Grinches and Christmas go hand in hand. But last Saturday night at John Knox Christian, a private school in Burnaby, dozens of refugees gathered in the gymnasium for an event more fantastic, more bursting with life, than any Dr. Seuss tale.
They came from everywhere. From Afghanistan, Colombia, North Korea and Kosovo. White, brown and black. Young and old. Christian, Muslim and Hindu. As guests of Journey Home, a Christian non-profit based in Burnaby, they ate pumpkin pie and sang Christmas carols in a cacophony of accents and broken English. With help from Journey Home staff and volunteers, the refugee children staged a nativity play based on Lukes Gospel about a wayward family and a precious child. That story ended in salvation, the ultimate goal for refugees. Might they find it here? Perhaps. But theres no guarantee. Canadian refugee claims are often denied. Citizenship may take years. And then, its merely the end of the beginning.
Every refugee knows by heart the date they landed. They can recite it like their birthday.
April 27, 2009, says Daniel, a stout middle-aged Mexican who, alongside his wife and extended family, fled the drug wars that have killed thousands in Mexico since 2006.
As chief breadwinner, Daniel works nights at a Burnaby peanut factory (9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m) before punching in at a nearby office building for a janitorial shift (6 a.m. to 10 a.m.). He returns to a small house in Burnaby where the whole family lives. Denied refugee status, Daniels launched an appeal, yet despite looming deportation, considers himself lucky. My family is safe at any time in the day. We are very happy to be safe.
Safety is relative. What most Canadians take for granted, many newcomers cherish.
Paul and Rachel (not their real names) arrived in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»on April 16, 2011, fleeing persecution in their native Iran. Why? Because Rachel converted from Islam to Christianity during a covert baptism in Tehran. According to Shariah law, thats apostasya crime punishable by death. They were following me, says Rachel, a pretty 38-year-old. They were going to kill me and maybe take away my daughter and hurt her. Now living in Burnaby, the couple awaits a refugee hearing. Paul was recently baptized at Willingdon Church. Their daughter has made new friends. The mullahs could not be reached for comment.
Battered clichés notwithstanding, Saturday nights event at John Knox Christian, like the many journeys over land and sea, was mainly about the children. In the tired eyes of refugee parents lies hope for their kids. So they might have a better life, parents sacrifice all.
Yet some come young, leaving parents and family behind.
On Aug. 13, 2010, Vani (and 491 other Tamil migrants) staggered off the Sun Sea cargo ship in Nanaimo after three months at sea. Now 20 years old, slight and short with deep brown eyes, Vani tells her story gently and with smiles. Born near Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka, her family suffered through years of war while government forces battled Tamil Tigers, a militant separatist movement. She lost an older brother, missing and presumed dead, and an older sister in an air raid. She eventually married and fled to Thailand where the Sun Sea was waiting. She now lives with her husband in a one-bedroom apartment in New Westminster. While he pumps gas at a Chevron, she works double-shifts at a Fresh Slice in East Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»making pizza at $9.50 an hour. At the beginning, I liked pizza, she laughs. Then I was making the pizza, touching the pizza, smelling the pizza, serving the pizza. Now I dont like it anymore. The pizza, not the job. Each month Vani sends $120 to her family in Sri Lanka. With her refugee status pending, her English grows stronger every day. She plans to become a nurse and a Canadian citizen. Im going to behow you say?brave. Im going to be brave. With God with us.
Last Saturday night, many nations gathered in fellowship, a community of castaways and castoffs seeking shelter from the storm. Facing similar circumstances, Joseph led his family from Bethlehem to Egypt before settling in Nazareth bearing a child that changed the world. Folks like Daniel, Vani, Rachel and Paul arent trying to change the world, just their lives. Following their star to a promised land.
twitter: @MarkHasiuk
