Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In the last two episodes, I started telling my story about hosting an immigrant family. I met them at the Calgary airport, drove them 250 kilometers to Edmonton, and installed them in an Airbnb. 

The next day we started our errands. First up: get a social insurance number. Not to be. Service Canada was closed for a long weekend. Check the to-do list. What’s next? Ah, yes. Bank account, then Alberta Health card and then, Alberta ID. 

Here’s how our day went.

The father’s country-of-origin passport put all five of his names into one field. When this was copied onto the Canadian visa, they gave him no first name, no middle name, and a huge five-part surname. It was kind of funny, but we thought it might be a problem. What to do on forms that require legal first name and legal last name? 

So the father made a simple request: “Please separate out my first, middle, and last names.” Seemed reasonable to us, but the Alberta ID agent said, “Can’t be done. I have to enter the name exactly as it appears on the visa. If you want your Alberta ID to show first and last names, Service Canada can change it on your social insurance number.

After the weekend, we arrive early at the Service Canada office to beat the lineup. Dream on! It’s eight o’clock opening time and the lineup already snakes around the cattle guards and slithers out into the mall. “Two hours,” said a Service Canada agent. 

Two hours later, we’re at the front of the line, where they take our information . . . and send us to a holding area where we sit for two more hours.  

Now, it’s noon and we’re in a cubicle to get a social insurance number. The father presents his request: “Please separate my first, middle, and last names!” 

“Not possible,” said the agent. “I have to enter the name exactly as it appears on the visa. Only the immigration people at the airport can change it.” 

So we drive 25 kilometers to the airport, only to find the immigration people behind locked doors. What? They only deal with incoming flights, not with local customers like us. So we find the border security people and ask them to help. “No can do,” they say. “Nobody at the airport can change your visa. You have to go to Immigration Canada.” 

So we set out driving 30 kilometers to downtown Edmonton. As we drive, we try three times to phone Immigration Canada. And three times their telephone system takes us through six mind-numbing minutes of voice messages, menu options, and notifications for this and that. Finally, finally, when we get  to the option we need, the recorded message says, “Thank you for calling Immigration Canada. Our telephone queue is full. We hope you find it convenient to phone us back at another time.” Click. Ahrrr!

We arrive at Canada Place in downtown Edmonton, and look for the immigration office, expecting a long queue. But there’s no sign of an immigration office and no queue. We ask the information desk, “Where is the Immigration Canada?” 

“In this building,” they reply. “But since COVID, they don’t take walk-in clients. Everything’s by phone or internet.”

Really? The internet doesn’t have the option we need. And all the phone system can do is spout menus and messages and go “Click.”

So we go back to Service Canada where we started. We take the only option they’ll give. A social insurance number with no first name, no middle name, and a large five-part surname.  

Errand complete. But was it a success? Tune in next time for more of the story!

Let’s pray. 

Our father, what is in a name? Your names are father and king and judge. And you said to Moses, “Don’t ask my name. I am who I am” (Exo 3:14). 

Paul said, “I bow before the father, from whom every family on heaven and earth derives its name” (Eph 3:14-15). 

O father, we are your children. Remember our first names, and call us by your surname. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In our last episode, I talked about hosting an immigrant family. Father, mother, and three-year-old daughter left Ukraine in 2022, spent last year in Europe, and now had air tickets, visas, and work permits for Canada. I rented an Airbnb for their first week in Edmonton, and planned the newcomer errands– bank accounts, social insurance numbers, health care cards, drivers’ licenses, etc. 

Six days before their visa expired, they showed up at the Amsterdam airport with suitcases, passports, and plane tickets. But KLM denied them boarding. So much for my Monday job in Edmonton as a welcome-to-Canada host. Instead, I was now chief problem solver in a crisis.

I asked church friends to help; we contacted SuperSaver, the website where the newcomers had purchased their tickets. We called Westjet, the ticket supplier. We asked KLM: “Why did you deny them boarding?” A friend wrote a synopsis and sent it to CBC, hoping negative media coverage would embarrass one of the airlines into helping. 

We spent three desperate days calling and emailing and discussing, trying to reason or even guilt trip one of the parties to help.
  Monday. No progress.
  Tuesday. More frustration. I canceled the Edmonton Airbnb.
  Wednesday. Still stymied. Ahrrrrrrr!
   Nothing was working. 

KLM blamed UK immigration. They said that the UK wouldn’t let the family transit through Heathrow. Their solution? The family should have bought a KLM flight direct to Canada instead of a Westjet ticket through SuperSaver. 

Thank you, KLM!

Westjet passed the buck too. “They bought the tickets on the SuperSaver website? Then we have to deal with SuperSaver, not the travelers! Tell SuperSaver to phone our agent hotline.” 

Thank you, Westjet! 

