Lieutenant Jennifer Henson woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. Earlier that day, she and her husband, Lieutenant Rob Henson, corps officers at Renew Church in West Kelowna, B.C., had been asked if their corps would consider sponsoring a family to come to Canada.
Unable to go back to sleep, Lieutenant Jennifer started to pray about it.
“And God gave me a very clear message,” she recalls. “When I shared it with our congregation the following Sunday, everybody agreed: Of course, we’re saying yes. We don’t know how, but we’re all saying yes.”
More than 9,000 kilometres away, Hengameh Mortezaie and her husband, Mohammad, would soon get some life-changing news.
“Can you imagine?” says Hengameh. “There was a community in Kelowna that wanted to sponsor us. We were in Greece and they didn’t know anything about us, but they decided to help us. I think this is a miracle.”
You’re Hired
Hengameh and Mohammad arrived in Athens, Greece, in 2015. “At that time, we were in a bad situation,” she says. “We were looking for jobs and I came to The Salvation Army to take a Greek class.”
Hengameh teaches a sewing class at the Army’s Day Center in Athens, Greece
The case worker who taught the class asked Hengameh if she would be interested in volunteering at the Army’s Day Center, and she gladly accepted. That was how she met Major Jean-Curtis Plante, then regional business and administration officer in Athens, and Major Rachele “Ray” Lamont, then anti-human trafficking co-ordinator for Greece. Major Curtis was looking for warehouse workers to organize all the goods that had been donated to the Army for people in need and decided to hire Hengameh.
“She is so smart and capable, and such a hard worker,” says Major Ray. “She ended up taking the lead in that warehouse, and she excelled at it.”
Not Alone in the World
After the warehouse position ended, Hengameh worked as a translator for the Army for a year.
“It was not an easy job because I was translating for refugees and immigrants that came to Greece—some of their stories were really sad,” Hengameh says. “Sometimes I cried with them, sometimes I laughed with them, but it was a good experience for me because I learned I’m not alone. There are a lot of people in the world that have the same situation as me.”
As that contract came to an end, another position opened up at the Day Center.
“At that time, we had more than 5,000 asylum-seekers accessing our Day Center downtown, assisting people in a wide variety of ways, so we needed a case worker,” says Major Ray.
“The best part of my job was that I could talk with the people who were in need in the same language,” says Hengameh. “I was happy because they trusted me and told me what happened to them and what they needed.”
At one staff meeting, Major Ray shared the idea of offering sewing classes for vulnerable women at the centre. “I said, ‘I used to be a tailor—I had my own shop!’ ” Hengameh smiles.
Hengameh led the classes in Farsi and Major Ray provided the support group component. After a few months of classes, the women had a marketable skill. “At the beginning, some of them couldn’t even cut fabric and, by the end, they were able to make clothes for themselves,” Hengameh says.
Hengameh, Mjr Ray Lamont, Mjr Jean-Curtis Plante and Mohammad share a moment together at a Salvation Army staff Christmas party in Athens
“I learned a lot of things from The Salvation Army, and especially from Majors Curtis and Ray,” she reflects. “I learned that the world is not ugly like I thought. The world is beautiful because there are nice people in the world, like Curtis and Ray, who are helping people.”
Saying Yes
Majors Ray and Curtis returned to Canada in November 2019 and are now territorial modern slavery and human trafficking response co-ordinator, and assistant divisional secretary for business administration, British Columbia Division, respectively.
Major Ray had become close friends with Hengameh and Mohammad during their time in Greece—“We see each other as family,” she says—and knew that they did not want to stay in Greece. Conversations began around the possibility of sponsorship, and ministry units were approached about bringing a family to Canada.
Renew Church said yes.
A recent church plant, Renew Church was an unlikely candidate for sponsoring a family—at least on paper. It was a small congregation still getting established. “If you thought about it logically and rationally, you would have to say no,” Lieutenant Jennifer smiles.
But that middle-of-the-night message from God came through loud and clear.
“Scripture talks about helping the orphans, the widows, the people without a home, and I felt God saying to me, ‘Do you hear their cries? Because I do,’ ” she shares.
“When you hear their stories and the difficulties that these people are going through, we felt like, how could we not say yes?” Lieutenant Rob adds. “We believed that God would provide the resources for it, and he did.”
God Moments
While territorial headquarters worked with Hengameh and Mohammad on the paperwork, the Hensons put together a settlement team and started raising funds.
