Saskatchewan anglican
The newspaper of the Dioceses of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and Qu’Appelle • A Section of the Anglican Journal • January 2016 www.facebook.com/thesaskatchewananglican —
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Study looks at urban First Nations ministry
Briarlea ACW closes after 74 years By Phyllis Hayward BRIARLEA (Skwn) – It is with regret that St. Martin’s, Briarlea decided to close its ACW. It began almost 75 years ago, in 1941, as the W.A. (Women’s Auxiliary). In 1969 the name was changed to ACW (Anglican Christian Women). By the end of 2005 the last founding members, Isabel Anderson and Kathleen Roberts, had died. Our membership has dwindled and aged. Opal Harris is now president and Eva Harman has been secretary for many, many years. Our propose has been to share Christian fellowship and caring with our church, our members and the communities around us. Along with service and caring, fundraising has been an important activity. Many of those activities were unique and challenging, including in the early days, a group of women stooking a farmer’s field, scrubbing floors and painting in the small rural school. Travelling aprons, tea cloths and food baskets were sent around the district to help raise funds. Food is so important. Lunches were served at farm auctions and funerals. Community suppers and synod executive suppers were served. Three community cookbooks have been produced and sold as fundraisers. The first cookbook in 1967 was printed on a Gestetner. The later books, named Briarlea Secrets I and Briarlea Secrets II, were professionally printed and a great hit with the men in the community (they didn’t know it was a cookbook!). Our money was spent on the purchase of shingles and floor coverings for St. Martin’s Church in Briarlea, along with repair of the church organ and building a cupboard for the church. Many donations were made to churches, community and worthy causes over the years. We have enjoyed each other’s company and have supported each other in times of sickness and deaths. We have relished working together We are saddened that for us an era has ended, but memories of Christian service, fun and sharing will linger long.
By Rev. Dale Gillman
Welcome to Saskatchewan! Marleen Abbo hugs her father, Saeed, at the Regina International Airport, when they were reunited after five years apart. After more than a year of planning, Marleen Abbo’s family safely arrived in Regina. The family was the second refugee family sponsored by the Diocese of Qu’Appelle. Photos by Joanne Shurvin-Martin
Abbo family arrives safely Second refugee family sponsored by Diocese of Qu’Appelle By Joanne Shurvin-Martin REGINA – After more than a year of waiting, working and praying, Marleen Abbo’s family arrived safely in Regina on Nov. 26. The refugee family was met by Bishop Rob and Lorraine Hardwick, parishioners from St. James, Regina, and several family friends at the airport. The family is sponsored by the Diocese of Qu’Appelle. Marleen’s father, Saeed Abbo, her brother, Amjed, his wife, Rawan, and their children Sareta and Saemn have settled in a three-bedroom townhouse in Regina, with basic furnishings donated by people in the diocese. The story of this family really begins when Marleen and her husband, Safaa Mousa, and
their baby daughter Majdleena, were sponsored by the Diocese of Qu’Appelle, and arrived in Regina in December 2011. After Safaa received a death threat, they had escaped from Baghdad and eventually reached Syria. Marleen’s family remained in Mosul area in northern Iraq. When ISIS gained power in Syria and Iraq, it was not safe for them to remain. As a church deacon, Amjed was targeted, so in August 2014 he took his family, including his father, to Turkey. The diocese applied to sponsor them as “named refugees” and began raising the required $40,000 to support the family in its first year in Canada. About $32,000 had been raised as of the end of November. The fundraiser “Repas for Refugees II” in November netted a profit of $3,040.
Saeed Abbo with his granddaughters, Sareta (left) and Majdleena, who met for the first time at the Regina airport.
REGINA – I studied the services and programs available to First Nations and Metis peoples in Regina, beginning in midSeptember 2014 and ending in mid-April 2015. My mandate was to see what programs, agencies and resources were in the Core areas of the city. I used the Street Survival Guide and word-of-mouth to contact various programs and followed up with a visit. Thirty-six programs were visited, with some having as many as three visits. The people I met in the various programs were kind and informative. My visit was a first for most of them. I discovered the joy of the inner-city workers and the hope they have for the people they work with. I met a few people at the programs I visited and again experienced a sense of joy and hope. I visited 36 programs in the North Central and Core areas of the inner city. There are eight Christian programs that offer help in a variety of ways; from lunch on Saturday to youth training in Texas. One of the programs offers sandwiches and a cup of coffee to street workers in the core area. Another works with young children in an after-school program. I discovered most of the programs deal with the mental and emotional support of their clients. Only a few deal with the spiritual aspect of their clients. The Salvation Army and Visitation House hold daily Bible Studies with their clients and pray for the needs of the people. During the summer, “Gentle Road Church” helped with three Vacation Bible Camps. See STUDY on page 3