  ‘No we want to flee! People were escaping to Deir al- Ahmar, ‘Take us now to Deir al-Ahmar, it’s safe there’. Or they’d say, ‘We want to go to Zahle, or ‘to the Chouf’, ‘to Beirut’- anything, anywhere safe.”

“The children were the ones asking to flee.”

Can you imagine your children pleading to you with these words, and as a parent, not knowing if you could keep them safe?

These stories remind us why it’s so important that we stand by those facing crisis. Georges was able to find a safer place for his family and was helped by ADRA Lebanon’s CARE programme, supported by ADRA-UK. However, many other families around the world are still in need amid conflict and danger.

For families in Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, and across conflict zones, this season is not about celebration-it’s about survival.

When you sit with your family, hold in your heart those who still face instability and those who don’t share the privilege of celebrating this season in the safety of their homes.