Laura Morlock
This past May, there was a meeting at Floradale Mennonite Church, in Floradale, Ontario, Canada, where several recently arrived refugees and their sponsors met in celebration. This is the write-up from Mennontie Central Committee:
“In my job, I see miracles everyday.” Moses Moini was speaking at Floradale Mennonite Church at a gathering organized by refugee sponsoring churches and Mennonite Central Committee Ontario. Moses, the MCC Refugee Co-ordinator, was sharing his experience with a group of recent refugees and their sponsor families. One of these miracles was connecting with Idirsa Pandit of the Muslim Social Services of Kitchener-Waterloo to explore the possibilities of working together in settling Palestinian refugee families who have been stranded along the Syrian boarder since the Iraq war broke out in 2003.
“To my amazement, Idrisa was not a stranger to MCC. When she also mentioned that she was married to a Palestinian, I almost busted out with a loud ‘praise the Lord!’,” he said to laughter from the audience. “I was so encouraged by Idrisa’s willingness, readiness and commitment… these are the kind of partnerships and community connections needed to translate such a project into reality.”
The kind of partnership Moses speaks of is one that builds bridges of understanding.
Idrisa Padit has partnered with MCC Ontario for several years through the ground-breaking Interfaith Bridgebuilding program in Kitchener-Waterloo that sees Muslims and Mennonites meeting regularly to share with each other and build relationships. That evening at Floradale, she shared a story from the Koran of the Christian King Negus who welcomed with open arms a group of Muslim refugees who were fleeing persecution. Speaking to the mostly Mennonite audience, she noted that “Negus was living the Biblical commandment of ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’, by offering refuge to fellow human beings, just as you, faithful Christians in our community have extended your love and generosity to strangers who are already beginning to look more like family.”
Fred Redekop, pastor at Floradale Mennonite Church, told an astonishing story similar to that of King Negus – but in reverse. Fred’s ancestors were part of a group of Mennonites who fled Southern Ukraine when the Russian empire told Mennonites that they were no longer exempt from military service. After an arduous four month journey, they arrived in present-day Uzbekistan, hungry, tired, and landless.
“When they arrived, they were welcomed by the Muslim communities… The local imam (religious leader) knew they were religious people and offered them the mosque to worship in until they could find their own church building. They allowed them to bury their people in their own graveyard.”
The Mennonites remained for nearly fifty years in this Muslim community. To cap off this incredible story, Fred says that “each year, at the beginning of planting season, the local imam still goes out to the old Mennonite cemetery in Uzbekistan and thanks God for the Mennonites who brought to them good farming techniques and thanks God for those relationships that were nurtured long ago.”
The final story of the evening came from Omar Awsage who came to Canada in October 2009 with his young family after spending four long years in a refugee camp in Syria having fled his home in Iraq. Through MCC’s refugee sponsorship program, Omar and his family were paired with Tavistock Mennonite Church who sponsored them and helped them get this far. Omar shared some photos of their time in Syria – they portrayed a world of despair and hope, of loss and survival. He thanked God for the miracles that brought his family to Canada. He knows there are many fellow Palestinian refugees in south-western Ontario but there is one man he dearly wishes were with him – his younger brother, 24-year-old Ali who is still awaiting sponsorship at the same refugee camp in north-east Syria. “My parents died in Iraq and my three brothers – we are all that we have… we want to stay together.” He is currently trying to find a way to raise enough money to bring his brother to Canada.
Through these stories and connections, the spirit of mutual respect, love and cooperation was strengthened and the potluck-style dinner served afterward was equal parts eating and talking, and laughing.
The spirit of this inter-faith partnering was summarized poignantly by Idrisa’s hope:
“Living with one another in harmony, with respect for each other’s beliefs and values, and embracing each other rather than merely tolerating one another, would make all of us, children of God, worthy in His eyes.”