Bringing the family to Canada was a true grassroots effort, involving corps members, staff, volunteers, donors and the Army’s wider network in the Kelowna community. “A lot of people responded and were very generous,” says Lieutenant Rob.
Heading into Christmas 2019, Renew Church was closing in on their fundraising goal of $20,000 when a phone call came in from an elderly woman, asking if the corps could send some folks to sing a few Christmas carols.
Expecting an ordinary ministry opportunity, Lieutenant Rob gathered a small group and drove to the woman’s house.
“As we were singing, one of the members asked, ‘What are you thankful for this Christmas?’ ” Lieutenant Rob recalls. “As we went around, one individual shared the story of how our little church—which didn’t have much influence or money at that time—had been able to raise $16,000 from our community to sponsor a family.
“And the woman said, ‘Hang on a second,’ and went into another room,” Lieutenant Rob continues. “When she came back, she handed me a wad of cash and said, ‘I want to give you this.’ It was $5,000!
“That was the biggest miracle for me,” he finishes. “And there have been many neat God moments throughout, his way of saying, ‘You guys are on the right track.’ ”
Warm Welcome
As the sponsorship process unfolded, two unexpected events occurred: the coronavirus pandemic swept the world, and Hengameh found out she was pregnant.
“I hoped my baby would be born in Canada, but I thought, No, it’s impossible,” she recalls.
Hengameh was 35 weeks along when the email came. “It said our residence permit was approved—we could go to Canada!” she says. “It was the last week that my doctor would allow me to fly. It was just in time.”
Hengameh and Mohammad arrived in Canada on November 30, 2020. A local hotelier provided a room, at no charge, so that they could isolate for the required two weeks, and the church stocked it with food, clothing and more. “They were so warm with welcoming us,” Hengameh says. “They thought of everything.”
Gary and Karen Durose, Hengameh, Danial and Mohammad watch from the window as members of Renew Church bring gifts as part of a drive-by baby shower
“They are our Canadian mom and dad now,” she adds. “We had a wonderful time living with them.”
Family
Five weeks after Hengameh and Mohammad arrived in Kelowna, they welcomed a new member into their family: baby Danial. A local doula donated her time to help the family through the birthing experience, and Renew Church held a socially distanced baby shower. “We said, COVID’s not going to stop us from having a party, so we decided to do a drive-by baby blessing,” Lieutenant Jennifer smiles.
The church collected gifts for the family, expecting to drop off a basket or two, but ended up filling multiple car trunks with bags and boxes. Church members decorated their cars and drove up to the house, caravan-style, while Hengameh, Mohammad and Danial watched from the window.
“When Jennifer said, ‘We have a surprise for you,’ I was thinking maybe she would come to my house and say ‘Congratulations’ or something like that,” Hengameh remembers. “When I saw what happened, it was a big shock.”
Baby shower gifts are delivered to Hengameh and Mohammad's home
Gary broadcast the gift-opening on the church’s Facebook page using Facebook Live so the whole congregation could comment and celebrate together.
Getting Established
Now living in their own apartment, Hengameh and Mohammad have a busy life of caring for Danial, working and attending school. Mohammad is a floorer by trade and also works casual shifts at the Army’s thrift store, while Hengameh is taking English classes and hopes to work for the Army again someday.
“I loved my job in Greece—it was the best part of my life!” she says. “If I have the opportunity to do that again, that would be amazing.”
The family is also actively involved with Renew Church, attending Sunday gatherings and participating in a small group with the Hensons and another couple.
“At the end of our small-group time together, Mohammad or Hengameh will pray in Farsi, the other couple will pray in Spanish, and Rob and I will pray in English,” says Lieutenant Jennifer. “It’s really cool to be able to be together in that way. We may not share the same faith and understanding of God, but there we are having spiritual conversations and praying for one another.”
Reunited
Almost two years after saying goodbye in Greece, Hengameh and Mohammad were finally reunited with Majors Ray and Curtis, and it was especially fitting that they met on the family’s first-ever Canada Day.
“There were a lot of tears, there was a lot of hugging,” Major Ray shares. “It’s still like a dream to think that they’re here in Canada.”
“I’m a lucky person that I had the chance to meet Curtis and Ray,” says Hengameh. “They completely changed my life. I want to thank Jennifer and Rob and everyone in the community who helped us.”
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What an amazing picture of community! Thank you for sharing this and all blessings to Mohammad and Hengameh, and baby Danial, of course.