This post is part of our Advent series, Welcoming the Child, Welcoming One Another: Newcomer Reflections for the Season of Advent. Throughout the weeks of Advent, we are hearing stories that reflect the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, shared by newcomers to churches in the Diocese of Algoma.
These reflections invite us to remember that the coming of Christ is always an act of welcome—God arriving among us, and God calling us to make room for one another.
Sacrificial Love Out in the Cold: A Story of Byron
By the Rev. Ann Camber
for the Diocese of Algoma Social Justice Committee
I first met Byron in the spring of 2023. He sat quietly at the back of the church that Sunday morning—far back, about as far back as one can go—perched on the row of chairs behind the pews.
“Welcome. Nice to have you with us this morning,” I said. “I’m Reverend Ann.” We shook hands. “I’m Byron. Byron Nowegjsic,” he replied.
We chatted, and I learned that Byron had come to attend church and to choose groceries at our food cupboard afterward. When the service ended, however, he lingered. One of the greeters told me that he wanted to talk.
There were tears in Byron’s eyes as he recounted his pain. He told me that he was unhoused and hungry, and that he had been mistreated because of his Indigenous heritage. The systemic racism he experienced seemed to trouble him the most. We lamented together as he shared that he was living in a tent and could not find work, even as he sought opportunities. I valued the trust he placed in me by telling me his story. This was the beginning of our friendship.
Over the next eighteen months, Byron continued attending church weekly. He became well known in our parish for his generosity and care. Slowly, I learned more of his story.
When he was as young as two, his aunt had brought him to St. Luke’s, which later became Gathering Table when parishes merged. Byron was tall for his age and often appeared older than he was. From a young age, he carried responsibilities that would shape his adult life. As a young adult, he became a father. When he and his partner separated, Byron devoted himself to raising his son on his own. And so, time passed. Byron’s son, now a young adult himself, moved south. Byron was unhoused and living in an encampment.
By late autumn of 2024, the weather grew colder and the days shorter. The unhoused community in Thunder Bay faced another winter of heavy snowfall, with temperatures that can drop to minus thirty or forty degrees in January, and windchill that can be deadly.
“Have you found a home yet, Byron?” I asked. It was a question I had asked before and would ask again.
“Not yet,” Byron answered. “Hopefully they will put the tent encampment people in hotels.”
Week after week, I checked in with him. Meanwhile, parishioners helped Byron purchase propane to heat his tent.
After Christmas, I asked again. “Are you out of the cold yet? Are you keeping warm?”
Byron looked at me and said something that both surprised me and touched me deeply.
“Rev. Ann,” he said, “I was offered a place out of the cold, but I stayed. How can I leave my people out there in tents? I carry Naloxone kits and help when they are overdosing. I have stopped fights in the encampment. I have put out a fire that could have engulfed one of my neighbour’s tents. I want to save their lives, so I can’t take a place out of the cold.”
And there was more. Despite staying up most nights to patrol and help his neighbours, Byron volunteered during the daytime with the Thunder Bay Community Care Bus. He served coffee and sandwiches to those who were unhoused and offered them a place to warm up.
I was humbled to realize that here, sitting with me, was a man who had endured so much and yet continued to risk his own health and safety to ensure the well-being of others. He was living out Jesus’ command to love others radically and sacrificially.
Often, we who are privileged look at those who are unhoused and on the margins of society as takers, while viewing ourselves as givers. Yet my experience of Byron, and of others at Gathering Table Food Cupboard, has taught me otherwise. Many sacrificially give, share, and care in ways that continue to humble and inspire me. From them, I have learned what Divine Love looks like.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)
As we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent, may our giving be spontaneous and humble, joyous and loving. Byron Nowegjsic has shown us how.
Postscript:
In the spring of 2025, Byron moved in with his son, Ontario, in Thunder Bay. That fall, Ontario and his girlfriend left the city to pursue their studies elsewhere in the province. Byron chose to follow them and continue living with his son, reflecting the close father–son bond they share. He desires nothing more than to be of service to others.
The people of Gathering Table are engaged in a multi-million-dollar project to build affordable, sustainable housing in Thunder Bay.