Our Refugee Program
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A Refugee Family Co-Sponsorship Update
St. John's co-sponsorship of a refugee family from Afghanistan is moving along well. Working together with the Diocese and Mir (their family member in Canada), applications for the six family members have now been successfully submitted to the federal government's Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This required completing and vetting an extensive amount of online paperwork, so it's a significant step towards getting all the family safely to Canada.
The federal government unfortunately doesn't provide any estimates on how long it will take to finish reviewing the applications. Diane and Warren, who are leading the co-sponsorship process for St. John's, will keep you updated as we have more information. Thank you Diane and Warren! In the meantime, please hold Mir and his family in your prayers. Mir has told us that the situation in the country where they are currently living is dire. Thank you.
For volunteer support and item donation and for parish outreach information please email The Rev. Patrick Blaney at priest.sjnv@telus.net
Financial donations may be made cheque payable to St. Johns or by credit card via our website at http://www.stjohnnv.ca/pages/stewardship-giving , and click on Donate.
Tax receipts will be issued to all donors in excess of $25.00. (An Official notice of our Sponsorship will also be sent from the office in a day or so).
Thank you all for your interest and support.
R.E.S.T Update From Shannon
Warm wishes to everyone at this very busy time of year! I wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas and to let you know what is happening with REST (Regional Ecumenical Support Team) these days. Many happy updates! Please feel free to share this update with anyone who is interested.
Sarah:
Sarah is now working at the Ardent Dental Clinic in Lynn Valley. This is an excellent dental clinic and she is very proud of her job. Her primary role is to sterilize all of the equipment, but she has many tasks in her day. She has also moved into her own beautiful apartment, next to the Phibbs bus loop.
Mousa's family: Sahar (Mousa's mom), and his siblings, in order, Abed, Mohamad, Ahmad, Samah, Omar, Majed and Samah.
This is the most delightful family of Syrian Palestinians. They are working hard to learn English as quickly as they can. A huge thank you to Azim, who has been giving them weekly English lessons. They all say he is the best teacher and they are learning quickly. They are very eager to be settled, learn English, and find work. Abed, Mohamad, Ahmad, and Samah have all found some work. Abed is doing a job for St. Agnes church, doing a security check and locking up each night, as well as washing dishes for our bi-weekly senior's lunch. He loves this job and takes it quite seriously. If another position with a church came along, it would suit him very well.
Mohamad is working at North Shore Stoneworks, using his skills in counter cutting and installations.
Samah is doing some home support for a friend of REST as well as working in the Taybeh Restaurant, making Syrian food.
Ahmad has recently been hired by Taybeh to wash dishes on the days he does not have English.
Omar had a month of work with my son, as a renovation helper, and he loved the work. He learns very quickly and said the job was good for his brain :) He is now looking for any kind of job, focusing on construction helper or dishwasher/kitchen helper.
Health needs are gradually getting sorted for the family, and there has been a large amount of dental work required for everyone. They are no longer in pain, thanks to Burnaby Mountain Dental- Thank you! More fillings to come in the new year, but the end is in sight. Four of the family require denture work. A wonderful denturist, at Mountainview Denture Clinic in Lynn Valley will be helping them to have teeth again! We do need to raise more funds to cover these costs, which are so important for their health and their futures.
