A Joyous Welcome! Our first family arrived in Delta in March 2018.
Mobilizing the North Delta and Surrey Communities with Hope
This partnership of North Delta Churches (North Delta Evangelical Free Church, St. Cuthbert Anglican Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, and Crossroads United Church) came together in response to the Syrian Refugee crisis in the fall of 2015.
Coordinated by a Steering Committee of members from all four churches, along with other community members, this group aims to assist at least one displaced Syrian family through a private sponsorship process.
Additional expected outcomes from this work include:
- deepened cooperation among the participating churches
- increased intercultural understanding
- strengthened community engagement
- education regarding Syrian culture and the settlement process
- recruitment of a network of volunteers within North Delta
The values guiding this project include respect, unconditional love, curiosity, sensitivity and service to our new neighbours and the community of North Delta. The Steering Committee brings self-discipline, boldness, integrity and transparency of communication to our process.
Progress to Date
The UNHCR (The United Nations Refugee Agency) estimates that there are 27 million refugees worldwide. This is an overwhelming statistic. And each one of these 27 million people have a story of incredible hardship.
The churches of North Delta have banded together for over five years to bring and settle refugees to Greater Vancouver in Canada. (To date: two families and a single man.) At times it seems like a very small gesture, but everyone helped is a person saved from a dire situation.
We have learned through experience that two significant hurdles need to be overcome for success. One is financial: there must be enough funding to ensure that they can live here while becoming established. The other significant need is providing on the ground relationship support for the refugees as they deal with the new issues (language, finding the correct government agencies and understanding a new culture).
It currently costs a minimum of $35,000 to bring a family of four (husband, wife and two children) to the Lower Mainland.
The ability to be sponsor a refugee to Canada requires the Federal Government to formally recognize the applicants as refugees. This can be a multi-year process with no guarantee of successful recognition as a refugee. It is a big help if the applicants are already recognized by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees.
Given our committee size we are currently targeting one or two sponsorships per year. We pray for all who ask for help, but hard choices have to be made as to who to select for sponsorship.
Currently we are not accepting requests for sponsorship and are focused on those recognized by the Canadian Government as being in dire need of resettlement or those refugees who have funding sponsors already available but require local assistance to settle in Canada.
If you have any questions or comments, please email us at ndrp@crossroads-united-church.ca.