CHURCH & COMMUNITY: how to build a relationship

The Heart of Jesus Christ Church has been in Montreal the moment the doors opened. At first, we ministered solely to the Sinhalese community, but as time went by, our Church’s heart expanded to every nation including Tamils, Syrians, Indians, Iranians and Haitians. We rejoice to see so much diversity in Christ’s Church yet we still did not build a relationship with the second most diverse city in Canada, Montreal (15th most diverse in the World)!
With the unexpected passing of Thishan Sriskantharasa, we witnessed different difficulties concerning the expenses, needs and desperation of his family in Sri Lanka and the limited resources we, as Church, could offer. I am not belittling all the efforts we have done, on the contrary, I am extremely amazed and grateful that we were able to help his family by any means either through money, providing counsel, contacting the right people, praying, etc. Even after this terrible moment, it was the arrival of Brother Satchin’s Family that sparked a solution, with the help of Sister Elizabeth & Pastor Chrisanthus, for the Church’s limited resources for the new believers.
We have encountered many individuals and families from all around the World who struggle to sustain themselves during their first years in Montreal. We need more time and more money. Time to help them and money to support them. I realized the best solution is getting help from recognised Organisations in Montreal that have both the manpower to provide time and government funding to provide some money. We are surrounded by over 30 non-profit organizations (excluding religious organizations) that provide all types of help to people in different situations including, but not limited to: new immigrants, widows, handicapped, the unemployed, etc.
This project is to create, build and sustain a relationship between the Heart of Jesus Christ Church and the Community to provide more resources to our believers and create an impact in our new found common community, Montreal.