CLWR News & Stories

A woman in a pink shirt wearing a white headscarf stands behind a brown podium speaking into a microphone.

Stepping into a life of hope

In December, 2025 CLWR’s Refugee Resettlement team held a winter celebration in Vancouver, BC. At the event Shakila Bahrami, a refugee from Afghanistan who was resettled to Canada with support from CLWR, shared this inspiring message on the power of refugee resettlement to change lives. Thank you for giving me the honour to stand here […]

Refugee Resettlement | Salmon Arm Community in Action

Since 2016, the Deo Lutheran Church in Salmon Arm, BC, together with other churches, community groups, and individuals, have sponsored many Syrian refugees to Canada. “We knew we couldn’t sponsor refugees on our own,” said Erik Bjorgan, pastor of Deo Lutheran, which had a pre-pandemic attendance of 50-60 people. So they decided to call a […]

pam5

Refugee Resettlement Story: A rural-urban partnership

Three congregations in Ontario formed a refugee sponsorship partnership with a church in Nova Scotia.

screen-shot-2022-06-20-at-1.03.23-pm

Refugee Resettlement Story: Salmon Arm, BC

Since 2016, Deo Lutheran Church in BC has joined together with other churches, community groups and individuals to sponsor 70 Syrian refugees to Canada.

walaas-story

Refugee resettlement: Walaa’s story

Even during a global pandemic, Lutheran churches across Canada haven’t stopped providing refugees with a new home and caring community through our refugee sponsorship program.

tuula4

Refugee sponsorship “an epiphany” for Toronto church

Members of her congregation were skeptical about helping bring an Iraqi family to Canada, says Rev. Tuula Van Gaasbeek. But when they agreed, they had no idea how their own lives would they be affected.

prayer-breakfast-banner

World Refugee Day Prayer Breakfast

Join CLWR for a complimentary breakfast on World Refugee Day. All welcome.

uganda-banner

Busting five myths about refugees

Five busted myths about refugees

Majd and his aunt

Winding road of refugee sponsorship leads to new start for Syrian refugee

Like so many Canadians, and others around the world, in the summer of 2015, members of St. Andrew’s Anglican/Zion Lutheran Church were touched by the plight of Syrians trying to flee the war in their home. 

makeroom-banner

Make Room at the Table

Make Room at the Table is a way for you to make a place at your table and connect with refugees—to invite them as guests and to share a meal with them. It is an opportunity to welcome the stranger into your home.

Freawet Mega and family

Refugee sponsorship a life-changing event for family

Seeking refuge in Sudan was the start of a life-changing experience for Freawet Mega, who is originally from Eritrea.

annual-report16-17

Annual Report 2016-17

CLWR’s annual report for 2016-17.

refugee-sponsorship-banner-1

From the ‘hardest place’ to a relaxed and peaceful life

Refugee sponsorship offers new life in Canada to family who fled conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

img-8100-lg

Celebrating 30 years of refugee sponsorship

Thirty years ago, three congregations in Winnipeg’s North End worked together to sponsor an Eritrean mother and daughter.

img-7994-banner

Welcoming the stranger

For St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Winnipeg, MB, sponsoring a refugee family is a tangible response to Christ’s call to help and welcome the stranger.

South Sudanese refugees

Responding to the South Sudan refugee crisis

On July 8, 2016 fighting erupted in Juba, South Sudan, between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA-In Opposition.