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Ernesto Pinto says his congregation of about 50 people is struggling with a variety of issues. About 95 percent are refugees. About 60 percent are single mothers.
"People come here confused and destroyed," says Pinto. Many have first-hand experience with torture and have seen people killed in brutal ways. When they arrive in Winnipeg their dreams of finding jobs, acceptance and supportive services are often shattered.
Canadian Mennonites, he says, are doing a "great job in Latin America", but tend to ignore the problems of new immigrants to Canada.
"Canadians don't want to recognize minorities in Canada," he says. "To be accepted in Canada you have to be assimilated. For 300 years we didn't assimilate in the US. Why do you expect that in seven years we'll assimilate in Canada?"
Pinto says his church, Iglesia Vida Abudante, recognized a need for a variety of culturally appropriate programs, including programs for children and youth, support groups for single mothers, supportive services for men in conflict with the law and ESL classes for people who do not know the English language. Many people in his community do not qualify for government-sponsored ESL programs for new immigrants because they are Canadian citizens.
There is also an urgent need for spiritual counselling to help refugees deal with the pain and abuse they experienced and witnessed before coming to Canada.
"We have people willing to do the work but we don't have the resources," he says.
"We don't have a budget for programs . . . we need help, any kind of help--we have nothing."
Pinto says he is grateful for the support the church is receiving from the MB Conference, which started the church in 1985. Pinto works half-time producing a weekly Spanish language radio program supported by MB Communications. His half-time salary as a pastor is covered by Manitoba MB Conference Missions and Church Extension.
He also appreciates the support his church received this summer from a new Mennonite Central Committee summer service program for students from ethnic minority communities.
This program is designed to help minority churches in Canada develop new programs and connect Mennonites from these churches with the larger Mennonite community. Students selected for this MCC voluntary service assignment receive subsistence allowance funded jointly by MCC Canada, the provincial MCC and the participating local church. Two provincial MCC offices--Manitoba and Quebec--found students and churches that met the criteria of this new program.
Tina Mondaca, a refugee from Chile who came to Winnipeg in 1982, was the first participant in Manitoba. Mondaca, a self-employed social worker, is a recent graduate of the University of Manitoba. Her acceptance into this MCC program gave her the opportunity to help the church expand its work with men who are in conflict with the law. Many of these men are facing charges of domestic violence.
Mondaca says there are services in Winnipeg for immigrant women who are victims of family violence but there aren't any culturally appropriate services for men.
"The woman gets new information but the guy is stuck there with no help," she says. "He sees her moving ahead and moving away from him. We need to create a balance of services. Both sides need culturally appropriate help."
Throughout the summer Mondaca provided practical assistance to men who needed help understanding the Canadian criminal justice system. She organized and facilitated focus groups where men planned and developed workshops on managing anger, the dynamics of domestic violence and mediation.
She helped organize a multi-cultural Family Harmony Conference in Winnipeg which offered a workshop on the cross-cultural dynamics and counselling issues in working with men who are abusive. Mondaca also met with MCC workers involved with prison visitation and mediation programs.
"We have to allow men to be part of the problem-solving process," she explains. "Putting him in jail doesn't help."
Pinto says supportive services for men is just one of numerous services needed by many of Winnipeg's 15,000 Latin Americans. Pinto, who is married and a father of two children, is a graduate of the McCormick Theological Seminary at the University of Chicago. Originally from Honduras, Pinto has been in Winnipeg since 1988.
Gladys Terichow, MCC Manitoba Communications
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