The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund: Refugee Project

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50 Refugee Families Sponsorship Project

_{Archbishop Fred Hiltz,
Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada}

Pastoral Letter to the House of Bishops October 30,2008

Refugee work has always been a priority for The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF). Sponsoring refugees provides us with a tangible opportunity to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry and shelter the homeless.

The 50 Refugee Families Sponsorship Project is an exciting component of the PWRDF 50th anniversary program. It provides us with another opportunity to realize our baptismal covenant to strive for peace and justice and to respect the dignity of every person.

Refugee sponsorship conveys many benefits for parishes, too. It provides opportunities to grow and transform, to discover untapped resources, to learn about social justice and advocacy, and to look outside of ourselves.

Over the next 20 months, we are looking to our parishes across Canada to sponsor a minimum of 50 refugee families. In many cases, these families have been struggling to survive in refugee camps for years, even decades.

At present, there are 18 dioceses in Canada with sponsorship agreements. If your diocese is currently involved in such refugee sponsorship, we ask that you share with others how you became involved and what evidence there is for continuing commitment.

Sharing stories about the impact of sponsorship on refugees’ lives can be very powerful. I recently learned this first-hand at the Winnipeg Cathedral in Rupert’s Land. There, a number of refugee families spoke to us and we heard statements such as, “I waited for 14 years in a camp.” Sponsored refugees truly appreciate the efforts of the church for making their re-settlement to Canada possible.

Let’s not forget that Jesus himself was a refugee. In the face of King Herod’s anger and the threat of being killed, he was forced to flee into Eygpt. In the season of the Epiphany, parishes can tell this story and take the opportunity to talk about refugee sponsorship.

I ask you to support the refugee coordinator in your diocese and to help change the lives of 50 refugee families as well as 50 parish families.

With thanks, I am
Sincerely in Christ,
Fred. J. Hiltz
Archbishop and Primate
President, PWRDF Board