World Refugee Week 2022
The Narrative
For World Refugee Day, 2022, World Partners caught up with EMCC people involved in relationships with refugee claimants and those who have been sponsored, as well as those recently settled in Canada. Let's learn together from these friends who have pursued relationship with refugees, shared generously, and remain transformed and convicted by these interactions.
Part 1: Ready to Share Our Spaces ⇩
An introduction to the theme and stories from those serving Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people.
Part 2: Ready to Share Our Finances ⇩
The story of how donations from the EMCC is partnering with Ethiopia Kale Heywet Church to serve those displaced by the conflict in Tigray.
Part 3: Ready to Share Our Tables ⇩
A story of refugee sponsorship from Chestermere Christian Fellowship.
Part 4: Ready to Share Our Time ⇩
The lessons from Bethel New Dundee after embarking on a second refugee sponsorship.
Part 5: Ready to Share Our Lives ⇩
A reflection on this week and considering next steps for both individual and collective participation with God's call to care for and welcome the refugee.
Part 1: Ready to Share Our Spaces
On June 20th, people across Canada and around the world are commemorating World Refugee Day. At World Partners, and as EMCC, we invite you to join us as we reflect on how we, as individuals and communities of followers of Jesus, are instructed to extend hospitality and community to the stranger and those seeking refuge.
“Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NASB)
Having affirmed in past campaigns that we co-belong to one another, and can remain in step with what God is already doing, this year we are focusing on how we, as followers of Jesus, can embody a readiness to share all the measure of resource we steward.
As the conflict in Ukraine continues, we at World Partners want to thank those who contributed to the Humanitarian Coalition in the spring where over $7,000 was donated to CFGB local partners in Ukraine and Moldova continuing to provide emergency food relief and non-food items.
Today’s reflection comes from those within our broader World Partners network who are serving and responding to those affected by conflict in Ukraine. May we pray and participate with them.
Recognized Global Workers Share Their Spaces
An Update from the Bibles
The Bibles have over 30 years of life spent serving, living, and loving their friends, neighbours, and brothers and sisters in Christ across Ukraine. This update comes with details on their context in Ukraine and the purpose of their recent North American travel.
Ukraine is in a crisis situation which will not go away in the near future as we deal with over 6 million refugees scattered around the world, and over 7 million displaced people within Ukraine. It is a heart-breaking situation.
We have been involved in different ways. Some of our staff or their families chose to leave the country and we have tried to help them either get situated or return. We have designated large sums of money for our local church who has processed over 3,000 refugees. Our city of Rivne in the west of Ukraine is flooded with refugees from the east. We also designated funds to help the Baptist Union as the whole office and all of their workers had to flee from the city of Irpin and set up temporarily in Lviv. They are constantly helping and distributing humanitarian aid and processing refugees. But the crisis is increased for them personally as few funds come in to keep the office running and staff paid.
Our regular ministry of holding evangelism and church planting workshops had to be laid down the day the war started. But Abe has trained many men and some of them have written and told him how thankful they are for the training they have received to present the Gospel. In the midst of trouble and distress people’s hearts are open. We have also made available Gospels of Mark to be distributed as well as other resources.
Our daughter Priscilla and her husband also live in Ukraine and have helped processing refugees as they fled, housing and feeding them in their church, providing basic necessities, even driving into danger areas and helping them to evacuate. At one time their small town of 8,000 was flooded with 20,000 refugees as they live near Kyiv. Now, many of these people either have moved further west or are seeking to return to Kyiv and other areas where the Russians have left.
Right now, we are in North America traveling some 16,000 kilometres seeking to raise funds for renewal of Ukraine. Refugees are already streaming back into Ukraine but most of them are returning to nothing. And of course our deepest concern is for the people themselves. They will need humanitarian assistance for a long time to come but they also need to find hope in order to rebuild. They will need a lot of trauma counseling, and they will need to find peace, the kind that only can come through Christ Jesus. We are seeking this fall and winter to establish about 100 “Centers of Hope” across Ukraine to begin building community, provide for emotional and spiritual needs as well as the physical.
And above all, we seek the prayers of God’s people on behalf of the Ukrainian refugees, on behalf the Ukrainians who are helping them, on behalf of the hosts in many countries, that God will minister in and through this crisis.
