Page 35 - Presbyterian Connection

presbyterian.ca
SUMMER 2021
Defending the Vulnerable through Refugee Sponsorship
By Karen Bokma, PWS&D Communications
PWS&D’s refugee ministry is a re- sponse to Christ’s call to serve and defend the vulnerable and persecuted.
On behalf of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, PWS&D staff guide sponsors through the application pro- cess—providing information and sup- port, as well as referrals to training and locally available resources.
While the arrivals of sponsored refugees have decreased since 2016, when they reached a peak, the numbers remain high. Requests to sponsor continue to exceed both the quota allocated to the Presbyterian Church by the Canadian government and the church’s capacity to provide support to sponsoring groups. In- creased administrative requirements from the government are also having an impact. These additional require-
ments make the sponsorship pro- cess much more onerous, making it increasingly difficult to increase the number of people sponsored.
COVID-19 only exacerbated the situation—with refugee arrivals to Canada on hold for the majority of the year. Even once arrivals began again, resettlement numbers were down significantly over previous years and experts worry that it will take years to work through the back-
In 2020, congregations and groups welcomed 23 refugees to Canada with support from PWS&D.
Saving Hospitals in Nepal
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log created by the pandemic. During the year, 23 sponsored people ar- rived in Canada.
We thank the many congrega- tions, presbyteries and groups that have shown such a passionate com-
mitment to helping refugees settle peacefully in Canada. We are also grateful for those who made ad- ditional financial contributions to PWS&D to support the sponsorship program in 2020.
By the Rev. Glynis Williams, International Ministries
Nepal is known for its majestic mountains, such as Mount Everest in the Himalayas, forested hills and beautiful fertile plains. The airport in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, can be full of well-equipped hikers and tourists in this beautiful land- locked country.
Nepal was a closed country un- til the early 1950s. Following the revolution that opened the country, a group of expatriate missionaries in India were granted permission from the Nepali government to open a hos- pital in Tansen, and to start women’s and children’s welfare clinics in Kath- mandu Valley.
The United Mission to Nepal (UMN) was founded in 1954 as an interna- tional, interdenominational Christian mission. The two mission hospitals, located in Tansen and Okhaldhunga, provide much needed health care and rehabilitation services in this poor country. When COVID-19 and the lockdown was announced in April 2020, UMN was worried. The lockdown meant that Nepali migrant workers were sent home from India, and their small incomes dried up. Families were suffering, and patients seeking care could not pay the hos- pital bills. It was a funding crisis. In April 2020, UMN began an appeal: Save our Hospitals!
UMN reached out to their part- ners, former mission personnel and
friends, including International Min- istries of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. We contributed a modest amount and agreed to receive dona- tions from supporters and former mission partners from Canada, then forwarded them to UMN.
The campaign was a huge suc- cess. Joel Hafvenstein, Executive Director of UMN, sent this note to the PCC: “Thank you so much for your support for the Save Our Hospitals campaign! I can’t tell you how en- couraging it has been to have part- ners from all around the world com- ing together to fill our critical funding gap and set us up to face the chal- lenges of Year Two of the pandemic, whatever they turn out to be. God is good.”
Through the generosity of hun- dreds of people, churches and or- ganizations, over one million dol- lars (USD) was donated to the two hospitals. Over half came from indi- viduals and churches, including the PCC. Working with others around the world, the faithful supporters of UNM were, “serving one another humbly, in love” (Galatians 5:13).
Long-standing Partnership
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has been a UMN partner since 1974. Seventeen mission staff have served in the Tansen and Okhaldhunga hos- pitals. In 2017, Dr. Nicholaus (Nick) and Rebecca (Becky) Bauman served in the Tansen Mission Hos- pital; Nick as a surgeon and Becky
became involved with the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Centre, a place where people with mental ill- ness find welcome and a home. Nick and especially Becky Bauman remain a close link between the PCC and the United Mission to Nepal, for which we are grateful.
Over the years, the work of UMN has expanded and diversified into ar- eas, such as education and develop- ment work.
A change of leadership in UMN will occur in 2021. Joel Hafvelstein will leave his position as Executive Direc- tor in November 2021, and Dhana Lama will become the first Nepali Executive Director.
Dhana Lama is from the Tamang ethnic minority, which has histori- cally faced significant discrimination in Nepal. She grew up in Kathmandu Valley, where her father worked as caretaker and groundskeeper for a large mansion (in the same neigh- bourhood where UMN has its head- quarters today). Dhana studied nurs- ing, and her first UMN leadership role was as an “in-charge” in a UMN rural health-post, at the age of about 19. She would later go on to get a Masters of Science in Dental Public Health and an MA in Organizational Leadership. She has worked for 27 years with UMN in roles of growing responsibility. After the 2015 earth- quakes, Dhana oversaw UMN’s first large-scale emergency response, spending many weeks of hands- on service on the ground in heavily
A women’s clinic at United Mission Hospital.
INTERNATIONAL
The entrance to the United Mission Hospital.
affected Dhading district. She has been on UMN’s Leadership Team for over 12 years, most recently as Programme Director. Her passion for what UMN does and stands for re- mains unchanged, as does her hum- ble reliance on God accompanying and enabling her in everything.
We look forward to supporting and working with Dhana, praying for her and her colleagues in this important ministry.
Dhana Lama, the new Executive Director at UMN.