The total money raised for our sponsored Liberian family’s expenses, through the November 26th auction and additional donations, was over $2,800!
This is a real blessing for the cause with the federal money ending shortly and the bills continuing to come in for rent, electricity, telephone, groceries, etc. We are very grateful to everyone who donated items, volunteered at the event, and who bid on the various treasures (some of which are being modeled in the photo). We are especially thankful for Wendy Brien and her team who worked tirelessly to put this auction together and to pull it off. Well done!
With gratitude,
Ann Deveau
on behalf of the Refugee Sponsorship Committee
Our Christmas Angel program has begun! Please help us provide gifts for needy children in the Fredericton area. 🙂
Paper angels from the Fredericton Food Bank are waiting to be chosen from small trees in the Cathedral and in the hall foyer. Each angel indicates a gift or stocking stuffers for a needy boy or girl of a specific age.
Unwrapped gifts, with the paper angels firmly attached, should be brought to the church or the hall by SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4th. Drop-off boxes are set up near the angel trees.
If you cannot bring your gift on time, please take it to the drop-off box in the hall no later than Monday, December 5th. It might seem early, but it is the deadline for the Cathedral Outreach Committee to deliver the gifts to the Food Bank volunteers, who will then distribute the gifts to the children’s parents to be wrapped.
If you prefer to donate money instead of toys or stocking stuffers, please write a cheque payable to Christ Church Cathedral and indicate Christmas Outreach on the memo line. Your cheque or cash should reach the church office by Friday, December 16th. These funds will be divided equally among the Fredericton Homeless Shelters, Transition House and the Fredericton Community Kitchen.
The Outreach Committee thanks you for your generous support in making Christmas special for needy families in our community!
The guests who attend the Monday morning drop-in at Cathedral Memorial Hall are lucky. People who have never even met them collaborate to make the event a success.
They have a warm, welcoming place to hang out and socialize with their friends. Thanks to members of the congregation who generously donate sandwiches, muffins and fruit, they never leave hungry.
Thanks to others who set up the room, they can enjoy a cup of coffee while sitting in comfortable chairs. Their dirty dishes will be made sparkling clean by volunteers in the kitchen.
WHEN THE SAINTS – When the Saints Go Marching In is one of the favourite songs performed by a small group of Christian men who sing and play at the Monday morning drop-in.
Some guests are busy “shopping,” looking through the free stash of used clothing and small housewares donated by cathedral members, their relatives and friends.
Archdeacon Pat Drummond offers a Bible study each week. Parish nurse Kathleen Snow takes blood pressures and chats with people about their health problems, often pointing them toward helpful resources.
A few Christian men from a local Baptist church bring their guitars and banjos to play gospel music, with some country tunes and oldies mixed in. Sometimes there’s a singalong.
A social worker from the downtown health clinic circulates through the crowd to assist people he knows or has just met. Cathedral volunteers chat, making the day a little brighter for guests struggling with loneliness, illness, poverty, and addictions.
BP CHECKS – A blood pressure check is one of the services offered by parish nurse Kathleen Snow at the Monday morning drop-in for people in need.
“We enjoy wonderful partnerships with people from the cathedral and elsewhere in the community who believe in opening their hearts to help people in need,” said a smiling Penny Ericson who is chair of the Outreach Committee. “We couldn’t do it without their kind and faithful support.”
She noted that the Cathedral ACW helps by providing funding as well as food once a month as do the pastors and parishioners of St. Margaret’s Anglican and New Maryland United.
“We have a great time working together in the kitchen and talking with the guests,” she said. “The people who come appreciate what we offer very much. About 40 people attend every Monday, although on the last Monday of the month when we give out a $10 gift card or bus tickets, the turnout climbs. We are grateful to the Bishop and Chapter for the money to fund that part of our activities.”
Penny welcomes questions from anyone who is interested in learning more about the Monday drop-in.
At the end of this year Doug Milander will turn in his apron after 10 years as co-ordinator of the cathedral’s community kitchen ministry.
For well over a decade, the cathedral has supplied teams every Saturday evening year-round to help the cook from 4 until 6 p.m. with food preparation, serving the crowd, and doing the dishes.
“The shift is only two hours a month, the work isn’t difficult, and it’s rewarding to help people in need,” Doug said. “It’s a really busy place, and our help is appreciated.”
