Menno Simons on the Assurance of Salvation - Chortitzer Mennonite ...

We would very much appreciate your prayers for our
family right now. We are thankful for the help of other
family members to help cover the financial issues involved
in having family living across the world. Without help it
would be one crisis added to another.
Summer holidays have begun for Jared and he has
become my official sidekick in ministry as I continue in
the construction of the Bridge Ministry Center, as well as
Gladys Terichow
overseeing the women’s shelter, as our co-workers are now
on furlough. Jared is also excited to have become an official
dog trainer, as he was able to keep one of the puppies that
our dog Sherpa had.
We once again thank you for your love and support as we
continue to serve in Bolivia.
Rudy and Erna Friesen
Canadians set to sponsor Palestinian refugees
WINNIPEG, Man. —Some of the 336 Palestinian refugees
stranded in an isolated refugee camp on the Iraq-Syria
border will soon have new homes in Canada.
Through its private sponsorship program the Canadian
government is making it possible for churches and other
private sponsors to sponsor some of the residents living in
the Al Hol refugee camp, one of three make-shift refugee
camps along the border between Syria and Iraq, said Gloria
Nafziger of Amnesty International-Canada.
Nafziger represented the Canadian Council for
Refugees on a visit to the three camps in November 2008
Gloria Nafziger (centre) visits the Al Tanf refugee camp, one of three makeshift
refugee camps along the border between Syria and Iraq for Palestinians from
Iraq.
and highlighted the need for immediate action during a
speaking tour hosted by <strong>Menno</strong>nite Central Committee
(MCC) refugee programs in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and
British Colombia.
About 10 <strong>Menno</strong>nite churches in Canada have expressed
interest in sponsoring families from the Al Hol camp, said Ed
Wiebe, national coordinator for MCC’s refugee programs.
He anticipates <strong>Menno</strong>nite churches will sponsor more than
50 individuals.
About 3,000 people are trapped in the border camps, said
Nafziger during her Manitoba visit. They fled killings,
kidnappings, torture and death threats in Iraq, but unlike
other Iraqi refugees they do have
Iraqi citizenship and not allowed
to enter Syria to seek asylum.
Denied asylum and refugee
rights, they are extremely
vulnerable in poorly situated
camps. Living conditions in
the camps are difficult and
unsafe. There is little security or
access to medical services. The
camps are in the desert where
there are extreme temperatures
and regular sandstorms.
“They live in extremely
harsh conditions and safe
resettlement cannot come quickly
enough,” said Nafziger.
The families that will
resettle in Canada are mostly
second generation descendants
of Palestinians who fled to
Kuwait in 1948 following the
establishment of the State of
Israel. They fled to Baghdad in
1993 during the Gulf War and in
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