Invitation to Refugee Sponsorship
Dear BSBC family,
It has been four years since our church family actively pursued a refugee sponsorship. Your Social Action Team would like to introduce you to a family that we recommend our church sponsor to settle in Fredericton. The family are originally from Syria and currently living as refugees in Lebannon.
Our team was introduced to this family through Rachel Nesbitt, a member of our congregation who has been learning Arabic to reach out to the refugee community in Fredericton. Rachel’s friends immigrated to Fredericton with their four children in December 2019. Her friend’s sister, her husband and their four children are looking for a sponsor to bring them to Canada and closer to their family here.
The family we’re considering sponsoring fled from Daraa, Syria to Kharayeb, South Lebanon in 2014. The husband works as a fruit picker for $1 USD per day, they are currently living in a very small derelict apartment on a farm. The children are not able to attend school because it is too far and they do not have the money to pay for the bus.
Life in Lebanon as a Syrian refugee is very unstable. This family frequently experiences xenophobia and racism. Lebanon is on the brink of collapse. It has experienced a self-inflicted financial and economic meltdown, the pandemic, and the massive blast at the Port of Beirut.
According to a 2020 UN study:
Nine out of ten Syrian refugee families in Lebanon are now living in extreme poverty
Half of Syrian refugee families surveyed were found to be suffering from food insecurity
Syrian refugees currently live on less than half the minimum wage in Lebanon
Lebanon’s annual inflation rate reached a record high and food prices soared by up to 400%
in December 2020Syrian refugees are often blamed for everything that goes wrong in Lebanon—including the
country’s social, economic, and political woes—and face various forms of discrimination,
racism, and abuse
The BSBC social action team asks that Brunswick Street Baptist Church vote on a motion to sponsor this family as refugees through our partnership with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada. We would be agreeing to help settle this family here in Fredericton by finding and furnishing an apartment for them and sponsoring their living expenses for their first year in Canada.
The Convention office has a very long waiting list for refugee sponsorships, and we would not actually be able to submit their application until 2023. If the motion if passed, we will be looking to begin fund raising for the next year as we prepare to submit their application.
Currently it is taking 2–3 years to process an application in Lebanon. Government officials are working on speeding that process up, but it could still be a lengthy wait. We would also look for opportunities to connect with the family while we wait for the paperwork to be completed to give them hope for their future here in Fredericton.
Refugee sponsorship for a family of 6 is estimated to cost approximately $45,000 in addition to the initial set up items for their apartment like furniture, household items and groceries to stock their cupboards. We are so pleased to let you know that our Refugee Fund currently has a balance of over $13,000 — an excellent start to accomplish this mission.
Thank you for considering God’s leading in this opportunity as you consider your vote at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22. We are pleased to report that both the Board of Management and the Board of Deacons are supportive of this endeavour.
Your Social Action Team
P.S. If you have questions please feel free to contact Adrian and Martina Verboom from our Social Action Team at adrianandmartina@gmail.com.
