About us
- Worthy State Deputies, District Deputies, Grand Knights, & Dear Brothers, My name is Hikmat Michel Dandan, the Ontario Christian Refugee Relief Director. All the Knights of Columbus initiatives are important but Christian Refugee Relief is particularly important because it deals with persecuted and at-risk Christians. The Supreme Council has adopted a resolution for Solidarity with persecuted Christians. My recommendation to all Ontario councils is to encourage them to appoint a Christian Refugee Relief Chairman at the council level. I am ready to make a ZOOM or TEAMS virtual meeting at short notice to explain in detail to interested brothers how their councils can participate in charitable initiatives that satisfy the Christian Refugee Relief category which is under Life but entirely different from typical Life initiatives and with many options that touch lives.
- Knowing what the urgent needs are, I have developed initiatives that satisfy many aspects of relief that will bring aid, to more refugees, needy students, hungry families, orphans, priests, seminarians, Christian craft workers, churches, hospitals, the elderly, the disabled, the sick and the families of departed sisters and brothers. Of course, participating in any of these initiatives will also earn the council credits towards achieving your Columbian or Star council awards. Many of the Christian Refugee Relief initiatives can also be classified under FAITH, FAMILY, COMMUNITY as well as LIFE. Also since the council promotions will be with parishioners, it will also boost your image and increase your membership as the parishioners will see how the council is helping the most needy and will be impressed and may join the order.
- The latest statistics show that more than 200 million Christians are persecuted in some way in more than 50 countries around the world. Both the Knights of Columbus and Christians in more peaceful lands ought to do everything in their power to see that Christians do not leave their countries. The Christians in the Middle East in general have been on a continuous decline. Unfortunately, our secular media is not interested to report on their plight. In the Holy land, the decline has been from 12% in 1920 to less than 2% in 2022. If this trend is not reversed, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Beit Sahour and other places where Christ was born, walked and preached will become museums of Christianity without Christians.
- All the initiatives are described here under www.christianrefugeerelief.org. Some websites are still being renovated or developed but all the initiatives are active. Do not put your charity eggs in one basket but distribute them to benefit many more charitable causes.
- His Eminence Cardinal Collins told us: The Knights are the strong right arm of the Catholic Church. As Catholics we have to be universal, look beyond, and help brothers all over. This is what Catholic means and not only in our community. The fundamental role of lay people is to infiltrate the world individually or through organizations like the KOFC and to let the light of Christ shine wherever we go. The more we give, the more the Lord Bless Us. The more we live in a shell, the more we sink.
- Please stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and remember by forgetting about Christian Refugee Relief, you would have forgotten the most vulnerable, and at risk Christians. Unfortunately nowadays, the church is persecuted even more than at the time of St. Peter and Paul.
- There are many initiatives and options so please donate to Christian Refugee Relief:
- Donate to: Knights of Columbus Ontario Charity Foundation, write in the memo part the name of the initiative. Mention your address and email (Tax receipts will be issued).
- Send your cheques by post to this address: Ontario Christian Refugee Relief Director, 6428 Yonge Street, Centerpoint 37150, Toronto, Ontario, M2M 4J8.
- You can also send your donation by E-transfer to: payments@ontariokofc.ca Again, specify Christian Refugee Relief & the name of the initiative(s) you have chosen, and include your address and email (tax receipts will be issued). Send me a copy of your etransfer for follow up.
Ontario State Trillium Knights Podcast with Hikmat Dandan about Christian Refugee Relief