Visit the Bible's Renew Ukraine website for more details to donate or get in touch with them as they finish their North American tour over the summer.
The Wepplers Join the Romanian Church in Extending Hospitality
The Wepplers continue to serve in Romania, in a variety of capacities, including mobilizing the Romanian church with Greater Europe Mission and running an expanding ministry birthed from a secondhand store.
We are so very proud to be living in the country of Romania and to have even a small part in helping those that are fleeing from their homes under threat of death. God has been mobilizing His Romanian Church and individuals from the very beginning.
A network of churches is being formed to house refugees for varying lengths of stay, preparing temporary homes for those who have lost their own and finding ways to transport them to wherever their final destinations may be. Every open church and home, is seeking to provide warm meals during their stay, and non-perishable items to send them onwards with. It takes a lot to feed multitudes of the broken-hearted, but the church is rising to the occasion.
We have hosted a family of six in our home, all the children under 13 from the Odessa area of Ukraine. The father was able to leave because of having 4 children. He cried when he shared with me the anxiety of travelling with his family to the border, but not knowing if the authorities would allow him to leave. We have stayed in touch with this family, and they have arrived safely in northern Germany. Through the time spent with us, they expressed that we gave them “wings to fly” because of our prayers with them during their time here and God’s heart of compassion for them.
The amazing thing for me was the sense of community I experienced when I announced to several clients in the Store that we would be hosting refugees from Ukraine. Immediately, there was an outpouring of assistance and expressed desire to help in whatever way they could. Our ladies that work for us made sarmale (cabbage rolls) and another made beautiful tort. The eyes of the children were huge when they saw! This is God’s love and compassion shining out and impacting in ways we will never truly know or understand.
Pray for blessings over these various ministry and for peace in this conflict.
GEM has a link for Ukrainian Crisis Intervention if you feel led to help in this way. If you send funds, please specify you want to help the efforts in Romania.
We've included the link here: https://gemission.ca/help-ukraine/
Part 2: Ready to Share Our Finances
Ethiopia Kale Heywet Church (EKHC), and their Development Commission (EKHCDC), have been in partnership with EMCC for 20 years. This partnership has been facilitated through EMCC’s membership at the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. It has been a joy to facilitate and join EKHC as they live out the integral mission of Jesus (both evangelism and social responsibility) with a deep commitment to holistic outcomes for individuals and communities.
Today’s reflection comes from World Partner’s director, Nicole Jones-Qandah, as she details an April visit to EMCC-supported initiatives across Ethiopia with EKHC. One of these visits included time with those displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region.
May you receive this story with a prayerful posture, considering how God is inviting you to join these global partners in witnessing to those in your context.
EKHCDC Responding to the Tigray Conflict
EKHCDC is working throughout the region of North and South Wollo to serve thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who have been affected by the conflict in Tigray which began in November 2020. EKHCDC leadership (pictured right) has coordinated emergency food distribution to a variety of IDP camps throughout the region. This coordination is done with, and through, the local church.
On the day of food distribution, I accompanied these leaders to meet and connect with the pastors and church elders in the immediate area who were going to assist in the distribution. They shared stories of continued service even amidst a period of heavy fighting in their own neighbourhoods. It was inspiring to see these local leaders risking their own safety in the service of those fleeing for a different degree of safety.
This mobilization of the local church, by EKHCDC, as part of coordinating this critical aid, was an encouraging backdrop to a day which included many moving parts.
There was an opportunity for IDPs to provide feedback to local government officials and to EKHCDC about their approach. Spokespeople were not shy in sharing the challenges they face: differing degrees of discrimination in the local community and a sense of listlessness without land to cultivate as former farmers. There was an appreciation for the help received so far, as Christians, and yet it served as a crucial reminder of how those who flee do so out of immense sacrifice, and often as a last resort.
Abraham (pictured above, left) shared that members of this camp were quoted as saying ‘EKHCDC was not merely saying they were Christian, but being Christian by offering help to all of us, even as Muslim people.’ This sentiment was reinforced by Dr. Teferea (pictured above, right) as he addressed the camp and offered an open hand of support to them for as long as EKHCDC could. Open communication and transparency numbers are continually offered, so those in these IDP camps have avenues to air their concerns.
