Asian refugee sponsorships explored and celebrated; new challenges ahead

Have you ever wondered where some of the Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai churches in Mennonite conferences originated? Some of them stemmed from an agreement between Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC) and the federal government more than 25 years ago.

A conference held in Winnipeg Sept. 30–Oct. 1 called “Mennonite Hosts and Refugee Newcomers: 1979–the Present” celebrated and explored what happened, as well as the impact of these newcomers on Mennonite churches in Canada since 1979.

Taken in 1979, this photo shows Esther Dick giving English lessons to Sophin Chau (with children Buntha, in foreground, and Bunthuy), the first refugee sponsored under the agreement Mennonite Central Committee Canada signed with the Canadian government.

History

Canadian Mennonites and other churches began to have a broader refugee concern after 1979. Prior to that time, much Mennonite refugee activity had centred on refugees from Germany and the former Soviet Union.

What spurred the change was an agreement between MCCC and the Canadian government known as the Master Agreement for private refugee sponsorship. MCCC was the first church agency to sign this agreement, on March 5, 1979, with numerous other agencies and church denominations following closely thereafter.

The agreement made some changes in the new immigration law of April 1978, in order to accommodate the thousands of refugees leaving southeast Asia following the war in Vietnam. The new law had a provision whereby any five individuals could sponsor a refugee, provided they accepted full responsibility and liability for the refugee and accompanying dependents for one year. Interested people liked the provision, but were afraid of the liability. What would they do in the worst-case scenario?

The 1979 agreement made the provision more acceptable, for it was now MCC Canada that accepted the liability. As a result, local groups and congregations who obtained a letter of authorization from MCCC did not have to worry about being liable if problems developed beyond their capability. (Interestingly, MCCC never had to pick up expenses for any church or group.)

This letter also became the only screening process that immigration officials required from groups or congregations. They were immediately deemed trustworthy and considered to have sufficient resources to engage in the sponsorship.

Many stories

The “Mennonite Hosts and Refugee Newcomers” conference was hosted by the Chair of Mennonite Studies and the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada at the University of Winnipeg. It was a fantastic event.

We heard from sponsored people who have now become part of the Canadian fabric of society. We heard the stories of new churches and their leaders that sprang from their sponsorship relationships. We heard from people who by now have inter-married with Canadian Mennonites.

We heard of relationships that worked well and those that didn’t – sometimes because hosts tended to try too hard or because newcomers simply had too much to absorb in coming to a new land and beginning a new life. If ever there was a short course on church planting and church growth among newcomers to Canada, this was it.

New challenges

Conference attendees were also reminded, in a passionate address by Lloyd Axworthy, former minister of external affairs, who happened to be minister of employment and immigration during the first years of the sponsorship program, that we can no longer rest on the good things we did in the past. We must now focus on the present and the future where over 170 million people are on the move around the world and over 50 million live in refugee camps.

The displacement of people into refugee camps is one of the root causes of terrorism and global instability, Axworthy said. He challenged his audience to consider what the contribution of the church and its agencies will be in the current crisis.

As Mennonites, we stepped forward to do our small part in a terrible global situation over 25 years ago. It strengthened and expanded our churches and its people. What role do the church and its agencies have in today’s global crisis? And, how will it change us again?

—Ken Reddig is director of the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Winnipeg.