A refugee family of three had been on the run for 13 years because of their Christian faith, before successfully coming to Canada last August. 

June 20 is World Refugee Day which recognizes that there are over 70 million displaced people fighting to survive. 

There are multiple reasons individuals or families become refugees and one of those reasons is because of converting to Christianity.  

A local group called Open Doors Niverville were instrumental in bringing this family safely over. This group worked for two and a half years after a lot of paper work, many prayers, and donations.  

The committee started in February of 2017, and is run by Open Doors Coordinator, Elaine Kehler.  

She shares how the committee began, saying “My daughter was instrumental in this. We were very aware of refugee needs around the world, yet one Sunday while we were singing in church she says, ‘How can we just be here, sing, and be comfortable when we know there are Christians around the world dying for their faith?” I said she was right, how can we do this? I made a quick announcement in church asking if anyone wanted to help me bring over a refugee family, to meet me after church.” 

They opened it up to the rest of the community of Niverville, and a total of 15 people initially joined. Today there are 12 people on the committee.  

didn’t have] his drivers, and culturally they needed to adjust. There were a lot of details once they arrived.” 

Kehler understands what it’s like to live in a different country, as she lived abroad for a number of years in Bolivia, South America.