Refugee Support
In 2016 Cloverdale Baptist church will sponsor a refugee family from the Middle East. This family currently have temporary residence in another Middle Eastern country until they are able to come to Canada and look for a place of safety in the west.
Ways you can help:
1) Give financially to the refugee fund. The church must cover all of their expenses for their first year in Canada. Please place your offering in an envelope marked Refugee Fund and place it in the offering plate on Sunday morning, mail it to the church or DONATE ONLINE.
2) Coordinate with the missions committee if you would like to donate physical things, to ensure that you are providing things that they can use. Remember that they come from a different culture, and will have different ideas about decorating their home and the foods they will eat. As they come from a third world Middle Eastern setting, they will have little experience with processed foods like breakfast cereal, cheese macaroni, canned goods, and even loaves of bread. They will be used to eating rice, lentils, onions, garlic, olive oil, lamb, chicken and fish, and fresh pita bread hot every morning from the neighborhood bakery. Fresh vegetables and fruit are available year round in their country, and they will have little experience with the ways we preserve, can, or freeze foods here for the long Canadian winters. Changing diet is often a difficult step for new-comers to Canada to make.
3) During their first weeks in Canada they will need folk to help them get around. They will need many things, such as cell phones, a computer, and an introduction to communication in Canada. During their first weeks they will need help with their English as well as driving to doctors and dentist appointments. Folk will need to take them shopping, and explain what is available here in Canada. They will need to learn how to use our bus and transit system. They will need someone to help them get a learners license, and then drive with them until they can get their N. If you would like to help them get around please contact the missions committee.
4) Once they arrive and are set up, they will start taking English classes. Possibly several program during the week. They will need as much private English tutoring as possible. If you would like to help tutor them, we can give you lots of ideas. It would be helpful if they could visit families with children about the age of their child, so that their son can learn English from the other kids. Remember that their practice and standards of raising children will be very different from yours. Talking openly and frankly about parenting is a good idea, if you first learn from them what parents do in their country.
5) When the couple and their child arrive, invite them to your home and listen to their story. Encourage them to speak English, as they will need good English skills to get jobs here in Canada. If they get to tell their story over and over again in 50 different homes, they will soon improve their English. Feel free to correct their grammar and pronunciation, as they really want to learn English well.
6) Pray. As of December 2015 the application process is just beginning. Please pray that their papers will be processed quickly and smoothly. Please pray as the church seeks a place to rent for them near the church. Pray that they will make a smooth adjustment to Canada, and become contributing citizens of our country, as well as keen participants in the church.
Please help us support this family by donating to our Refugee Support Fund or contact us for further information if you would like to help with this project.