In September 2020, START (St. Augustine’s Refugee Taskforce) received an urgent request for help from an Iranian Christian who fled religious persecution in Iran with his wife and her parents and is now in Turkey under threat of deportation back to Iran. START looked into this request carefully with the help of the Mennonite Central Committee and the Anglican Diocese of Calgary and found it to be legitimate. After very careful deliberations, the Parish Council of our Church, in cooperation with the Diocese of Calgary, has decided to sponsor Mohammad and his family to come to Lethbridge and support them for a year as new brothers and sisters of our Church family.
Due to the new refugee effort that St. Augustine’s Parish is engaged in, START is in need of committee members who can help with the work of organizing the sponsorship and helping with tasks that arise in the course of the project. If you are interested in joining the Committee, please contact Brian Black at brian.black@uleth.ca .
It could take as much as two years before Mohammad and his family will be able to come here, due in part to problems caused by the pandemic. Our Church is committed to bringing the family over and supporting them financially and socially for a year. The cost is estimated to be around $60,000. As of mid-February 2021 we have received pledges amounting to $31,000. Please consider whether it will be possible to donate to this cause. We will be sending out announcements of fundraising initiatives over the coming months. The Parish will issue tax receipts for all cash donations above $10.00 per year.