Around Town: Hosting refugees, Festival of Hope, Neighbourhood Grants . . .

Volunteers at First CRC welcomed almost 90 Syrian refugees on Easter Monday.

Volunteers at First CRC welcomed Syrian refugees on Easter Monday.

First Christian Reformed Church of Vancouver (First CRC) welcomed more than a dozen Syrian families – almost 90 people – for a meal and conversation on Easter Monday. The newly-arrived refugees are staying at the 2400 Motel on Kingsway as they await more permanent housing.

Dena Nicolai, who has just been hired by the Christian Reformed Churches in the Metro Vancouver / Fraser Valley region as a chaplain and refugee support mobilizer, said:

Even amidst linguistic and cultural differences, we had a wonderful afternoon, with many good conversations – and we received multiple returned dinner invites back into these families’ future homes. We hope to share more meals together in future, perhaps ones that include the opportunity to learn how to cook Syrian food (an offer we also received).

Almost 90 Syrian refugees from the 2400 Motel enjoyed a meal and friendship at First CRC.

Many volunteers and many answered prayers made the meal possible. Pastor Dave Bornman from West Coast Christian Fellowship used his church’s school bus for transportation, and at the last moment, a quick thinking volunteer from First CRC arranged alternate transportation for four people in wheelchairs. Others ran games – indoor and outdoor – and other activities for the almost 40 children in attendance, including kids from the church.

First CRC has been preparing itself for a role with refugees ever since it learned that Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia (ISSofBC) would be developing a Welcome Centre right next door, on land originally owned by the church. It is expected to open later this spring. (For earlier stories on the situation go here and here.)

Dena Nicolai has recently begun a new role as a chaplain and refugee support mobilizer.

Nicolai is supporting the vision of the Christian Reformed Church to establish a multi-faith chaplaincy to be accessed by Government-Assisted Refugees and potentially ISSofBC staff at the Welcome Centre. She would work as a Christian chaplain. She will also act as a liaison with congregations throughout BC that are interested in supporting refugees as they transition to life in Canada.

Nicolai is completing a thesis for her MA in Theological Studies at Regent College. Before moving to Vancouver she lived for four years in the Middle East, based in Cairo, Egypt, where her work included organizing and facilitating numerous interfaith and intercultural dialogue events between North American Christian university students and people from various countries across the Middle East.

Festival of Hope launch

Will Graham, Billy Graham’s grandson, will speak at the Greater Vancouver Festival of Hope launch March 31 at Broadway Church.

The Greater Vancouver Festival of Hope, a partnership between the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and local churches, kicks off with a free launch event, open to all, at Broadway Church tonight (March 31), 7:30 pm.

The featured speaker is evangelist Will Graham, son of Franklin Graham and grandson of Billy Graham. Jon Neufeld, formerly of Starfield, will provide the music.

Franklin Graham will lead the way March 3 – 5, 2017 at Rogers Arena for the culmination of the year-long Festival of Hope.

The Festival is a year-long journey that includes evangelism training and discipleship events, community outreach projects and three nights of high-profile outreach March 3 – 5, 2017 at Rogers Arena.

Those who make decisions for Christ during the Festival journey will be referred to partner churches for follow-up and discipleship.

Neighbourhood Grants

It’s not too late to get paid for getting involved in your neighbourhood. Well, not exactly, but there are grants available for people with good ideas.

The Vancouver Foundation is offering Neighbourhood Small Grants “for residents [of several municipalities] to develop projects that meet the needs of the community,” as well as Greenest City Neighbourhood Small Grants, which are available “for residents of Vancouver to develop projects that contribute to the City’s Greenest City Action Plan Targets.”

Grant amounts are up to $500 and the deadline is next Monday (April 4).

Here are some examples the Small Neighbourhood Grants webpage offered “of small collaborative projects which can build community and create meaningful connections between people”:

We heard from Christine about her Stories of East Van walking tour that highlighted public art, architecture and personal experience stories from area neighbours. Chris from the Kitsilano neighbourhood enthusiastically shared information about his popular workshop – Old Bikes Back on the Urban Commute – geared towards bike maintenance and safety. Jessica and Shea talked about their initiative to empower and grow the repair community in Vancouver. The project titled Repair Matters, matches “fixers” (volunteer subject area experts) with people looking to repair their household items. It also shines a light on the tendency to dispose of old items and purchase new ones, causing more waste and a missed opportunity to learn about repair.

Greenest City grants will go to projects which meet these goals: mitigating climate change; promoting greener forms of transportation; creating zero waste; improving access to nature and planting trees; green(ing) buildings; growing and eating local food . . .

$10 trees

Speaking of planting trees, the city is running Vancouver Tree Week April 2 – 10, which means you can buy trees for the subsidized cost of just $10. The purpose is to “help us grow our urban forest and reach our goal of planting 150,000 trees by 2020.”

Sales take place April 2, 9 am – 4 pm at Hillcrest and April 10, 10 am – 3 pm, at Trout Lake. Purchasers must be residents of Vancouver proper.

Mar 2016

EFC Webinar: Worse than we thought: Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide – March 31, 2016 at 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Festival of Hope: Pastors and Leaders Dinner – March 31, 2016 at 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dr. Dennis Venema: Why I Accept Evolution (And Why You Probably Should As Well) – March 31, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Love, Mercy & Forgiveness: Pope Francis & the Future of the Catholic Church – March 31, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Tenth Avenue North, with Hawk Nelson – March 31, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Festival of Hope Launch – March 31, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Apr 2016

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