letter from Canada
Hospitality appears to be one of many natural outpourings in response to encountering the saving grace of Christ.
In Acts 16 Lydia, the seller of purple goods, opens her home to Paul and Silas after the Lord opened her heart. Only a few verses later, the Philippian jailer is washing the wounds of Paul and Silas and bringing them into his home to feed them, all the while rejoicing in his new-found faith in Christ. Something happens when we meet Jesus; we begin to love our neighbour.
One church in Vancouver is taking this to the next level. They sponsor one refugee family a year, to enter Canada and give them hope of a new life without fear of persecution for their faith. The welcome, however, doesn’t just begin or end with a plane ticket. It is far more extensive than that. A refugee committee has been established with individuals from the church family and several of them will liaise with the government and other agencies to ensure that all legal requirements are met. This of course is only the first step, because what comes next can be overwhelming – landing in a new country having severed all ties with their past, but they have thought about this too!
Eighty people make up the Refugee Welcome Committee and their purpose is to walk alongside these individuals during this transition. They offer help with developing community, employment, finance, heath care, social connections, and housing. For the first full year after arriving, these displaced persons will be fully supported financially in order to give them time to settle and become independent. Friendship, fellowship and fun is offered at each step of the way and this takes time, sacrifice and money, all of which are given in abundance.
This is a brief summary of how one church in Vancouver has felt convicted to love their neighbour. Despite the differences in our contexts and convictions, however, the transformative power of Christ remains the motivation.
