Step 9 - Repeat Process: Partner with a Sponsorship Agreement Holder to apply as privately sponsored refugees - 600 km
Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
SILENCE
God of love and strength, help all of us who are waiting to hear if Nadia, Ibrahim and Rahma will be granted permission to come to Canada. Help us to continue to pray and hope for their safety and that they may be approved to be reunited with their family. Grant us patience in our waiting. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
A blessing from Genesis 31:49:
“The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent from one another.”
The Albed/Alhamad/Wahid Story
Nadia, Ibrahim and Rahma are now going through an application process similar to what Zahra and her family experienced but made more complicated by the covid-19 pandemic.
A partnership was formed among the following:
● Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon - Sponsorship Agreement Holder;
● Nest Saskatoon - Constituency Group
● Augustana Church and Zahra Albed Family - Community Co-Sponsors
The application was submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in November 2019, then forwarded to the Beirut office. Ibrahim was interviewed on March 4, 2020. Unfortunately, the pandemic began soon after and several steps remain unfinished.
Nadia, Ibrahim and Rahma continue to live in an area of northern Lebanon. They are located near where a Syrian refugee settlement was burned to the ground in late 2020. Lebanon is in a state of political turmoil and there is growing resentment about the presence of so many Syrian refugees. All of this makes it more urgent to bring Nadia and her family to Saskatoon.