“We never thought it could happen to us”

A parent’s story of bringing their son home from a violent movement.

We lost our son twice.

First, to the streets. Then, to a war we didn’t understand.

He was fifteen the first time he ran away. Angry. Withdrawn. Getting into fights. Drinking. Stealing. There was so much rage in him, and we didn’t know why. We tried everything—discipline, counseling, tough love. Nothing worked. He just got better at hiding.

Then came the ideology.

He joined a group that claimed to fight for justice. But what we saw was chaos—violence, vandalism, street fighting. He idolized destruction. We found messages, masks, weapons. He wasn’t just protesting. He was preparing for battle. And we couldn’t reach him.

One night, he disappeared. We filed a missing person report. Weeks passed. We found out he had flown overseas—to join a militia fighting in a foreign war.

He was sixteen.

We were terrified. Powerless. It felt like we’d lost him for good.

That’s when we found Parents for Peace.

They didn’t promise quick fixes. They offered something harder: hope. They taught us how to rebuild trust—not by debating ideology, but by reconnecting with the human beneath it. They helped us focus on the pain, not the politics. The isolation. The unmet needs. The loss of direction.

We stopped fighting him and started showing up for him.

Eventually, we got him home.

He was changed. So were we. There was no switch to flip—just small choices, every day, to stay present. To listen. To set boundaries without pushing him further away. Parents for Peace supported us through it all.

Today, he’s in recovery. He’s working. He’s helping people. He’s still figuring things out—but he’s here. He’s alive. He’s with us.

We got our son back. And we’re not alone.