“Because we love Lucy”
KINGSTON, ON - The federal government's Immigration Appeal Division has declared a Chinese woman's case abandoned after she failed to appear for a hearing March 12 in Toronto. Now, if Lucy Lu leaves the sanctuary of a Kingston church building, she will almost certainly be apprehended and deported.
Lu chose not to leave the church the day of the hearing because her lawyer's request to hold the immigration appeal hearing in the church was turned down.
"It was a hard decision, says Lu. "If I don't go, they don't open the case. But if I go, they arrest me."
Lu took sanctuary in Calvary Bible Church on November 21 to avoid deportation back to China (CW, Jan9/01). Having served a prison sentence for the 1985 murder of her first husband–which she insists she did not commit–she worried deportation would result in a second trial and possibly execution.
Lucy's second husband, Daryl Gellner–whom she married just weeks before her surprise deportation order last fall–has been busy writing letters and contacting human rights organizations to gather support.
Support has come from a human rights lawyer in Ireland, academics, the media and large Canadian unions, including the Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Having exhausted every Canadian Immigration avenue of appeal, Gellner now hopes to get help from the Association of the Wrongfully Convicted.
According to Gellner, Canadian churches have not supported Lu well. "I've contacted 200 churches and have received five replies," he says, noting that homosexual groups have been more supportive than the broader Christian community.
Unflinching commitment
Members of Calvary Bible Church, however, have been unflinching in their commitment to Lu. "It's really applied Christianity," says Philip Johnston, who chairs the board of elders. "It's really the way we should be living, sharing one another's burdens, helping each other in times of difficulty."
Besides sheltering Lu and providing a temporary home for the couple in a converted nursery, church members help out by bringing meals and keeping Lu company during the long days and evenings. "It's very encouraging," says Lu, who has since learned to quilt and to make greeting cards.
The encouragement goes both ways, says Johnston, mentioning an elderly woman who has found a new spark in her life since she started spending time with Lu. "People are receiving a great blessing."
For friend and volunteer Irene Sedore, who has known Lu since the two became church members together in 1991, the answer to why she and others set aside a morning or afternoon a week to sit in the church is simple: "because we love Lucy."
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