Mission Canada

RIDING THE WAVE: THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO IMMIGRATION IN CANADA

KEVIN ROGERS AND CHARLES HERMELINK

Kevin Rogers, Mission Canada Urban Ministries co-ordinator, interviews Charles Hermelink, Cultural Language co-ordinator. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Kevin: This is from a November 18, 2024, CBC News article:

Canadians are feeling increasingly uneasy about immigration and its role in generating "economic strain,” according to a new survey conducted by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Among other things, the survey found that many Canadians believe too much attention is being focused on newcomers and refugees, and that asylum seekers receive too many benefits. ¹

Charles, how significant is this wave of newcomers in Canada?

Charles: Kevin, rather than starting at the national level of our concerns, I think we need to start at the street level, where Jesus walked with and engaged people personally. Our Mission Canada workers across the nation work at this level, the level of personal interaction. In fact, it’s where every one of us lives and moves and ministers.

I want to share a story: “Bea,” a pseudonym to protect her identity, is a Mission Canada cross-cultural worker sharing the gospel with those who will not otherwise enter a church building. Bea was walking through the park, and it was empty. She was a bit worried. Now that the weather had turned cold and grey, her concern was how to best connect with the newcomers who’d filled the park throughout the warm weather months. But she did not need to be concerned because of what happened next.

Though the picnic tables and playgrounds were vacant, Bea was still seen. Some of her young friends saw her through the rec centre window, bolted outside, and embraced her around the legs. You could hear the squeals of delight at seeing the Canadian friend they’d met in the park earlier that year. This was followed by an invitation to their home, where she visited with the family and helped their older sister with her English homework.

Both your question, Kevin, and this story from just weeks ago illustrate how significant this current wave—without exaggeration, a tsunami—of newcomers to Canada is. Canada’s growth surged in the mid-1800s with the Great Migration of Canada, followed by three more waves of immigration for the next 100 years. But this fifth wave we’re currently in has surpassed all the previous ones. And get this: it continues to grow. That’s why I call it a tsunami, a tidal wave of epic proportions. It has changed and will continue to change the face of the nation, church, ministry and outreach in Canada for the foreseeable future.

While there are political pressures and concerns about immigration, there’s a kingdom of God perspective around it, too.

Kevin: As a Christian in Canada, how should we view these political tensions?

Charles: As believers, we live in a daily dynamic tension between this world and the rule and reign of the Spirit. It’s not an “either-or,” but a “both-and.” On the political side, we operate in a representational form of parliamentary democracy. We need to speak to our representatives about any concerns regarding rates of immigration and the pressures they have perhaps unintentionally put us under.

Yet those national-level concerns are not the same as God’s call upon each of us to be His personal representatives to people in the margins. God is concerned for the last, least, lost, forgotten, marginalized, unfamous and infamous. God is drawn to the margins.

Kevin: Can you give me an example of how to demonstrate the love of Christ to our new neighbours?

Charles: Back in October, Bea invited over many new friends for Thanksgiving. Their table of sharing represented Iran, India, China, Chile and Mauritius, with her representing Canada!

As many of our workers among newcomers to Canada say, most international students and newcomers have never seen the inside of a Canadian’s home. We can absolutely—and quite simply—change that by practising biblical hospitality! Invite them over. Honour their preferences and religious observances, which may differ from your own. And, in response, you’ll be invited over, too!

You don’t have to start with a home invite; start with coffee or tea at your favourite shop. Ask them for their story. What did it take to move to Canada? What do they like here? What do they miss from their home country? Let your only motive be to get to know them. And do something I often do: welcome them to Canada!

Kevin: What is a resource you would recommend for those who want to be more helpful to newcomers?

Charles: That is a great question, Kevin, and it points to a great need we have. We’re all called to be Jesus’s witnesses and to be like Him. Of course, Jesus was the best at connecting and sharing His good news with people from other cultures, like the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7), and so many more. He shows us how He pivots, adjusting His approach to be culturally relevant. We need to show honour to those we engage with from cultural backgrounds that are different from ours. The good news is that an entirely Canadian resource, developed by Trans World Radio, is now available to help us learn and accomplish this well. Given our rates of immigration, this is relevant to us now and will be for the coming decades. I’m leading a group at my local church in this! You can find the free, high-quality, video-supported course at https://culturecross.ca.

Kevin: Aside from this course, if anyone has other questions about Cultural Ministries with newcomers, they can visit the PAOC Toolbox for links to resources. Reach out to Charles! And for Urban Ministries, talk to me or to both of us!

Kevin Rogers is the Mission Canada Urban Ministries co-ordinator and regularly hosts Sidewalk Skyline Podcast. He is based in Windsor, Ont., and can be reached at kevin.rogers@paoc.org.

Charles Hermelink co-ordinates the Mission Canada Cultural Language Group and the Neighbours & Newcomers Network, which helps facilitate ministry to newcomers in Canada. He can be reached at charles.hermelink@paoc.org.

This article appeared in the April/May/June 2025 issue of testimony/Enrich, a quarterly publication of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. © 2025 The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Photo © istockphoto.com.