As Westwood Church welcomed its first Syrian family Thursday night, the second family it's sponsoring may be hot on their heels.
Pastor Mark Wessner recently learned that all the paperwork is complete for the mother and teenage son and daughter.
"They could be arriving any day as well," said Wessner. "We have no indicator of when but all of the processing is done. If it's anything like this one, it may just be two day's notice."
While Wessner's church may be the first to welcome Syrian families to Prince George, the city has five other groups working hard to sponsor more refugees.
Two churches have started the process, one group is close to meeting its fundraising goal and two are hoping to have fundraising wrapped up in the next couple of months.
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 10 refugees are "currently in the inventory" connected to Prince George.
Here's what the five groups have been up to:
Christian Reform Church
The Christian Reform Church is likely next closest in line to see its sponsored family arrive in Prince George.
A couple from Aleppo, Syria, and their three girls, aged nine to 12, have completed an interview and undergone the necessary medical tests.
"I heard it went well," said Alan Vanderwoerd, of the interview Monday in Turkey.
"I hope things work out. From our end, we did our part and I'm assuming that it'll go through."
Vanderwoerd, a UNBC chaplain, is one of the church's eight committee members.
"It's a very strong committee, a fairly
high level of commitment," said Vanderwoerd.
That, too, goes for the church, which raised the necessary funds entirely from its members in a short period of time.
"I think what it says is (the church was) ready for this kind of project. There was a sort of yearning to do something practical but we didn't know what that would be."
Things have been moving quickly. The family was interviewed only six days after Vanderwoerd first heard the government has received the church's application.
"That's very fast and it kind of shows that (the government is) eager to process these people."
Vanderwoerd said it's important to be sensitive to realities that face the refugees once they arrive in Canada and Prince George.
"I'm looking forward to navigating the changes with them, also an awareness that people who come from these countries that are war-torn have trauma and other issues and aren't here necessarily by choice," he said.
"It's a huge leap."
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church
After raising $25,000 in record time, Our Saviour's Lutheran Church this week expressed interest in two Syrian families.
Now they're just waiting to find out which one – if any – will be headed to central B.C.
"We're kind of just waiting with anticipation to hear that one of those families (has been selected)," said Pastor Fleming Blishen.
"This could happen within a few days or a few months," he said in an online update to the church Jan. 3, adding the church has an interim home available if the process is accelerated.
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church sponsorship has been a combined effort between church and community. Since it started the process in November, Blishen has reflected on the impact of that partnership between congregation and citizens.
"It just shows you that when people come together from different faiths... we can do really neat things," said Blishen.
About half of the money was from its 110-member church. The rest came from the community.
"It makes me think: I wonder what else a group of committed people can do in a place like Prince George?"
He said much of the credit is due to a large 12-member committee that, again, is a blend of church members and interested residents.
"They're just so much energy and really excited and that's really encouraging."
That work is in direct opposition to the negativity some Canadians expressed about accepting Syrian refugees.
"There's also another voice that says we want to welcome people to Canada," said Blishen.
"People have a real sense that this is something that's important. They're willing to put their money where their mouth is."
PG Citizens for Syrian Refugees
It's been a whirlwind couple of months for Dorothy Friesen.
Her group – PG Citizens for Syrian Refugees – has already raised more than $20,000 since its first fundraiser in December.
"Money is coming in daily," said Friesen, one of five women who has signed on to sponsor a Syrian family under the government's G5 program. "I didn't expect that it would take this short a period of time."
Now she's just about $7,000 shy from their goal and sponsoring a Syrian family now feels within their sight.
She's already started reaching out to see if the group can apply for a family right now since they're so close to their goal.
"It feels so gratifying to think that we can help, even if it's just one family," said Friesen from the group's office at the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society building.
But that doesn't seem to be enough for Friesen.
"We're going to have to start thinking of bringing in a second family."
The group has several fundraisers coming up in the next couple months that it wants residents to watch out for, including an online auction of donated items and a dinner and dance.
People keep going above and beyond, Friesen said. One woman is donating $50 for each registrant in her zumba class held at Heather Park Elementary School.
"It is absolutely overwhelming how wonderful the people of Prince George are."
Four Catholic parishes, plus St. Michael's Anglican Church
After sponsoring an Iraqi family last year, a group of five churches has committed to offering the same comfort to a Syrian family.
Sergio Petrucci, one of the organizers, said the group will likely start looking at families in the next month but doesn't want to start the paperwork just yet.
"I'm a little nervous if you accept someone right now, they could be here in a couple days. We're nowhere near ready for that," Petrucci said.
They have started asking parishioners for money but said the group prefers the idea of bringing a family in the warmer months.
"It's difficult in the winter time because we have to collect furniture, find accommodation. A lot of (the church members) have unlicensed trucks in the winter."
Petrucci said the group has learned a lot from sponsoring its first family.
"There are some roadblocks as you go, but you get through them," he said.
Getting newcomers set up with English classes, offered through the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society, is an important first step.
He also suggested the other groups follow the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program guidelines created by the Catholic Crosscultural Services, which offers things to consider each successive week.
But before that stage, it's important to be on the same page.
"I think certainly you have to sit down - and we did this with an interpreter at the beginning - to clarify what our responsibilities are and what their responsibilities are, so it's crystal clear," said Petrucci.
In the Iraqi family's case, they didn't realize they had to repay their flights and medical expenses coming to Canada. The various agencies said it had been discussed, but Petrucci said it's understandable that some information isn't quite absorbed.
"It's quite a shock for them, suddenly arriving in a new country. It needs repeating."
Central Fellowship Baptist Church
In December, Central Fellowship Baptist Church members passed a motion overwhelmingly in favour of sponsoring a refugee family.
Its committee met Wednesday to start planning and is hoping to finish fundraising by the end of February, said Jaime Young.
It's a passion project for Young, who worked in Honduras with street children for 11 years.
"I think in our society it's so easy to get really caught up in our day-to-day stuff," she said. "(If) we can just do our little pebble of help - be something to somebody - it's really meaningful.
"It's so important to understand that we are a part of a world in need," said Young, who stressed that need extends beyond bringing families to Canada.
"I believe that Canada needs to also be a sending nation," she added by email.
"We can't help everyone, but we can send people over to rebuild and I believe that this is a crucial part of helping our neighbours in the east."
Every year, Young takes students to the school she worked at in Honduras. Last year, she was also in Israel.
While standing at the top of Mount Bental in the Golan Heights and looking toward Syria, she heard a loud bang.
It was a bomb.
"As we left the site, our guide received a phone call saying that the site was closed because what we heard was the bombing of a school in Damascus, the capital of Syria."
"I was shocked to think of what the people of Syria were living.... I imagined dropping my precious kids off at school and then hearing that they were bombed and killed. No one should have to go through such terror... No one."
The church is talking with other churches to learn about their experience with the process and is looking to work with other organizations for fundraising and awareness, Young said.
Click here for photos of the Syrian family's arrival Thursday night at the Prince George Airport.
