Refugee Sponsorship at St. George
St. George has had a long history of sponsoring refugee families through the Refugee Committee of the Anglican Diocese.
The current Refugee Sponsorship Steering Committee was established in October 2015 under the auspices of the Social Justice and Outreach group in response to public outcry regarding the Syrian refugee crisis.
Since then, three of the five sponsorships the Parish has been involved in have come to a successful conclusion:
• Feb 2016-2017 - Raed & Natasha Belal and their four children (Syria)
• May 2018-2019 - Haile Yemane (Eritrea)
• Oct 2019-2020 - Abdul & Betul Elcuk and their three, now four, children (Syria)
A fourth sponsorship, of another young man from Eritrea, was unexpectedly and permanently cancelled by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in Nov 2018.
The fifth was committed to in July 2019. Our sponsorship application for a young Eritrean woman has finally been approved; Ruth and her husband, Tesfalem, arrived in Victoria in September 2024.
If you are interested in getting involved with this important ministry, please contact admin@stgeorgecadborobay.ca.
Financial support for this ministry is also needed and appreciated. There are a number of ways to contribute to this Ministry:
- With a cheque made out to the "St. George's Anglican Church" and a notation on the cheque that it is for the Refugee Fund. Cheques can be dropped off at the church mail box or church office or placed in the offering plate at Sunday services.
- If a parishioner has Blue Envelopes, the November Monthly Outreach by our Social Justice and Outreach Team is the Refugee Fund so blue envelopes can be used with the notation that the donation is for November’s outreach.
- On-line with a credit card. Please go to https://www.
stgeorgecadborobay.ca/pages/ givings and select the "Click here to give now" button. Please select the "St. George's Refugee Fund" from the pull-down menu.
For more information about refugee sponsorship in the Diocese of British Columbia, visit https://bc.anglican.ca/ministries-and-programs/refugee-sponsorship--218