Welcome the Stranger: guide helps us resist public mood on refugees

The political climate in Canada, as in much of the world, has became less receptive to refugees – so it is good to see that the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), along with the Refugee Resettlement Roundtable, have made a  point of revising a publication encouraging churches to welcome them with open arms.

Following is a message EFC sent out in its June 23 weekly update, followed by the Introduction and Contents for the 68-page booklet.

In 2020, the EFC published a resource booklet called Welcome the Stranger. Created during the Syrian refugee crisis, the booklet offered churches and individuals valuable information about refugee sponsorship and explained why ‘welcoming the stranger’ reflects both a biblical command and God’s heart for those displaced from their homeland.

Recently the EFC created a revised edition of Welcome the Stranger: A Canadian Church Guide to Welcoming Refugees in partnership with the Refugee Resettlement Roundtable, a group of denominations and faith-based organizations engaged in refugee sponsorship.

The new edition includes four brand-new personal stories, two by sponsors and two by sponsored refugees. It also includes updated facts and statistics about the world’s refugee population and refugee sponsorship within Canada.

When the initial Welcome the Stranger resource was created in 2020, about 60 percent of Canadians said that the number of immigrants coming to Canada was about right.

Several years later, the public mood has shifted. Concerns about affordability and housing have dampened enthusiasm about welcoming refugees. In response, the government has temporarily closed two sponsorship streams. It has also stopped accepting applications for new sponsorship agreement holders.

Still, most Canadians perceive the government’s current reduced immigration targets to be too high.

The first edition of Welcome the Stranger was designed to encourage and equip individuals and groups to open their hearts and share their resources with refugees entering Canadian borders. The second edition acts as a reminder of why sponsorship – especially private sponsorship by Christian organizations – matters so much, even in economically and globally unsettled times that may incline us to turn inwards.

The resource notes that while refugees do rely on the generosity of governments and organizations, over time, their contributions to their new society outweigh what they receive. One study found sponsored refugees contribute more in income tax over a 20-year period than they receive in public benefits and services.

What’s more, the type of sponsorship matters. A Cardus study found privately sponsored refugees fare much better economically than government-sponsored refugees.

Sixty percent of privately sponsored Syrian refugees in 2016 were employed one year after arriving in Canada, in contrast to less than 10 percent of government-sponsored refugees. Furthermore, privately sponsored refugees earn 14 – 20 percent more on average than government-assisted refugees after one year in Canada. 

The personal stories in the revised Welcome the Stranger express a deep gratitude for the kindness of Canadian private sponsors. One anonymous refugee from Pakistan describes how life-threatening persecution forced him to flee his country after he prayed for a Muslim woman’s health. For the next 10 years, this man and his family lived as refugees. Then, finally, they were sponsored by a group of Canadians.

He concludes

As I look back on our journey, I see one thing clearly: God never left us. From the bullets that didn’t kill me to the strangers in Canada who became like family, every chapter of our story is filled with God’s grace. And His people, the Church, became His hands and feet. To those considering refugee sponsorship: Please don’t hesitate. The process may feel overwhelming, but its impact is lasting.

Extending hospitality and support to those who have fled their homeland fulfils God’s command to the Israelites: “Love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).

Though Jesus instructed his followers to exercise caution when interacting with non-believers, telling them to be “as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves” (Matthew 10:16), he also described the Kingdom rewards for those who extend hospitality to foreigners: “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me” (Matthew 25:35-36).

• Introduction

• Contents