On seven occasions this year, groups of Ukrainians fleeing their homeland for safe refuge in Canada have been greeted as they step off a plane in Toronto by a St. Thomas couple.
David and Sandra McCandless are members of a Rapid Response Team of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada.
Sandra recounts the stories she hears as she welcomes them to their new home.
The Rapid Response Teams are crisis-trained chaplains who provide emotional and spiritual care to those affected by man-made or natural disasters.
David explains when and how the response teams are deployed.
As the couple welcome these traumatized refugees in Toronto, David recounts the emotional response at the airport.
Sandra explains their deployment in Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy and the support they offered family and friends of a Muslim family in London, where four members were run over and killed in a targeted attack.
This past Saturday (July 9), the couple welcomed another group of refugees arriving in Toronto aboard a Samaritan’s Purse DC-8 cargo jet which is equipped to fly approximately 30 people out of the conflict zone to North America on the return leg of a flight to Poland to drop off much-needed supplies.
Samaritan’s Purse Canada has been doing essential relief and development work all around the world since 1973. Their Emergency Disaster Relief programs provide urgently needed assistance including food, water, and temporary shelter.
Written by Ian McCallum
