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Samir lives in a refugee camp in Lebanon with his three children, the youngest of whom is only two months old
'What will this child turn out to be?' they wondered
When John the Baptist is born, as so often happens when a new baby arrives, friends and family gather to celebrate. They come together and they wonder what will become of this child, who has been given an unexpected name.
It is a question that families often ask of children. What will they be when they grow up? Will they follow in the footsteps of those who have come before them? Or will they forge their own path in the world?
Each new life is filled with so much potential. Every child has the ability to surprise us, to grow and to flourish. Yet as we see too often, not all children have the same opportunities to fulfil their God-given potential.
Samir, whose family were originally from Gaza, but who has been living in Lebanon for many years, is the father of three children, aged nine, 12 and two months. The winter is particularly worrying with such a young baby in the family. As Samir says, “You have to keep the heater always running when you have a baby that little.”
Samir struggles to find work in the camp and even when he does, he doesn’t earn enough to pay for food, fuel and school expenses for the older children.
The children attend activities run by Najdeh, a CAFOD-funded organisation in the camp, and the family have received food and fuel to keep them going through the winter.
When previously asked what it would mean to have enough food and fuel for the children, Samir had replied: “I’d be flying. That day would feel like the best of all days.”
Advent prayer
Generous God,
you give us life
and fill us with potential.
May we work together
towards a better world
where all your children may flourish.
Amen.
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