Helping Newcomers Find Friendship in Toronto
Spanish-speaking members of Churchill Meadows Christian Church formed the Amigos ministry to help refugees and immigrants navigate life in Toronto. Through practical assistance, English conversation classes, friendship, and hospitality, volunteers found opportunities to serve newcomers and build meaningful relationships.
- Amigos began by listening to newcomers’ questions and helping with practical needs such as housing and job interviews.
- Volunteers developed English conversation classes and hosted a Christmas dinner that brought together shelter residents, families, and church members.
- The ministry demonstrated the importance of offering newcomers not only assistance, but genuine friendship.
By Jennifer Taylor
“When you first get here, even the most basic things can be difficult,” says Javier Bustillos, who is originally from Cali, Colombia, and lived in the United States before arriving in Toronto, Canada, in 2003.
“You don’t know where to shop for food, what school your children should attend, where to live. It’s a confusing time.”
Bustillos and a small group of other Spanish-speaking members from Churchill Meadows Christian Church (also in Toronto) began visiting a local shelter to become friends with the refugees and immigrants.
Practical Help and Friendship for Newcomers
“We didn’t begin with a plan,” he admits. “We just listened to their questions, provided practical answers, and offered them hope that eventually things would get easier.” The new “Amigos” ministry wasn’t limited to the walls of the shelter; group members also drove immigrants around town to investigate apartments and helped them make appointments for job interviews. At times the group has pulled together to move a shelter resident into her first home or to collect furniture, housewares, and other items.
Earlier this year the team also began offering English conversation classes. Every week the team organizes a series of engaging activities that pair up students and volunteers in a one-of-a-kind personalized experience. “One of the students who had taken other ESL classes in the past described it as her ‘dream class,'” Bustillos says.
These efforts can eventually open the door to talk about faith. This past December the Amigos ministry held its first major event at the Churchill Meadows building: a Christmas dinner for shelter residents, their friends, and Spanish-speaking members of the church. Sixty-five volunteers participated in task teams for decorations, food, advertising, guest services, children’s programming, and donations. More than 100 adults, most of whom had never attended any other Amigos gathering, participated in the event and brought their children.
“Months later we still have people talking about what a wonderful evening this was,” says Bustillos. “It was the first time some of them had hung out with Christians. But there were no strings attached; we just wanted to say we love them, we want to help them, and we accept them.”
Friendship an Agency Can’t Provide
He says the new ministry has energized those who were already Christians as well, with several church members growing in their faith and in their willingness to serve.
“In Canada there are lots of agencies to help newcomers find food or a place to sleep, but an agency can’t give you a friend,” he says. “And as a foreigner, that’s the thing you most long for. So we just jumped in, knowing we would make some mistakes, but also knowing we had a direction from God to love and bless these people.”
Jennifer Taylor is one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD’s contributing editors. Read her blog at www.seejenwrite.com.
