A little background . . . .

The Khaled Family - First Steps in Canada
March 2017
Berivan, Hassan and Pella
The Khaled Family
Spring 2021
Berivan, Hassan, Pella, Fares & baby Nancy

Four years ago in March 2017, several members of the Bracebridge United Church were on a bus on our way to the airport in Toronto to welcome the Khaled family to their new home country of Canada. We were all a little nervous to meet our family for the first time in person. We had met over Skype several times and developed a closeness, but this was to be the real thing!

A lot has happened for that little family of three that we saw come down the ramp in the airport. Two Canadian-born children later they are happily settled in a lovely home with good employment and fitting smoothly into Canadian culture. Pella is doing well in Senior Kindergarten and regularly teaches her parents Canadian words and phrases!

Enough time had passed that they can now make application to become Canadian citizens. The next stage, after their applications are approved, will be the citizenship exams. The latest news is that both Berivan and Hassan have passed their exams and are awaiting their formal visit to a citizenship court. A proud moment for them and those who helpled this to come about.

They have done so well. We want to thank the many members of our community for all the ways you have supported them thus far in their journey.

This year marks the sad anniversary of a decade of war in Syria. The conflict continues and the people of Syria continue to struggle with the impact of the war. Not only have thousands died as a result of the war but, according to CNN … “After a decade of conflict, Syria remains the world's largest refugee crisis, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. More than half of the country's people are displaced — including 5.5 million refugees living primarily in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, and another 6.7 million internally displaced inside Syria. Two-thirds of those displaced are women and children, the U.N. after a decade conflict, remain displaced inside the country.says.”

Since the war broke out over 74,000 Syrian refugees have come to Canada. How blessed we are to have two of those families living here in Bracebridge. One of the other families sponsored by the Rotary Club and the community now has full Canadian Citizenship. They are so proud to be part of their new homeland.

Many members of our community were involved in successfully integrating the Khaled family from their war-torn country of Syria into the life they now enjoy in our beautiful community. Berivan approached members of Bracebridge United Church to ask if our congregation would be willing to reactivate our sponsorship program. Her aunt and uncle (her mother’s sister) and their four children desperately want to come to Canada escaping the conflict of their country. So this is how we started. BUC approached Knox Presbyterian Church to explore the possibility of a partnership. After putting the suggestion up for discussion by both congregations, there was unanimous support to sponsor another family.