Once distribution began, I traveled with Abraham and was able to meet many women who were generous with their stories. Their names remain withheld, out of respect for their privacy. Some come to this camp with their entire family intact—many have four or more children. Others come to the camp with fewer children, because they were lost in the course of the conflict. Some are sharing a sense of hopelessness, as they know they cannot go back to where they used to farm, and fear they will be dependent on aid forever. Each story is unique and equally heartbreaking, with stressors and concerns that do not have easy answers.
The hope is that as this conflict continues, EKHCDC’s emergency food response can be paired with facilitators who are trained in trauma healing. May this be a first step in helping those who carry the psychological tolls of the circumstances in which they were displaced.
While resolution remains far away for many, I was inspired by how EKHCDC continues to remain committed to demonstrating Jesus in the midst of complexity, by listening and responding, with the local church, to the needs of those around them.
May we remember, as we pray for the refugee and the internally displaced, that God knows the unique heartbreak and corresponding resilience in each story. May the contextual demonstration of the local church point to His steadfast nature and love.
Part 3: Ready to Share Our Tables
“Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NASB)
We continue our theme this week of Ready to Share, building on the thought of sharing our communities. As we build relational connections with those around us, in a sense, we share our lives in community together. At the table, as it were. Maurice and Laila Kandalaft, new members of Chestermere Christian Fellowship in Alberta, have been integrated into an Arabic community in Calgary for years, ministering in practical ways. In a culture of beautiful hospitality, they are often invited in to others’ homes and vice versa. The opportunity to sponsor a refugee family came out of these connections and then the Kandalafts provided the connection to their church community to come alongside.
As you read this story, be thinking about the context God has placed you in and what ways you could be sharing your table with newcomers within your community.
Chestermere Christian Fellowship
Maurice Kandalaft knew what it was like to immigrate to a new country without any support. It was a difficult adjustment for him as he navigated the challenges alone. Having been through that experience, the Lord instilled in Maurice’s heart a desire to support others in a similar situation. Maurice and his wife, Laila, minister among an Arabic-speaking community in Calgary, which of course leads to meeting many newcomers. “I was against [helping with refugee sponsorship from] the beginning. The reason – I didn’t want people to come to me for things like that. I want people to come to me for Christ. Not for what I can do for them.” As Laila ministered among the women and shared the stories of those she met, Maurice felt God compelling him to respond. In Arabic culture, the husband of a family holds the responsibility for earning an income and managing finances. Laila shared with him how a young woman suddenly became a widow with five children to care for. Maurice began advocating for affordable housing for this family, without having met the woman. “See when you do stuff like that, people remember you. People they talk about you. They share what you’ve done.”
It was important that people knew Maurice and Laila’s motivation for helping them. “We’re not doing this as a charity organization. We’re doing this because Christ Himself put in my heart that passion to help whoever needs our help, regardless of their religion. But one thing you need to promote in this whole thing is Jesus. If it wasn’t for Jesus, I would never do that.”
How did this lead to refugee sponsorship? Another single mother with two children came to the Kandalafts and asked if they would help bring her sister and family to Canada. Feeling that pull on his heart again, he agreed to look into the possibility with Chestermere Christian Fellowship. At that time, George McDade was pastoring and Maurice was offering his services as pulpit supply twice a month. George listened to the woman’s story and then offered to share the request with a committee. The committee then agreed to undertake this sponsorship with the woman acting as a co-sponsor.
Chestermere Christian Fellowship is not a large church. In fact, most of its members are over the age of 70! Refugee sponsorship can seem a daunting undertaking for a church of any size but especially a smaller one that may not have financial resources. There are lots of people in Canada looking to sponsor family members and they are able to provide the finances themselves. However, they need a church to partner with them because their family members don’t have formal refugee status documents. This is a great way for a church to engage with their community, coming alongside a sponsor and providing the practical support in order to apply for a sponsor’s family to come to Canada. It’s a beautiful opportunity to live out the Way of Jesus before the co-sponsor and the refugee family. When the family arrives, the church can then rally around them in their practical support roles and build relationship with these newcomers, helping them to settle in to their new life, and establishing community around them. Having people they know and can rely on helps these newcomers feel more settled. Through this display of love and care in the name of Jesus, the gospel can have its effect.
