Building friendship and offering support has been an important way the Merrylands has connected with Syrian refugees in Sydney.

18 April 2018

As the General of The Salvation Army calls for world prayer for the escalating conflict in Syria, Australian Salvos are supporting refugees with friendship and love.

General AndréCox has released a statement saying: “Commissioner Silvia and I would encourage Salvationists and other believers to be agents of peace and transformation. We pray particularly for the people of Syria who are caught up in this terrible situation. May the international community never forget that its actions affect the lives of thousands of innocent people. We call on politicians and leaders to seek out ways to dialogue and find non-violent solutions to world issues.”

There are many corps and Salvation Army services in Australia supporting Syrian refugees.

MERRYLANDS

In western Sydney, Merrylands Salvos meets regularly in the homes of Syrian refugees who now identify as “Salvos”due to the friendship and support shown to them by local Salvationists.

Merrylands Team Leader, Major Bryce Davies, says the families he engages with are understandably filled with angst at the worsening situation in their homeland. “One of the families that I’m journeying with, their 13-year-old girl spent last Tuesday crying because she’s worried about her friends and the people at her school with the bombings that are occurring.”

Major Davies says the families that he and the Merrylands Salvos team are engaging with are desperate to find belonging in Australia, a country that is foreign and sometimes even hostile towards them.

“It’s just so hard for them,”he says. “They feel hopeless, they feel like they’re alone, they don’t know how the systems work, they don’t know how the roads work, they are struggling with the language.

“The thing they want most is a friend. They are so desperate to have someone who they can trust who is part of Australian society, who is not part of an institution, but is a friend.”

As a result of the friendships formed with Syrian families, Merrylands Salvos is bringing two refugee families to the MC2018 mission conference this month in Tamworth, northern NSW. “We had more families wanting to come, but there wasn’t enough accommodation,”Major Davies says. 

One of those coming, Rand, is a personal trainer who will be offering Zumba classes every morning. She has previously told others.org.au that meeting Captains Andrew and Kirsty Stringer, of Merrylands Salvos, has changed her life. 

“Everyone here [in Australia] is so busy,”she says. “If I need any help I can’t ask anyone because I don’t know anyone that maybe would give me the time to help me.

“I like the way they treat me like a human. Some people don’t and sometimes that crushes me inside. But with them it is completely different.”

TOOWOOMBA

In this area of southern Queensland, The Salvation Army is supporting Syrian refugees through SalConnect and corps connections.

One Syrian family who had settled into the local community had to return temporarily to assist relatives with a family issue. 

“We had been able to assist the family through SalConnect prior to this,”explained Erica Paynter, Community Engagement Coordinator at Toowoomba Corps.

“We had dealt mostly with the mum. She felt confident enough, before she left to go back, to pop in and see if we would keep an eye on the older children while they were away, and we said we certainly would.

“We were able to assist through food and school supplies from SalConnect, as well as encouragement and emotional support. The parents were very grateful for the support we gave the children while they were away.”

The Salvation Army has also, through SalConnect and supported accommodation, assisted another Syrian refugee family, as well as a couple of other Syrian families just through SalConnect.

“It’s a challenge at times with translating –with the phone and app it’s time consuming but we get there, and they are incredibly grateful for any sort of help,”said Erica.

“We tried to love them and if we couldn’t help them with services, we would point them in direction of those who could.”

Erica’s role is to connect people through SalConnect to other services and ultimately to the corps. She is working as part of the corps team and is responsible for making connection with community.

“We are certainly looking at other ways to connect people with each other and the corps, not just with Syrian families, but everyone,”she said. “We are looking at and working with others in the community to see what’s already happening and, most importantly, where God wants us to be serving.”

ARMIDALE

This corps in northern NSW is working with other churches and agencies in the rural city to prepare for the arrival of several hundred refugee families.

“The corps is really excited about this opportunity,”says Corps Officer Major Peter Spindler. “It’s an opportunity to make these people feel a part of the community ... we want to see these guys integrating into the community and feel welcomed into the community and not to feel isolated.”

The corps is considering setting up a drop-in caféwith conversational English classes attached.

“Everything is still in the planning stages at the moment,”says Major Peter. “But what we do know is that whatever we will do will be welcoming. Watch this space!”