However, 10 years straight is a long time to give to a monthly volunteer activity. He’s also busy with the cathedral’s Monday morning drop-in for people in need, the food bank basket collection, and the Christmas Angels program. As well, he’s part of the core group assisting the Liberian refugee family to settle into Canadian life.
“It’s time to pass the torch,” Doug said, noting the co-ordinator’s duties would include recruiting team captains and team members this fall, developing a schedule for the year ahead, and reminding people of their commitments.
It’s time to pass the torch …
Currently, four teams help at the Saturday suppers in rotation. Each team has more than a dozen members, and four-to-six people are expected to cover the two-hour shift. Ideally, a person’s turn would only come up every couple of months.
In recent years, the cathedral congregation has not been able to provide enough volunteers. People from other denominations have joined all four cathedral teams which does add a nice social aspect to the work.
“I would be glad to meet with anyone interested in taking on this important volunteer opportunity,” he added. His number is (506) 455-3299.
CLEANING UP – Doug Milander, longtime co-ordinator of the cathedral’s community kitchen ministry, takes a break from doing dishes to pose with his wife Ann Deveau, one of the team captains, and Fan Liang, a graduate student from China who joined a cathedral team to help people in need.
What does it take for you to go somewhere you have never ever been before? For some people they become filled with fear and never want to go, others they just need the money and they are already on the plane, and others still just need to hear the voice of God and they will be there no matter what the barrier.
I had the privilege of going down to French Guiana at the end of July to celebrate the 20th anniversary of having an Inter-Varsity group (GBU) in French Guiana. In 1996 there was a group of university students from Martinique who came to French Guiana to plant a GBU in the second largest city, Kourou, and there were a bunch of bumps along the way but they knew that they were called their so they faithfully followed. Since then GBU in French Guiana has expanded to the other university in Cayenne and onto 3 different High schools. All of this has happened by the initiative of volunteers and students because there are currently no staff workers there.
For me it was also my first time in French Guiana and it was a mixture of exciting and scary to go to a place where I did not really know anyone but I had heard so many good things about. For me, seeing the teaching that was there, the way in which they celebrated and my time interacting with students it was a strong confirmation that I am being told to go somewhere I haven’t really ever been before. I am stepping out in faith and I hoping and praying that my contributions can have the same impact as those first students had when they first got off the plane and started ministering on the University campus. But so far what I have seen is so encouraging.
Funding report
This past little while I have been back in Winnipeg and I have been able to fundraise the first 30% of my budget so in the next month I am aiming to get to 100% of my fundraising. I want to thank all of those people that have already supported me. If you or anyone you know would like to support the ministry of Inter-Varsity I would love to come and meet with you and tell you how that might be possible.
With a violent civil war and years in a refugee camp behind them, Phillip, Esther, Arene and Catherine flew more than 10,000 kilometres from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to Brussels to Montreal to Fredericton this week. The long trip is only the start of their challenging journey.
FIRST CANADIAN PICNIC – The Rev’d Rick Robinson and his wife Nancy took the refugee family from Liberia swimming and for a picnic at Woolastook Park on July 31. Pictured with them are Arene, Catherine, Esther and Phillip. The young people also enjoyed dancing to music at the event which was celebrating Black heritage in New Brunswick.
A smiling welcoming committee waved balloons, welcome signs and Canadian flags at the airport. Parishioners came from the cathedral, Christ Church Parish Church, St. Margaret’s, St. Mary (York), All Saints in Marysville and Anglican parishes around Gagetown. Four exhausted people who hadn’t slept for two nights looked bewildered by all the attention.
“They were overwhelmed, probably feeling as if they had landed on another planet, but we made them feel as welcome, safe and comfortable as we could,” said committee member Doug Milander from the cathedral. “When we drove up to the door of the apartment building and I said, “this is your home,” Phillip began to sob.
“I don’t know what he had expected, but he could not believe what was happening. By the time he saw the spacious rooms, homey furnishings, and all the food, he cried harder. He thanked us and shook our hands many times.”
Phillip’s wife Esther deplaned in an airline wheelchair and walks very haltingly with a cane. The teenaged children look healthy and were curious. Everything is new for them: 24/7 electricity, potable running water, modern bathrooms and appliances.
