No "Best Before Date" for Compassion

REYHANLI, Turkey — The baby wasn’t moving. 

Her body had gone hot, then cold. 

Her father rushed her to a hospital, 

going on foot when he could not find a car, 

but it was too late.At 18 months, Iman Leila had frozen to death.

New York Times

Next week we'll be part of a discussion about the sponsorship of a Syrian family in Trenton, where we are now part of a worshiping community. Because we live half an hour away from the church we're not sure how we can be involved, but we want to be supportive. This community sponsorship which involves members of Trenton United was to have commenced a couple of years ago and the group was prepared to received the family. As with many other sponsorship groups, immigration issues beyond their control put their plans on extended pause. 

We first became involved in sponsorship of Syrian families five years ago this Fall. The first family arrived just ahead of the wave of sponsorships encouraged by the Canadian government and eventually three related families and three grandparents were sponsored as well, for a total of 23 people from infants to elders. They have done remarkably well in Canada and some are now Canadian citizens.

Why do we need to sponsor Syrians in 2020? The sense of urgency prompted by the horror of the drowning death of a child named Alan Kurdi whose family was escaping war in their homeland may have waned here, but the plight of displaced people hasn't ended.  There are many reasons for sponsorship as refugee camps in Lebanon and Turkey continue to be filled to overflowing. In the past three months nearly a million Syrians have fled toward the Turkish border. And a growing number of children are succumbing to the frigid temperatures. 

There isn't a "best before date" for compassion. The desperate need did not come to an end on any arbitrary date in 2016. We'll see what next week brings.

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