At SuperSaver we talked to super friendly customer care associates. They put the problem into the queue for their super efficient problem solving team to call Westjet and help us out. And the result? Nothing. Nada. Our request was sucked into a SuperSaver black hole, where it’s probably still spinning round and round. 

Thank you, SuperSaver! 

By Thursday, with only three days left on the family’s visas, we knew we needed a different solution. Last-minute flights to Canada? Wow! Now priced at $3,500 each one way! That’s more than $10,000. 

What to do? Should I try fundraising? Should I try finding a sponsor with money? We were scrambling!

Then, an email from the newcomer father. A relative agreed, unhappily, to loan airfare for his wife and daughter. The father used most of the family savings for his own ticket. This time, no more SuperSaver. No more Westjet. Just expensive, last-minute direct flights to Canada.

The new schedule had them arriving in Canada the next day, Friday, in Calgary, 250 km from my home. 

I quickly rented a new Airbnb in Edmonton. On Friday as I drove to Calgary, a friend stocked the Airbnb with food and flowers and welcome gifts. 

My hosting duties were about to begin. Tune into the next episode for news of the family’s arrival. 

Let’s pray. 

O father, Canada is a short plane ride from Europe . . . except when immigration officers deny transit, and airlines and internet travel sites won’t help. 

Only a privileged few can flee war, climate change, and hate in their home country to start a new life in a safe country. Millions remain at home, living in war, hunger, and danger.

We remember Gaza and Ukraine and Haiti and Sudan and Lebanon. People in war zones and refugee camps. Politicians unable or unwilling to care. Diplomacy conducted with AK47’s and laser-guided bombs. 

O father, may our country be a refuge for many. Bring your peace and your kingdom to our war-torn earth.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel Pray with Me. o.Hello. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel Pray with Me.   

Scripture calls Christians strangers and exiles on earth, because we are looking for a country to call home (Heb 11:13). This reminds of an immigrant family we recently met, exiles from Ukraine, foreigners to Canada, people without a country.

Here’s the story. In the fall of 2022 I had my cancer surgery, followed by four grinding rounds of chemo. This wiped me out for much of the next year. But when my health and strength returned to normal, I thought: “What shall I do with my newfound energy?”

Easy decision. 

Since it was the middle of a cold and dark Canadian December, I decided to . . . hibernate. Yes! Closet myself in a warm corner with a cozy blanket, a good book, hot tea, and an occasional sip of fortifying spirits. Waiting for winter to end. 

That was my plan. But after Christmas, I felt God suggesting I should pay more attention to people. 

“What?” I said. “I’ve just come through a miserable 18 months. I’ve earned some comfort. Why are you bothering me about people? Not my problem.” 

But that quiet inner voice continued–patiently and convictingly creating space in my cold heart, creating hunger to engage in relationship with God and others. But I was cocooned in my warm corner with my warm blanket and my hot tea. So I ignored the inner voice, except to add a couple books on prayer to my reading list. That should be adequate. 

Then one Sunday someone in church announced, “Canada’s program for Ukrainian immigrants is coming to an end, so we anticipate many immigrants this month. Please consider hosting a Ukrainian family.” 

I was convicted. Reluctantly, I  joined the “Edmonton Hosts Ukrainians” Facebook site. I watched post after Facebook post of newcomer families who needed a host. To my immense relief, as each family approached its deadline, a host volunteered. “Good,” I thought, ”if  this pattern holds for a few more weeks, I’ll be free and clear.” Back to my cozy corner reading a cozy mystery.

But the inner voice continued, drawing my attention to the parable of the good Samaritan, especially the priest and the Levite who avoided the injured traveler and left him to die. But of course, that didn’t apply to me, because I looked squarely at Facebook pictures of needy travelers, and watched other people come to their rescue. 

As deadline day loomed, the site posted a hosting request for a couple with a lovely 3-year old daughter. They had left Ukraine because of the war, spent a year and a half in Europe, and were headed for Canada. 

My heart said, “That’s your family” but my mind said, “Wait a bit, someone else will probably host them.” But as the deadline approached with no host, I messaged the site for details. I rented an Airbnb for their arrival, and said a prayer for them and me. 

Then, on the day they were supposed to arrive . . .  they were denied boarding on their flight. 

What to do? Was their problem my problem?  Could I just walk past the needy travelers? What would the Good Samaritan do? 

Tune in next time to hear what happened.

Let’s pray. 

Our father, thank you that Jesus loves needy travelers. Help us to see them with his eyes. Help us to hear his call to leave our warm and selfish comforts, to be involved in the lives of fellow travelers. 

O Jesus, you traveled this earth, you were crucified as an unwelcome stranger, you gave your life to rescue wounded travelers. Show us who we should help. Give us grace and courage and strength to help them. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube