St Clair Community Church

Sponsorship Update

July 27, 2022

BUDGET SHORTFALL

In examining the budget that was made when we started this process in 2020, we are very aware that housing costs have risen exponentially over the last 1.5 years. This makes the initial budget that we set very difficult to work with and makes it almost impossible to find accommodation for this family.

In order to fulfil our sponsorship responsibilities we are asking St Clair family members to prayerfully consider if they could commit to a monthly donation of $25, $50, $100 or more a month to help meet the shortfall of approximately $400/month for a total of 12 months. (Lump sum amounts are also appreciated). Would you be able to commit to a gift in this way to help us meet the rental shortfall? If you can, please email us and we will give you the instructions for this type of giving.

We also still need to secure a house/apartment for 5 members of this family, we ask you to continue keeping an ear out for any available housing situations and be in touch if you hear of any possibilities with a flexible or below market rent.

June 12, 2022

QUARANTINE PLANNING

The family has now gone through screening interviews and health checks and it seems that they have been cleared as we are now being asked to prepare a 14 day quarantine plan. Our understanding is that once this plan is submitted, flights will be purchased for the family and they will be here sometime over the summer.

We are looking for a quarantine location for 5 adults for 14 days, sometime over the summer. Unfortunately we do not yet have an exact time frame. Are you going away for the summer? Is there somewhere else you could stay for 2 weeks on short notice? Do you have an available rental space open for the summer? Do you have other ideas about this?
We will also be looking for help to purchase food, medicine, toys for the 3 year old and other essentials for the family when they arrive. This is a true quarantine (as far as we understand) and so anything they need will need to be delivered.

May 19, 2022

APPROVED!
We rejoice with our sponsor family as they have successfully passed their security clearance interviews on Wed 18th! They must now complete their medical exams over the next few days. Please be praying that they all pass and can continue on with this process. We are told there are more details to complete and it could be 2-4 months before they are with us. This is a typical time-frame. Please continue to pray that all exams are passed and for health and safety for this family.

October 10th, 2021

Letter Writing Campaign
Click here to download all the information you need about what to include in letters of support and where to send them.

Application and File Status
When the federal election was called, the families file was escalated to the Ministerial Enquiry Department which is used in unique circumstances and requires extra attention. With the election over, there is currently no Immigration Minister who would be responsible for this file. This individual and their staff will be determined in the weeks ahead as the new government is sworn in.

Current Situation
Recently, the family’s visas expired at the end of September and their bank accounts have been frozen. The country they have been living in is not the most hospitable towards refugees or asylum seekers, this means they are there illegally. One of their sons was stopped a few days ago when he was out on an errand and verbally warned that he was there illegally as he did not have papers to prove his status.

With their visas expired, this family is under constant fear of either being arrested or at worse being deported to Iraq where the father was imprisoned and tortured for a few years.

Current Efforts
In the meantime, we have reached out to a number of Members of Parliament’s offices to inquire regarding the family’s file and how we can expedite the process given their current status. The basic response is that there is no single or simple solution.

Our focus for action is raise awareness of this family’s file however we can. Whether through letters, medias stories, continued prayer – we must be persistent. An organized letter writing campaign is in the works. Please share with your social circles and networks to create and even greater impact.

Sponsorship Approved

March 4th, 2021

We just got word this morning from the IRCC that our refugee sponsorship has been approved to move to the next step! We are praising God for his provision! Pastor Jamal and his family will now be waiting for visa application interviews. There were and still are a lot of unknowns around the timing of refugee applications because of backlogs due to COVID. Please continue to pray for an expedited process and for the family as they wait.

Sponsorship Application Delay

December 10th, 2020

The Sponsorship team was able to complete the applications for sponsorship and submit them to the Sponsorship Agreement Holder by our mid-November deadline. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the application review may be delayed until early 2021. We remain hopeful that the applications will be processed according to God’s timeline and ask you to continue to keep Pastor Jamal and his family in your prayers as we wait for good news. Beginning in January, we will have a regularly scheduled prayer time in the prayer room so stay tuned!

Fundraising Goal Reached

November 17th, 2020

We are so excited to share that we have met our financial goal for the refugee sponsorship! Thanks to everyone for your generosity in such a short time frame. Next in the process is ensuring all the paperwork is filled out properly and submitted to the government and then we wait. In this waiting period, we know there is a potential anxiousness and anticipation for us to know what is next, but this is felt exponentially more by Pastor Jamal and his family. Please continue to pray for peace and safety for the family and for a smooth application process.

Meet the Family

*Names and some details have been changed for the purpose of safety and security.

In 2007, Jamal and his family were leading a thriving ministry in a Muslim community in the Middle East. When the government noticed that many Muslims were converting to Christianity, they imprisoned Jamal for 10 days – until he agreed to close the church. Upon his release, the community continued to meet, but started to gather in homes. In 2011, Jamal was imprisoned again for 2 years. His daughter Laura writes, “My father was hurt physically and emotionally, but his faith was stronger. He even led 28 men in prison to Christ. He can’t control himself. Even when he was under torture, he still praised and let the guards go very mad because they kept hearing him praying and praising Jesus.” After receiving help from a not-for-profit organization, Jamal was released. He had no choice but to sign an agreement to leave the country, and if he returned, the family’s safety was not guaranteed.

The family has been living in a nearby country as refugees since 2013. Most of the adult children were able to continue their education in dentistry, and have gone on to learn the language spoken there. Unfortunately it has proven very challenging to find job opportunities, permanent residency, etc. not being citizens, living within a poor economy, as well as facing discrimination.

This family has a passion for ministry. Laura writes “we all miss the mission work a lot. We miss our church gathering, worshiping, seeing new believers, going to the mountains and praying in loud voices all together, helping orphans and widows. We miss all these things about [home]. We are praying that we can do the same thing among [people of that community] in Canada.”

The family now consists of Jamal, his wife Elizabeth, one daughter Laura, her husband, their 2 y/o son, and three single sons.

Next Steps and Fundraising Info

There is a sense of urgency for this situation. Currently, many other refugees are being forced to leave this country and this family’s temporary residence visas have not been renewed. There is reason for them to be worried about where they will go if they are forced to leave. They also have reason to think that this may happen in the near future. After enduring a great deal of hardship, this family is desperate to find a community where they can start a new life.

We at St. Clair have been given the amazing opportunity to play a significant role in supporting their dream by sponsoring them to move to Hamilton. The government process for sponsoring refugee families requires that we raise the necessary funds, and confirm the specific resources we have in place to support them when they arrive.

Fundraising Details: In partnership with Remember Ministries, St. Clair is committing to financial support, relevant paperwork, prayer, and investing in relationship with this family over the next several years. In order to submit our sponsorship, we need $98,000 by November 15th, which will meet all the family’s settlement costs (food, housing, clothes, household furnishings, etc.) for one year. All money donated goes directly to the refugees, in the form of start-up costs and monthly income support when they arrive in Canada.

Why is this important to St. Clair?

St. Clair’s theology of family and God’s call throughout Scripture to welcome the stranger has laid the foundation for what we are being invited to do in this season. Throughout the years our community has been involved in welcoming newcomers to Hamilton and assisting them as they make this their home.

Prayer Requests

• Pray for the funds to come in to make sponsorship possible.
• Pray for wisdom for the settlement team as they work to prepare all the necessary information, documents, etc
• Pray over the family’s applications as they submit them to the visa office.
• Pray for God’s timing. that they can remain safely in this country while we work to sponsor them.
• As winter approaches, pray for Jamal, his wife and their three sons as they live in a village with cold weather conditions. Pray that this winter life will be easier on them as they need to work on a farm.