A refugee family reunited
Every year on June 20 the world honours the courage, resilience and strength of refugees. On this seventh anniversary of the United Nations-designated World Refugee Day, thousands of organizations in hundreds of countries will come together to focus global attention not only on the plight of refugees and the causes of their exile, but also on their determination and will to survive and on the contributions they make to their host communities.
The theme for 2009 is "real people, real needs." The story of Epiphania and her family illustrates the life-giving nature of refugee sponsorship supported by congregations and community groups throughout Canada.
Having been widowed by events of the Rwandan genocide, Epiphania fled the country with four of her six children; two were missing at the time. Their journey took them to Tanzania where they spent the next 10 years. While during this time the country of Rwanda was emerging from years of conflict, talk of return for Epiphania and her family only awakened memories of genocide, the suffering and past trauma endured by she and her family in 1994.
Finally, in November 2003, she and the four children with whom she fled received sponsorship by First Lutheran Church in Vancouver, BC and the Canadian government that would set in motion the process of bringing them to Canada.
The family of five arrived on May 3, 2004. They were met by members of the First Lutheran Church refugee committee and helped to settle into their new home. The children were enrolled in school. Epiphania started to learn English, a skill that would be invaluable in finding a job and being able to provide for her family. However, Epiphania's sons, Francois and Emmanuel, were still missing, a source of anxiety for not only Epiphania and her family, but their new community at First Lutheran as well.
Canadian Lutheran World Relief continued to follow-up on the matter of locating the two missing boys. Then, in November 2004, CLWR staff received information from the Red Cross that Epiphania's two sons had indeed escaped the genocide and were living in a refugee camp in Malawi. Immediately, another sponsorship application was submitted for them. After nearly five years of negotiating the sponsorship process the boys finally arrived in Canada on April 9, 2009. Fikre Tsehai, CLWR program manager for refugees, remarked "it was an immense joy to see Epiphania being reunited with her two sons."
The community of First Lutheran Church also shares in this joy. "The arrival of these two young men three days before Easter really brought to life the resurrection miracle in our congregation," commented Pastor Richard Hergesheimer of First Lutheran. "In fact, the riches of being involved in refugee sponsorship are abundant and have transformed us." He continues, "ministry is service and our notion of hospitality has become much more than just standing at the church door saying good morning, it is lived out by being welcoming to everyone whether at church, in our community or our country."
