It was just after the body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdie washed up on a beach in Turkey. Kurdie drowned as his Syrian family was trying to reach Canada.
At the end of his sermon, Park said the church really needed to do something. As people left that day, many said “we could sponsor a family.’
“That was the reaction I was hoping for,” said Park from his office earlier this week.
“It just seemed the natural step for us to move on into trying to do something for somebody who was far off.”
However, the country was in the midst of a federal election and the idea got put on the backburner.
“We didn’t stop, but we just waited to see where Canada was going with bringing in refugees,” said Park.
When he returned from a vacation around mid-November, the new Liberal government had committed to bring in 25,000 refugees by the end of February.
His first Sunday back, the topic of sponsoring a Syrian refugee family came up again. The matter then went to the parish council, which unanimously voted to move ahead.
“We believe that Corner Brook has all the resources that you need,” Parks said, noting a small pool of Arabic translators, English as a second language training and schools equipped to teach children who don’t have English as a first language. The church has also identified a doctor who is prepared to offer the family medical care.
Within the church community there is also a skillset that can be drawn upon to help prepare a home for the family, and no matter what the age of the children there are parish families with children who can become friends and playmates.
The church will be acting as a sub-agency with the Association for New Canadians in bringing in a family.
With significant financial contributions from within the parish community, nearly $24,000 of the $30,000 needed has been raised. And, with several people interested in serving on a committee and acting as signatories, the church is ready to make its application.
Park said within a couple of months of making its application a family should be identified and quite possibly be here. It will be the second family to come to the city as a group known as the Refugee Support Group is also working with the association to sponsor a family.
As a former military chaplain, Park has spent time in refugee camps and knows the opportunity the church will give this family is about enabling them, no matter what their religious affiliation, to move forward.
“What being a refugee means, really is that you can’t go back,” he said. “And until somebody sponsors you, you can’t go forward. So your life’s really in limbo.”
Twitter:@WS_DianeCrocker
