"The church will co-operate with the police, and we are keeping everyone involved in this in mind, hearts and prayers." St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver partnered with a group on Bowen Island to bring Ibrahim Ali to Canada in 2017 as a privately sponsored refugee. According to an article in the Bowen Island Undercurrent, one of Ali's brothers came to Canada as a government sponsored refugee four years before his siblings. "Fifteen months ago, we, as an island put this collective ethos into practice by raising the means to sponsor a refugee family of seven from Syria." And church members were asked to refrain from speaking to the media.

Source: CBC News September 11, 2018 22:07 UTC