Syrian Refugee Sponsorship — Taking Me To Task

Since January we have seen three quarters of a million refugees fleeing to Europe, many of them Syrian people, fleeing their country in hopes of escaping the war and unrest that is ripping their country apart.

Did you know that the unrest in Syria has been going on for 4 years?

I certainly didn’t, I’ve become desensitized to the violence in the Middle East. I am ashamed to admit this, but worse yet, I don’t think I am alone. The Canadian reaction to seeing the photos of a little boy washed up on shore in Greece after his dinghy capsized on his journey across the sea, proves that many of us were not paying attention. Until now…..

Why did it take such a tragic event like that to wake us up to the horror that these people are facing? I’m frustrated by the people that say these refugees are just looking for a better job, or economic gain.

What mother puts their child in a boat that has more of a chance of capsizing then making it to safety?

I’ll tell you, a mother that feels the boat is safer than the land they are standing on! As a mother of two, I just CANNOT imagine being that scared for my life or the lives of my family.

I can go on and on about how upsetting this is and how I disagree with so many different perspectives circulating twitter and facebook, but what is the point? I can argue till I’m blue in the face and it still won’t make one difference to the refugees!

So, hold me to task! Make me accountable for my words! What am I going to do about it?

I attend Westheights Community Church in Kitchener, Ontario and we are sponsoring a family from Syria to resettle in Canada.

One morning I was sitting in church and the pastor said that they were considering sponsoring a family. That is when it hit me “stop complaining and start doing”. I knew this was it…..I was being held to task! This, by the way, is a GIANT task! We have a team of 25+ people that are working to make sure this family has everything they need to make a new start. A start where they no longer fear for their lives. A start where they can thrive and contribute to our amazing society. We are 100% responsible for this family for the first year of their time in Canada but we don’t even know who they are yet.

We’ve just started our planning and I have volunteered for the fundraising committee. This is way out of my comfort zone, because honestly, I hate asking people for money. But from my perspective, I’m pretty sure these people aren’t even close to their comfort zone, which means I can get out of mine! This is going to be hard work, but we are committed.

Over the next few weeks and months the team and I are going to share our experiences here on medium in the Westheights Refugee Sponsorship publication. Join us in experiencing this journey by following our publication.

If you are part of the 100s of other teams of people doing this across Canada, share your stories with us! YOU AREN’T ALONE. We want to connect! We want to learn from you! We want to do this together!

We are going to help one family at a time! You can help us by clicking here.

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