Saskatchewan anglican
The newspaper of the Dioceses of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and Qu’Appelle • A Section of the Anglican Journal • October 2014
It’s a ‘wonderful life’ for Iraqi Christian family By Joanne Shurvin-Martin
Members of the Diocese of Saskatoon Mission to Baja team life a wall into place for one of the three homes they built. The 26-member team travelled to Vicente Guerrero, Mexico in late June to work on these homes as part of the diocese’s external outreach program. Photo — Contributed
Being God’s missioners to the wider world By Joan Irving SASKATOON – In late June, 26 members of the Diocese of Saskatoon met at St John’s Cathedral with family and friends for a fellowship supper and commissioning service to start our mission for Mexico, which left the next day. We had participants from Lloydminster, the Battlefords, Borden, Pike lake, Humboldt, Watrous and the Saskatoon parishes of St. Stephen’s, Holy Trinity, Emmanuel and St John’s Cathedral. As we gathered together, we wondered what the next two weeks would bring. What new skills we would learn and what old skills we would put to use? We all would bring a variety of skills, which would all work together doing God’s work in this mission. The journey to San Diego took us two days by plane, followed by more time taking an old school bus down to Vicente Guerrero, Mexico, a total of a 3,300 kilometres. A long journey, not just in distance, but also a journey
realizing we could make a difference in someone’s life, in a family’s life. Once we arrived in Vicente Guerrero, we were taken to visit the three families and the three sites on which we would be building the homes. We saw the lumber, the cement pad and all the other supplies that had been delivered to two of the three sites materials, ready for us to start the next day. One of the family’s supplies had not arrived, however. The mother had a very concerned look on her face, since we had arrived from Canada and the supplies had not been delivered; she thought we would not be able to build her a home. The local group with whom we were working spent some time trying to put her fears at rest and letting her know everything would fine, that her home’s supplies would arriving the next day. We started early the next day and over the next few days, we worked to build walls, a roof and paint the houses. We cut, measured and re-cut, did a lot of painting, hammering nails into walls, floors and the roof, laid tar paper and spread tar
onto the roof. We built a house the family would make into a home. To see the smiles and tears of joy on the faces of the families as their new homes went up right next to the old one; to see the difference between the two homes each day; to see the relaxation on the faces that this was really happening was something to behold; the house will make a difference not only to them, but also to their extended families, friends and the community in which they live. Friday of that week was a very emotional day, as we went shopping for food, pots and pans and other kitchen supplies. We also purchased beds, tables, chairs and other furniture. As we did this, some of our mission team sorted out the humanitarian bags we had brought down with us which had been donated by our various parish families. Then each house building team spent time putting into the houses the purchased items before the home dedication, house blessing and the handing over of the keys to the family. See “MEXICO” on page 4
REGINA – Just before Christmas 2011, the Mousa family – refugees from Iraq – arrived in Regina, sponsored by the Diocese of Qu’Appelle so they could finally leave a camp in Damascus, Syria. At the end of June 2014 they spoke to The Saskatchewan Anglican to tell the people of the diocese of their lives since arriving in Canada. In the living room of their apartment, Marleen did most of the talking, with her husband, Safaa, occasionally adding details and sometimes speaking Arabic to Marleen for her to
translate. Marleen explained she is continuing to study English at the Regina Open Door Society. “I study hard because it is important to speak English,” she says. The new language has not been much of a challenge for their daughter Majdleena, whose nickname is Mimi, because she arrived as an infant and has grown up surrounded by people speaking English. Now nearly four, she goes to daycare at the Open Door Society five days a week while Marleen is studying. Safaa also took English classes until he got a job to support the family. See “FAMILY” on page 5
Covenant partners in Swift Current help girls in Africa By Maureen Parsons SWIFT CURRENT (Qu’A) – St. Stephen’s Anglican and Christ The Redeemer Roman Catholic Parishes are working together to help girls in Africa get a full education. The Roman Catholic parish took on a project to provide girls with sustainable feminine hygiene kits, since without them, the girls miss school every month during their menstrual cycles. The Roman Catholic quilting group makes some of the articles for the kits, while the Anglican group called Needles &
Natter knits and crochets washcloths. The simple and reusable kits give African girls the freedom to attend school and live normally in society. Research has shown when girls are educated, there is less poverty and the whole family’s standard of living improves. To learn more about this project please go to www. daysforgirls.org. This project is a good example of covenant partners of working together, which is one of the aims of the covenant between the Diocese of Qu’Appelle and the Archdiocese of Regina.