Winnipeg Refugee Ministry Looks Forward With Gratitude

July 6, 2010 | RSS | Share with a friend!

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - Tim Nielsen, Pastor of Winnipeg's City Church and co-founder of the City Connexions refugee ministry, speaks a lot of gratitude.

He says the work being done with former refugees in the Winnipeg city core is work that the Lord has done, and that he and his partners work hard at it but are not likely to take any credit for it.

"We're incredibly grateful for the trusted relationships that we have built over the last number of years. Those relationships are paying off by allowing us to speak on a deeper level with people, both about problems in life and also about spiritual matters, where we're able to go in depth and have good, heartfelt spiritual conversations."

Founded in 2008 by Grant Memorial Baptist Church and currently co-directed by International Teams staff members Tim and his wife Sue, along with Vision Ministries staff member Indiana Cungcin, City Connexions is a ministry to former refugees that meets the immediate needs of new arrivals and works to network with other Winnipeg churches that wish to help refugees transition to Canadian culture.??City Connexions offers a wide variety of programs to the diverse group of former refugees living in the Winnipeg core, including:
Homework clubs and an after-school drop-in centreEnglish as an Additional Language classesFurniture & household goods distributionAssistance with housing, landlord advocacy, and job placementBible studies and youth group programsCounselling for families that are working through the challenges of being separated
Tim says the community is really beginning to thrive. "Refugees usually leave Winnipeg if they have relatives that are more established elsewhere, but we're finding now it's the reverse. Relatives are coming here because there is help from City Connexions. They feel more supported here and the community is establishing itself."

More than anything, Tim is grateful for the support the local churches and ethnic leaders have provided to City Connexions over the past two years and asks for continued prayer for the ability to be truly inter-cultural with their ministry, and for others to come alongside them. "The Lord has provided wonderfully and we're all beginning to see it, but would like prayer on it. I'm amazed at how the Lord has opened so many doors for the work to be established. As I've taken steps, others have also taken steps of faith and have become part of seeing that vision come together."

<<< Go back to NewsWire Page