Tips and treasures: Sharing what churches have learned sponsoring refugees

rivately sponsoring refugees is a wonderfully rewarding adventure. It’s a great thing to do. But it is hard. The paperwork is onerous, the fundraising can be a slog, the details are daunting. Then the family arrives and the real work begins. Some things go wrong. Even your translation app might let you down! And lots of things go right. There are multitudes of surprises, both good and bad, along the way. Now that so many Canadian churches are well underway in their refugee sponsorship journey, we believe there is a huge body of knowledge out there to be shared. The next EFC webinar, on Thursday, Nov. 16 is on that exact topic.

Privately sponsoring refugees is a wonderfully rewarding adventure. It’s a great thing to do. But it is hard. The paperwork is onerous, the fundraising can be a slog, the details are daunting. Then the family arrives and the real work begins. Some things go wrong. Even your translation app might let you down! And lots of things go right. There are multitudes of surprises, both good and bad, along the way.

Now that so many Canadian churches are well underway in their refugee sponsorship journey, we believe there is a huge body of knowledge out there to be shared. The next EFC webinar, on Thursday, Nov. 16 is on that exact topic.

• What have we learned about apartments and lessons and kids and school and translation apps?
• What have we learned that can save other groups some trouble or problems?
• What have we learned that can make life even easier for families settling into their new life in Canada?

Our three guests have worked at all levels of refugee sponsorship in Canada.  Brian Dyck has been the migration and resettlement program coordinator at Mennonite Central Committee Canada since February 2015.  Kathy Mercer is the coordinator of welcome and settlement for the Port Perry Refugee Support Group, a consortium of churches and individuals in the Port Perry, Ont., area who have welcomed four Syrian refugee families in the last 18 months. Jacqueline Derrah has been involved with refugee sponsorship with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada since 2015.

We are very excited to have the opportunity to have a conversation focussed on the practical side of this refugee journey. And if you have ideas, we want to hear them too. Be ready to send them in live during the webinar. You can register for free here.