Refugee Sponsorship Update

Your Social Action Team thanks you for your ongoing support for the many initiatives that we bring to your attention including helping others both near and far, including the recent Harvest for the Hungry. We would like to provide you with an update on a couple of refugee applications.

First, we have some disappointing news to share. In 2020, BSBC agreed to help Dima Devana, a young woman living in Fredericton apply to bring her parents to Canada as refugees. Dima provided the funds for this sponsorship herself to be held in trust by the church. Dima's parents finally had their interview late this summer and their application for refugee settlement in Canada was refused on the grounds that they had the option to relocate from Dubai to Lebanon. Dima's father was Palestinian, so is currently considered stateless, her mother has Lebanese citizenship, but has not lived there for many years and Lebanon is not currently a stable country. We have returned the sponsorship funds to Dima as it appears we cannot currently help them as refugees. Please continue to pray for Dima and her family that they find a safe and stable home.

We would also like to provide you with an update on our refugee fund. As a reminder, at our last annual meeting, we voted as a church to apply to sponsor a Syrian family of six currently living as refugees in Lebanon. Rachel Nesbitt, a member of our congregation has befriended their relatives here in Fredericton which is how we connected with them. 

We are pleased to share that currently our balance stands at $9,815 available in the refugee fund. We encourage you, as able, to make a regular contribution to support this family of six by designating your gift “Refugee Fund” or “Refugees”.

We will look forward to continuing to share updates on the Refugee Fund and our sponsorship progress in the coming months. If you have any questions about this, please contact Martina Verboom at adrianandmartina@gmail.com.

Thank you!