From Hell to Heaven on Earth
Leila arrived in Canada as a young woman, alone, and her first experiences were not ones of kindness nor compassion.
She was sent to a homeless shelter where she spent 3 weeks, terrified, confused and very alone. She couldn't sleep at night due to the disruptions in the mixed-gender dormitory. There were drugs everywhere around her. After the first few weeks, she ran out of money and couldn't buy food. No one seemed concerned about her, and no one gave her guidance on what she needed to do next.
Tenth refugee support heard about her situation, and a family from Tenth provided a place for her to live. 10 days after settling in her new home, Mim, the refugee support coordinator was going to a family camp on Thetis Island, and invited Leila to come along, which she was happy to do.
At the Christian camp, Leila was immediately enveloped into a caring community. She stayed in a cabin with one of the families, who listened to her story and welcomed her as a member of the family. An older woman took the time to help her overcome her fear of the water, and she tried swimming for the first time. One of the teenage boys taught her how to ride a bicycle, also a first. She spent a lot of time laughing around the dinner table, at the campfire and especially when learning to line dance. At every moment of the day she had people surrounding her with kindness and compassion, and she described her situation as going "from hell to heaven on earth".
Lelia had such great memories of this camping experience that she told every newcomer how wonderful it was, and many more people showed a keen interest in participating. As a result, 3 years later, there is now a whole camp dedicated to newcomers specifically from the Tenth refugee community. It's a place where they can feel dearly loved through the compassionate service of God's people.
Learn more info about the camp
Learn more about what Tenth is doing with welcoming newcomers
Help 50 refugees go to camp this year
When you give, choose to donate to the refugee fund, and all the funds raised in June will help support our newcomer friends go to camp. Any extra funds will be allocated to our refugee settlement program.
Thank you for your prayer and consideration.
Patrick, Mim and our core refugee team