It was with an overwhelming sense of pride and thankfulness that I saw the welcoming of the first family of Syrian refugees to our fair city.
A special thanks to Pastor Mark Wessner and the entire Westwood Mennonite Brethren congregation for their efforts in bringing this family to our community. From the bottom of my heart, I say thank you and welcome to our newly arrived family!
Historically speaking, there is a special connection between this church in particular and the refugees that are now among us.
Being a Mennonite Brethren congregation, many who attend Westwood are the descendents of religious and ethnic refugees themselves, as waves of Low-German speaking anabaptists came to Canada throughout the late 19th and early 20th century to escape persecution and find a new home.
While time may have passed, stories about the hardships endured in leaving the old world and settling in the new one are still passed on from generation to generation. This history is part of the reason that Mennonites in particular are so invested in helping refugees around the globe, as their many societies and committees can attest. Thus, despite being from different parts of the Earth, there is a kinship that the recently arrived family and those at Westwood indeed share.
Furthermore, this instance of selfless giving is also a perfect example of what Edmund Burke's "little platoons" provide seamlessly to civil society.
While central government is necessary for the grand logistical operation of screening, processing, and transporting refugees, the challenge of housing and providing for families on a day to day basis can only be effectively addressed by local volunteers, if for no other reason than economies of scale.
Westwood members, as well as the eight churches and single non-profit currently sponsoring refugees, are performing an immeasurable service to the wider public by donating their time, money, and effort in a way that cannot be truly measured in dollars alone.
And therefore, we are all the beneficiaries of the benevolence of these and other volunteers across the country tirelessly working around the clock to provide for our new neighbours.
So again, I say thank you to all those who have and are working to help make the now arrived family and the soon to arrive families feel welcome.
While there is still uncertainty surrounding what may happen in their home country and region, these families and those who are helping them can rest assured that we will do our best to keep them safe and try to help them make a better life here in Canada.