The co-sponsor is a wonderful hostess and her house is always full of people. When the Kandalafts drop in for a visit, they get to meet with many more families from various parts of the middle east. “Why [do] we send missionaries to the middle east when it costs us millions of dollars to share Christ with them? …. So now we don’t have to go there. Jesus reversed it. They’re coming to us. So, we have to take opportunity of that. And that is stepping in with boldness. You got to love them. You got to be transparent. You got to share with them without forcing them.... It’s a very enjoyable ministry. And people say that it is difficult to evangelize. To us, it’s the easiest thing to evangelize because it’s not you. Before we leave the house, we pray, ‘Holy Spirit, go before us. Prepare their minds. Prepare the house. And let them accept us for Your glory.’ And when we go there everything is ready for us. Sometimes we talk. And sometimes we don’t share our hope and we say ‘Thank You Jesus’ because You are the One who ordained this thing. But if you do it by your flesh, that’s when you get disappointed. That’s why you don’t get any results. It’s all through the Holy Spirit.”
Chestermere Christian Fellowship hosted a Christmas event inviting six newcomer families. There was a potluck to enjoy together. Pastor George dressed up as Santa Clause and read the story of Jesus’ birth to the children gathered around him. And the evening finished with a campfire. It was a fun event for all who attended.
Part 4: Ready to Share Our Time
One of our greatest resources is our time. It’s a highly valued commodity. In our walk with Jesus, it is the one resource that brings strength to relationship-building. As we share our lives with others, whether in helping with a physical need or listening to others stories, we demonstrate that each person has value in the sight of God. We want people to know that they are loved by the Creator and He is actively pursuing relationship with them, whether people know Him or not.
Refugee sponsorship is a big commitment but it comes with great blessing. While the term of the sponsorship is simply one year, the relationship carries on beyond that. Lives become more intertwined together. Sponsor and newcomer become part of each other’s family and there is a deeper sharing of life together, learning from each other and growing.
We interviewed retired Pastor Graham Burkhart about Bethel EMC’s experience, a second time around. “I think we would be hard pressed to tally the number of hours that have been expended with the involvements altogether with this family. But I hear no one complaining…. But they come from a culture, even though they were out of that culture for quite some time as refugees, they come from a culture that is far more hospitable, far more social than we Canadians tend to be. We get busy with our schedules. So they welcome those connects, those contacts. So we’re rejoicing to see how it’s affecting the church family as well.”
You never know where a cold call will lead
Bethel EMC, in Dundee, Ontario, is no stranger to refugee sponsorship. They supported a Syrian family a years ago and it was a very positive experience. The church was prepared to sponsor further extended members of that family but discovered they were no longer considered refugees. When a wife and mother made a cold call to the church asking for a sponsorship, Pastor Graham Burkhart decided to check out their story. He learned there are many persecuted Christians seeking refuge in Thailand, but with little to no support. Having no connection to this new family, the church dedicated time to learning about the family and building relationship with them and the church they were attending.
In the video below, Graham shares a bit of their sponsorship journey as a church and the beautiful relationship that has come about through this opportunity.
He would encourage anyone with an interest in sponsoring, “It’s so enriching for churches to do it. Unless your church family has no one with a caring impulse, then I think any church can do it. The reality is that in many of our church programs, the nurturers don’t have such a very visible place to serve. This is a very visible place for nurturers to serve.”
“Don’t be surprised if a year or two hence Bethel is doing it again,” says Graham.
Part 5: Ready to Share Our Lives
This week has been an opportunity for us to consider the call we have as followers of Jesus to use our resources to extend a sense of co-belonging with refugees and/or newcomers to Canada.
During the EMCC Connected Across the Globe event, those that gathered considered this week's theme verses and the stories of those who were ready to share their resources. It was a pleasure to pray together for global workers, partners, and for the EMCC to be a people of grace, wisdom, and hospitality.
As you read the verses below, what stands out to you? What may God be drawing your attention to?
“Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” - 1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NASB)
May you sense the Spirit’s leading in how you are called to act for the good of refugees and newcomers to Canada. World Partners hopes to be helpful to you in that journey.
Further Resources
Feel free to visit our World Refugee Week page for further information on this week’s highlighted stories, links to EMCC’s refugee sponsorship page, prayer resources, and videos from past campaigns.
Watch our recent conversation, facilitated by David Benjamin, on how we can further welcome the newcomer and consider the gift first and second generation immigration is to the vitality of the Canadian church.