Pacific is part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination in Canada. One of the their growing ministries includes the Alliance Justice and Compassion ministry which resources and promotes the local and global ministries of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada. Since 2012 they have been actively encouraging C&MA churches to be involved with refugee sponsorships. Like us, they seek to bring wholeness and well-being to people made vulnerable by circumstances of poverty, disaster, and injustice. 

Visit the C&MA's website for all the information below and more...

We intend to work with our larger family to be a life-giving presence in the world. Alliance Justice and Compassion has already been involved with refugee sponsorships. Read what they have been up to:

  • They have been a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) with Citizenship and Immigration Canada since February 2012, encouraging Alliance churches to engage in refugee sponsorship. 
  • They have supported Syrian refugee relief in Lebanon, Jordan, and with the Alliance church in Damascus over the last 2 ½ years. 
  • Joanne Beach, the director of Alliance Justice and Compassion, traveled to Lebanon and Jordan in December 2013 to visit refugees both in and outside the camps that local Alliance churches have been ministering to. Read Blog Post
  • As a SAH, they are part of the Canadian SAH Association and have been working through this network to advocate on behalf of refugees. 
  • They partnered with Lorna Dueck’s Context show last fall on the "Terror in Iraq and Syria" episode. The C&MA was the contact organization for viewers to call who were interested in refugee sponsorship. View the episode.
  • Dave Hearn, C&MA President, traveled to Iraq in October 2014 and subsequently made a video to encourage churches to respond with radical hospitality to the displaced impacted by the crises in the Middle East. View the Video. (His challenge comes at the 2:50 point in the video.)
  • In May 2015, Dave Hearn participated with other denominational presidents, who are part of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), in a meeting with Citizenship and Immigration in Ottawa to encourage the Government of Canada to accept more Syrian refugees. They also committed to assist their local churches with sponsorship. 
  • As a result of the EFC initiative, the CMA will be serving as the umbrella SAH for three other denominations in order that their local churches can engage in sponsorship immediately while they go through the application process of becoming a SAH. 
  • They  have added the Refugee Sponsorship section on the new C&MA website. 
  • They have established a Refugee Fund so people can donate to a sponsorship resettlement. This fund is a safety reserve for sponsoring groups to apply for unexpected financial emergencies outside of the resettlement budget.
  • They have promoted refugee sponsorship through a variety of the Alliance Justice and Compassion social media sites. 

Links to learn more about the CMA's involvement:

The C&MA provides a number of good ways for you to respond if you are looking to respond immediately:

  1. Provide funds to the C&MA Syria Emergency Relief Fund Donations to this fund will be used to provide relief for refugees in the Middle East and Europe. (We will be participating in the Canadian Government’s matching program where, for every dollar donated by individual Canadians up until December 31, 2015, the government will set aside one dollar for their Syria Emergency Relief Fund).
  2. Provide funds to the C&MA Refugee Fund. Donations to this fund will be used to assist churches in Canada that are sponsoring refugees.
  3. Participate in refugee sponsorship. Email refugeesponsorship@cmacan.org for an information package.
  4. Partner with a church that is sponsoring a refugee family. Pacific intends to be a sponsoring church. Email refugeesponsorship@cmacan.org for a list of participating churches in your area.
Refugee Sponsorship Group
Refugee Sponsorship Group