A Blessing of Refugee Photos and Stories

Katie Karsten of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Hamilton, Ontario was thrilled when her friend, Pascaline, was reunited with her two sons.

Pascaline, a refugee from abroad whom Immanuel sponsored, had been waiting for several years to be with her sons, says Karsten in a special Christian Reformed Church Facebook feature that is titled “Things That Make for Peace.”

“How can one imagine and depict the longings of a mother's heart when her children ask her from a distant land, ‘When will we see you again?’” said Karsten.

“But when Pascaline was reunited with her two sons and they met their mother's Canadian friends, our hearts could hardly contain the laughter and the experienced joy. It was a taste of the nations rejoicing around the heavenly throne of our Father's love!”

This past fall, the Office of Social Justice and the Centre for Public Dialogue, through their relationship with Bethany Christian Services in Grand Rapids, Mich and World Renew in Canada, asked CRC congregations that were involved in helping to resettle refugees to share their stories and photos of welcoming refugee families into their communities.

“Congregations were asked the question: ‘How has your community been blessed through welcoming refugee families?’” said Kelsey Herbert, who works as coordinator of the CRC’s Immigrants are a Blessing not a Burden campaign.

The campaign and the Facebook feature are geared toward reminding the CRC that welcoming and resettling refugees is an important part of the denomination’s history.

“Even in the midst of growing skepticism toward refugees, many CRC churches are continuing to support incoming families from all across the world: from Sudan to Syria to Myanmar,” said Herbert.

While the U.S. admitted 10,000 Syrian refugees for its 2016 fiscal year, Canada welcomed 38,713 Syrians by early December of this year, said Herbert.

“We want to remind CRC members that helping to resettle refugees is a strong part of our history and that as Christians we must continue to open our churches and homes to incoming families,” said Herbert.

“For decades now, CRC members have discovered the face of Christ among those seeking refuge—and the story continues.”

Pillar Church in Holland, Mich., which is a sponsor of refugees, sent in a photo and part of their story for the Facebook feature.

“Our church has gotten the chance to know a Sudanese family who … spent 17 years traveling from Sudan to Cairo to Tel Aviv and is finally here,” says the story from Pillar.

“They have taught us all so much about the resilience and strength of the human spirit. They have also opened our eyes to how difficult it is to be poor in our community. It has been hard and uncomfortable and wildly fun to learn how to speak with hand gestures or sit in silence together. We are so blessed to know this family."

 Drayton Christian Reformed Church in Drayton, Ontario, also sent in a photo and this story about the family it is sponsoring:

The Syrian family, says the church,  “has been gracious and extremely hospitable, even though the language can be a barrier (though this is changing as their English improves daily).

“They are quick to offer coffee, homemade cookies or a meal if you are at their house even remotely close to dinner time. They have been quick to adopt us as their Canadian family.”

Though the family is now safe in Canada, says the story, they feel anxiety and are experiencing desperation over their family that is still in Syria and in other refugee camps in Europe.

Knowing how they feel and becoming close to this family, says the  Drayton CRC story, has helped the church become “more aware of the global crisis that is happening and the incredible toll is has taken on so many people, families, and countries.”

Read here to learn more about the CRC’s history in refugee resettlement.

To get your congregation involved in welcoming refugee families in the U.S. click here and for Canada click here.

Send a picture of your church’s refugee work to [email protected], along with a sentence or two describing the blessing of the experience, or tag the CRC Office of Social Justice and the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue in a photo you post on Facebook.