This post marks the third reflection in our Advent series, Welcoming the Child, Welcoming One Another: Newcomer Reflections for the Season of Advent. Throughout this holy season, newcomers to Canada and to the Diocese of Algoma are sharing personal stories rooted in the four traditional Advent themes: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Their voices remind us that the birth of Christ is always an invitation into a deeper hospitality — God drawing near to us, and calling us to draw near to one another.
This Sunday we will light the third candle on the Advent wreath, the candle of Joy. As we prepare our hearts for that moment, we turn to a reflection from Oluchi, who arrived in Thunder Bay earlier this year with her family. In her words, we glimpse a joy that is not dependent on circumstance but shaped by faith, community, and the steadfast compassion that holds us when life becomes uncertain.
Reflection by Oluchi Egbuonye
(Thunder Bay, Ontario)
My name is Oluchi and I am a Nigerian. I moved to Thunder Bay on a spousal work permit with my four lovely daughters to join my husband in April of 2024 and we have always been members of the St. Michael’s & All Angels Church since we moved to the city of Thunder Bay.
Joy is often mistaken for moments of laughter, comfort, or ease—those seasons when everything aligns perfectly. But looking back at our experience, I have come to understand that joy is not the absence of hardship; rather, it is the quiet assurance that even when life collapses, something deeper is holding us together.
When I arrived in Thunder Bay with my family, joy took the form of reunion—of togetherness after separation, of the hope of beginning anew. It was simple yet profound: waking up under the same roof, sharing meals, and learning to navigate a new environment as a family. Life felt promising. Even with modest earnings, there was dignity in work, rhythm in routine, and progress in small steps.
But when everything shifted—when income disappeared, when legal status was suddenly withdrawn, when the fear of displacement crept in—joy revealed its true layers. It was no longer a feeling attached to circumstances. It became moments carried in quiet tears, moments my survival instinct told me I had to hold on to, not let go of. There were days when we cried, moments when we questioned, moments when the silence of night echoed with prayers we didn’t know how to put into words. And yet, through all those nights, God was teaching us what joy truly means.
Joy emerged in the form of help we did not earn and could not have predicted. Joy was the letter that said rent had been covered. Joy was watching our daughters eat well, sleep peacefully, and continue with their schooling even when our hearts trembled. Joy was knowing that someone remembered us—people who had no obligation except love.
St. Michael’s & All Angels Anglican Church under the profound leadership of Rev. Elizabeth Sipos became the vessel through which joy was delivered. Not because they solved every problem, but because they restored hope. They reminded us that joy is not rooted in possessions or stability; it is rooted in being seen, supported, and surrounded by compassion.
True joy is resilient. It does not fade when paycheques stop or when status is lost. True joy is sustained by faith—by the quiet knowledge that God is still present, still working, still arranging help long before we know we need it.
Today, joy looks like gratitude. It looks like remembering where we stood and recognizing how far we have come. It looks like a desire to one day become the hands that lift someone else.
Joy endures—not because life is perfect, but because God is faithful.
Our experience has revealed the true meaning of JOY to me as a person and to us a family. I shall forever remain grateful to the God and the entire church community!