Gracepoint Church is extending a warm welcome to recently arrived refugees in Surrey, BC. Having sponsored an 8-member family and experiencing the reciprocal goodness of such hospitality, church members are reaching out to other refugees in the area by providing weekly A Rocha CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) bins of fresh local veggies.
The following is an interview between A Rocha and Bernard Pollar, Gracepoint member.
A Rocha: Tell us a bit about what motivated the decision to provide CSA shares to recent refugees.
Bernard: As a church we decided to sponsor a Syrian refugee family — the Al-Gburi family — but we have also decided to go beyond that and try to express God’s love with other recent Syrian Refugee families. Our lead Pastor Rick challenged us as a congregation to reach out and try to connect with and build relationships with such families in Surrey. One way that came to our minds was through food, and what better way to welcome these families to Surrey than to provide them a weekly supply of the very best seasonal local and organic vegetables we could find. Food is a universal language and a basic need — it ties so many issues together such as personal and community health, the environment and social justice. On a practical basis a CSA serves as way to provide these families with nutritious food, an opportunity for community building and a connection with place – their new home of Surrey.
A Rocha: What has been your experience with sponsoring/welcoming a refugee family. What is their food culture like?
Bernard: The experience has been mostly positive – certainly some challenges, but overall this process has brought the church community together in a powerful way and has positively impacted the lives of our new Syrian neighbours. I think as a church we are still very much learning about their food culture, which is a wonderful opportunity indeed. As a church we recently sponsored a meal for a large group of Syrian families we brought on buses, and it was a learning experience for everyone. Others of us have also had smaller groups, one or more families, over for a meal in a more private setting. It is interesting to learn what they traditionally eat, whether based on halal restrictions or the typical tastes and aromas of traditional Syrian food. I wonder what they think of our attempts at making such food and how it measures up. I think there is also a great opportunity to introduce them to the food culture of BC – we are blessed with such an amazing variety of agricultural produce here that they may not be familiar with, and undoubtedly their access to more traditional foods is a challenge.
A Rocha: Why did you choose Brooksdale’s CSA instead of just having a church member go shopping at a local market for veggies?
Bernard: The idea of linking and supporting two great programs at the same time really appealed to us. Certainly, as a congregation we have provided groceries to support the families, but we really wanted to go further. A Rocha has such a wonderful CSA program and a number of our congregation families have participated in the past — we wanted to share this experience of delicious healthy vegetables. We love how the contents of each weekly box are a wonderful surprise and culinary adventure, thanks to Farmer Paul and his team. Supporting local sustainable farming as well as healthy eating is a key value, and doing so through a Christian organization like A Rocha was the obvious choice.
A Rocha: How do you hope being a part of the CSA program with these families will help build community?
Bernard: One of our objectives, aside from providing top quality and tasty vegetables for the families, is to provide a tangible opportunity for connection. The plan is that small groups and individuals in our church will deliver these boxes on a weekly basis to these families, and hopefully this leads to interesting dialog and building friendships through food and hospitality. We also hope this opens the door for the Syrian families to feel more connected with their new homeland – to taste and become familiar with the very best that Surrey organic-style farming can offer and to experience God’s love through the local Christian community.
