OUTLOOK - At a meeting in February, the congregation of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Outlook voted unanimously to embark on a refugee sponsorship proposal. Despite being prepared for a two to three-year process, just nine months later a welcoming committee gathered at the Saskatoon airport to bring them to their new home.
A global worker drew the congregation’s attention to a family that was forced from their home in Afghanistan and were living in a refugee camp in the Middle East. While hopeful the process to bring them to Canada would happen efficiently, the timing has surpassed expectations. Marilyn Gustafson, who provided leadership to the refugee committee at Bethlehem Lutheran Church said, “There are times when the circumstances in a country change so drastically and quickly many people are forced to flee. Our government recognized that there were exceptional circumstances and put special programs in place in order to process the applications quicker.”
The family seeking resettlement is large: 19 people including parents, dependent children, three married children, their spouses and children. The congregation worked at a shared sponsorship with Bethel Lutheran Church in Elbow, allowing the entire family to be near each other.
Refugee resettlement requires dedicated volunteers and tremendous resources. Over the last few months, both have been demonstrated. Raising all the money may have seemed daunting but it happened quickly as the congregation saw support come from many sources including other local Lutheran churches. “We did a few fundraisers which did raise some funds but also were a way to let the community know what we were doing and have an opportunity to be involved,” Marilyn explained. “The majority of the giving was from personal or group donations which is a testimony both to the generosity of the people in our community and to God’s provision working through all those who supported the effort.”
Remarkably, in just six weeks the initial goal of 75% was met and at the three-month mark the funds were in place. The process of filling out forms and providing documentation continued, and by the summer all the paperwork was completed.
Update on previous refugee family
As they waited for word on the status of the application, committee members continued with meetings and training sessions. During this time there were also major developments happening in the lives of the first refugee family Bethlehem sponsored a few years ago.
Measho and his children Yonas, Asmeret and Selam spent seven years in a refugee camp near Addis Abba, Ethiopia before arriving in Outlook, March 2016. Cliff Adelman, refugee committee member said when they arrived, “Jonas could communicate in halting English, Measho knew a few words, but the girls did not know one word, not even hello or good bye.”
Measho began English classes right away, and within weeks the children started school. In his years here Measho worked at Outlook Esso and then at Barrich Farms. Last month he obtained his driver’s license and moved to Calgary where he has been able to reunite with some of the people he knew in the refugee camp. Yonas is in Edmonton. Both girls graduated from Outlook High School, became Canadian citizens and now live in Saskatoon where Asmeret is enrolled in Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Selam is working. Cliff said, “They are all very thankful for the love and support from the many people in Outlook who guided them to a new and exciting life.” The gratitude goes both ways as Cliff added, “We have been blessed by learning from them.”
Excitement builds with travel dates
With this new resettlement initiative, there was opportunity to connect by phone with the family prior to their arrival because the applications were made under the category of Private Sponsorship. To facilitate the completion of documents, a group chat was set up with two local contacts that allowed for direct communication and clarification, but it soon became a tool for much more than that. “We began to share about our daily activities and personal interests,” Marilyn explained, “and would share photos several times a week. We have become good friends already.”
On November 14 notification was received that the family had been given a travel date. The committee kicked into high gear to secure rental housing, furnish a home, get the pantry filled with staples and have a house blessing. “From the day we received the arrival date we had 18 days to get everything ready,” Marilyn remarked. “We were definitely in busy mode.”
Excitement overflowed when a welcoming party gathered at the Saskatoon airport on December 2 with signs and flags to greet the family. Committee members from Bethlehem and Bethel churches were on hand to provide words of welcome which were met with smiles, handshakes, hugs and overwhelming gratitude on the part of the family.
Families arrive on bitterly cold day
Sherryl Olson was on hand and said, “It was sweet to be part of it.” She commented on how eager the family was to begin conversations with those that welcomed them. “They wanted to talk to us. They were happy, they had such happy smiles. They wanted to engage with us.”
Marilyn said the past few months have been walked in faith. “During this waiting time there were several occasions when it seemed like the family’s safety might be jeopardized which was a great stress on the family and us. Often at these moments there was very little that we could do other than wait and pray.” But she has witnessed great things during this time. “We have felt and seen God blessing our efforts for refugee resettlement with the way the funds flowed in so quickly and with many answers to prayers all along the way when we came up against obstacles.”
With the family’s safe arrival, she expresses gratitude for everyone involved from the beginning. “We have had wonderful support from our community since we started on this journey with this family,” she shared. “We knew that this would be a big project for our church and that we would need the support of the community. However, we never could have anticipated all the ways this support has been shown.”
There are ways to continue to help. “Now the greatest support we can have for this effort is for our community to continue to be welcoming,” she said. “I have been positively affected by my connection with this family and I believe that the ongoing efforts for refugee resettlement will have a positive effect on our whole community.”
No doubt there will be challenges to overcome in the weeks and months ahead as the family begins to build their life in this new country, but the day after their arrival in Outlook one of the women was asked how their first night was. She smiled and answered with one simple word, stating it was “perfect.”