Representatives of the Archdeaconry of Fredericton await Phillip, Esther, Arene and Catherine at Fredericton Airport on Wednesday.
“This is an incredible and emotional experience for everyone,” said Kelly Humber-Kelly from St. Margaret’s who completed much of the paperwork related to the refugee sponsorship. “Everyone on the committee thanks you for the prayers, funds, and donated items you have given to this project in the past several months.
“But it’s no longer a project. These are people with hopes and dreams, a family who needs our help and loving care to regain their independence and transition to a new life in Canada.”
Updates will be provided as events unfold for the family. Ongoing prayers are appreciated.
On July 26th a family of four Liberians, who fled a civil war and who have been living in a refugee camp for six years, will board an airplane in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, and start winging their way toward Canada.
The family will find a clean, fully furnished, comfortable, bright, three-bedroom apartment waiting for them when they arrive in Fredericton July 27th. The cathedral and 10 Anglican parishes have been collecting funds, furniture and food for the family, comprised of Phillip Weah, Esther Gmah and teenaged children Arene and Catherine Gmah. A team from the cathedral, Christ Church Parish Church, St. Margaret’s, St. Mary’s York and All Saints (Marysville) has been working hard to move furniture and supplies, clean and set up the apartment. Congregations have been enormously generous in donating items. The refugee sponsorship committee expresses gratitude for the help and asks for ongoing prayer for the Liberian family.
When they arive they will be nervously stepping into a whole new world. They will receive a warm welcome from members of the Greater Fredericton Area Anglican Parishes, a refugee sponsorship committee representing 10 parishes and the cathedral.
“We have been praying, preparing and raising funds for many months in anticipation of the family’s arrival, but we have been given only two and a half weeks notice of the specific date,” said Archdeacon Patricia Drummond who speaks for the committee.
“We have a LOT to do before that time, the most urgent being to find a convenient, three-bedroom apartment for a reasonable rent into which we can move the many furniture items and supplies we have accumulated,” she said. “We also need to stock the apartment with groceries. And there is considerable paperwork to do and meetings to set up related to banking, documentation, language assessments, health care, and so on.”
She added that it will be helpful for the African newcomers because it is not the dead of winter, but it will be hectic for the organizers because it is summer when some volunteers are away on holidays.
“In speaking over a scratchy telephone line with the father of the family, I discovered that the family is Christian. We would have happily accepted any faith, but this does make things easier in a number of ways.”
In speaking over a scratchy telephone line with the father of the family, I discovered that the family is Christian …
Liberia is on the west coast of Africa
The archdeacon sincerely thanked everyone for their donations and moral support. Prayers for the family will be very much appreciated.
“Some people have asked if they can still contribute financially, and the answer is yes because we must support this family for an entire year,” she noted. “People in the various parishes have been generous, but we do not yet have enough money to cover the whole year. Cheques can be made payable to Christ Church Parish Church, marking Refugee Fund on the memo line. Any contribution is welcome.”
The only remaining item needed on our 10-page list of furniture and supplies is a chair suitable to use at a computer desk. It does not have to be new but it does have to function.
“God has been very good to us as we prepare for the family, and we know He will watch over them on their long journey here,” Archdeacon Drummond concluded.
The Archdeaconry of Fredericton refugee sponsorship committee has been waiting for months to bring a Syrian refugee family to Fredericton. A couple weeks ago we were advised that the backlog of applications is now so large (thousands!) that it would be well into 2017 before we could even think of being matched with a Syrian family.
It’s disappointing. However, there are literally millions of other refugees, some of whom have been waiting in crowded camps for years. We were told that, if we would agree to sponsor an African family instead, it could take only a few more weeks or months before they would step off the plane in Fredericton.
Liberia is on the west coast of Africa
The committee, made up of 10 parishes and the cathedral, prayed, discussed and decided to help a family of four from Liberia in West Africa now, instead of waiting until 2017 for a Syrian family. Our application is being reviewed by the federal government, and we are waiting for news.
We have a few details: the father is Phillip, age 47, who has worked as a farm hand; his wife is Esther, age 50, a trader, probably selling fruit, fish or charcoal in an outdoor market; her children are a son, Arene, age 19, and a daughter, Catherine, age 16.
The family profile does not indicate how long they have been living in the refugee camp, situated in the neighbouring country of Côte d’Ivoire. Knowing there have been two civil wars in Liberia, we suspect it might be years. The parents have been subjected to violence and torture.
We do not yet know their religion, but the file says they can speak English and French plus their native language called Grebo. Their educational levels are very low, especially given the ages of the children. Conditions in the camp are not good concerning health care, dental care, education, etc.
If our application succeeds, it will be a huge challenge for this family to adapt to life in Canada.
If our application succeeds, it will be a huge challenge for this family to adapt to life in Canada. Think of our weather (the average annual temperature in Liberia is 28C!), the different culture here, their lack of education, and limited work experience. It is possible that they may never have enjoyed 24/7 electricity, running water, and all the amenities we take for granted. Life here may be overwhelming for them.
That is why the committee continues to prepare to welcome and help them. Financial donations have reached about $22,000 — we need $30,000 to look after them for one year. Thanks to you, donations of furnishings are going extremely well. (See list of remaining items sought.)
The Missions Committee at the cathedral will keep you posted on the progress of the archdeaconry’s application. Please pray for this refugee family and for our efforts to bring them out of violence and misery to a safe home in peaceful Canada.
FURNISHINGS LIST (remaining items needed as of June 22, 2016)
LIVING ROOM – modern TV (not the heavy, old, tube-type) MISCELLANEOUS – chair for computer desk
Items can be dropped off at Cathedral Memorial Hall during business hours.
If you wish to help support the family, you can provide a cheque, payable to Christ Church Parish Church, noting Refugee Fund on the memo line. The treasurer at that church is maintaining an account on behalf of all the parishes taking part in the sponsorship.
Spin the globe. Halfway around the world sits a refugee family dreaming of a better, safer life.
Spin the globe again. People from 11 parishes in the archdeaconry of Fredericton are collecting furniture and housewares to fill that family’s apartment here.
At this point, neither knows anything specific about the other, nor do they know when they will finally meet and start working together on the transition to a new life in Canada.
HELPING HANDS – Wendy Smith (at right), a parishioner from St. Margaret’s Anglican, delivers household goods donated by the congregation for the Syrian refugee family who will be sponsored by the archdeaconry. St. Margaret’s is kindly covering all items in the bathroom and personal supplies categories of a long list of furniture and supplies. Ann Deveau (at left) from the cathedral will put the items into storage until the family arrives in Fredericton. The timing is unknown because the archdeaconry is on a waiting list to choose a family.
Having met its self-imposed national target of 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February, the federal government has slowed its processing of refugee applicants. This is frustrating for potential sponsors. Patience and prayer will be needed in the coming months until a match is made.
While waiting for the bureaucracy to grind its wheels, committee members are raising funds (as of May 1st, donations now stand at $20,030.83), researching apartment prices, finding Arabic interpreters, looking for a doctor and dentist, learning which foods will be needed in a Syrian pantry, getting cross-cultural training, and so on.
Parishioners have asked how they can help the family. Some donations have already arrived and are being stored in the basement of Cathedral Memorial Hall, such as area rugs, desk, bed, floor lamp, coffee table, toaster oven, coffee maker, bedding, sets of cutlery and dishes, coat hangers, and much more.
One parish offered to supply everything needed to outfit a bathroom as well as all the personal supplies.
As the exact composition of the family is unknown, some questions cannot be answered now. Will we need bunk beds? A crib? Dolls and art supplies for wee ones?
Curtains or blinds will be needed, but what size will the windows be in the apartment to be rented later? Some items will just have to wait!
However, here is a list of things most likely required. If you can donate any of these items (clean, in good condition and in working order, please), e-mail Doug Milander and Ann Deveau <amdrm at nbnet.nb.ca> or call (506) 455-3299.
Drop-off and/or pick-up dates can be arranged later this spring. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Don MacPherson helps move articles for short term storage
As of 10 June …
LIVING ROOM – modern TV (not the heavy, old, tube-type)
BEDROOMS – mattress and boxspring for a single bed, mattress and boxspring for a 54-inch bed, 3 waste baskets
DINING/KITCHEN – 4 kitchen chairs, hand mixer, muffin tin
MISCELLANEOUS – chair for computer desk, radio, alarm clock, wall clock, paper/pens/pencils, 3 umbrellas, combs and brushes
