Please help religious refugees re-locate to Canada

Hello Friends, Family, and Loved Ones,

I first met AbiShalom Pervaiz in 2017 while living in Kathmandu, Nepal. He and his family are religious refugees from Pakistan. They fled for their lives after being beaten and threatened in Pakistan for their Christian faith, this included them losing their business and home. When this happened, AbiShalom was only 12 years old.

After moving from country to country, the Pervaiz family finally found safety in Nepal, and have resided there for seven years. They entered Nepal on a temporary visa which expired in 2017. When their visa expired, they were unable to leave the country due to financial constraints and having nowhere else to go.

Recently they had some breakthroughs with the granting of UNHCR Status (recognition that they are religious refugees by the UN) and granting of a visa to immigrate to Canada.

A network of people have been fundraising to help the Pervaiz family relocate to cover travel expenses and setup for their new life in Canada, but they are facing one last financial hurdle. The Nepali government is charging an overstay fee for each day beyond their expired visa. When a Nepalis visa expires it is their law to pay the overstay fee in the amount of $8 per person per day. The Government is unlikely to waive these fees and so the family sits with the incredible debt on their shoulders with no hope to leave until it is paid. There is also a pressure to raise these funds as quickly as possible before the opportunity to utilize their visa to Canada runs out.

We cannot let this happen, we have almost completed this process and we need your help to fundraise the debt and get them there! This has been a long and difficult journey for the family, as you can imagine they are so eager to finally go to Canada where they can settle and know they are finally home.

The overstay to date (Jan 30, 2017 - Jan 28, 2024) is 2,555 days at $24 per day which equals a whopping $61,320 dollars.

But it is ok...we have a plan!

This fundraising campaign is unique and requires very little from the participant. All we are asking for is your commitment of $5 and 2 people! We believe we can raise these funds in 16 days!!

How you ask?....let me show you!

I am starting the campaign and donating $5, then I am reaching out to only 2 people, to ask them to donate $5 each and to find two more people to donate $5, and so on...

If you can commit to a $5 donation today...

Then send this link to 2 people who will also commit to the same.

This chain can keep going and we can reach the goal in only 16 days!!

What an amazing opportunity, with such little effort! Would you help us make that happen?

So how does this work?

Donate $5 today

Send the GoFundMe link to two friends

Ask them to donate $5 each

Ask them to send to 2 friends who will donate $5 each

Keep it moving!

Commonly asked questions (?)

Can I just donate the $15 myself and forget sending it to my friends?

The answer is not really, because it breaks the chain and does not allow the continuation of word of mouth. Passing this on and getting people involved is the success of the campaign.

Can I donate more then $5?

Yes, as long as you continue to send it to 2 friends with the same $5 request to keep that request burden low, the chain will move forward to reach the goal.

Can I donate a larger amount then $20 and get a gift receipt?

Yes, please contact us to connect with our Church partnership donation plan and we can connect you with a way to do that.

What if I don't have two friends?

Even if you have only one friend, it is important to keep it moving forward. Eventually, that one friend has two friends!

Can I send it to more then 2 friends?

Of course, this method relies on a minimum of 2 to work in 16 days - if you send to 20 people and they each give $5 it just takes us less time - go for it!! :)

What if we raise way more then the requested amount by accident?

The team will be monitoring the amount daily and as soon as we have the funds acquired we will end the campaign.

If we do surpass that goal however, we will use any extra funds to buy the family a car, a computer, and any extended support to last them until their permanent residency cards come in.