In August of 2016, we at Loop CRC in Chicago helped support a Syrian refugee family in their move from Jordan to Chicago. It was our small way of living out God's call to love our neighbors and welcome the stranger. We raised financial support, greeted the family at the airport, and visited them weekly for over 6 months.
We could not have predicted how transformative these relationships would be.
On our first visit, we barely knew each other, but the family immediately and consistently welcomed us to their table to share a meal with them. While we expected relationships with our new refugee friends to be important, we could not have predicted how transformative they would be. We consider the family to be dear friends. Their joys are our joys, and their sorrows are our sorrows.
In October 2017, our friends asked if we would be able to help one of their sisters and her family, currently living in a Jordanian refugee camp, come to North America. The sister has many health issues that are exacerbated by conditions at the camp. She has 2 young children, an older son and a daughter-in-law with her in the refugee camp.
The request felt weighty and impossible.
The request felt weighty and impossible, given the current antipathy in the United States towards refugees. With the assistance of World Renew, however, we were connected with Sonlight CRC in Regina, Saskatchewan, where our Syrian family happens to have another sister already resettled with her family. Our Canadian brothers and sisters in Christ have sponsored a refugee family in the past, and just recently have made the commitment to do so again, this time to sponsor our Syrian friends' sister and her family!
In the Canadian refugee resettlement system, a private sponsor, such as a church, fills the role that a resettlement agency would in the United States. Sonlight CRC has made the commitment to be responsible for initial resettlement, finding housing, enrolling the children in school, and the many other tasks essential to successfully starting over in a new country.
$31,000 USD is an awesome amount, but we serve an awesome God.
To do this, Sonlight CRC needs our help. The costs of sponsoring this family of five are estimated to be approximately $40,000 Canadian dollars which is about $31,000 US dollars. World Renew Canada will be able to submit an application for this family in February 2019, but to do so a significant amount of that total needs to have already been raised. Our missional community at Loop CRC, Welcoming the Stranger, has made a commitment to provide this funding. $31,000 USD is an awesome amount, but we serve an awesome God.
A door has been opened to us to live out God’s command to welcome the stranger.
Despite the current administration’s refugee policy, a door has been opened to us to live out God’s command to welcome the stranger. We at Loop Church have the incredible opportunity to partner with Sonlight CRC to live out our faith, serve the vulnerable, and forever change the lives of a family currently stuck in a Jordanian refugee camp. We’ve taken on a large commitment; and in doing so, we are reaching out to our fellow denominational brothers and sisters (and beyond) for assistance in raising such a large sum.
We are reaching out to our fellow denominational brothers and sisters (and beyond) for assistance.
If you, like us, lament this administration’s dismantling of the United States’ refugee program, we are hopeful that you will prayerfully consider financially contributing to providing an avenue through which a refugee family can be resettled. We have created a GoFundMe page that allows for tax-deductible donations to be made.
Thank you in advance for any financial or prayerful support you can provide!
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