A Syrian family of four who arrived Tuesday at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport is headed to London.

The wife, husband and two children — believed to be the first Syrian refugees to arrive in London since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to bring 25,000 refugees to Canada before March — are expected to be received by their family in London, who sponsored them.

Though little is known about this week’s arrivals, they are Assyrian Christians — part of a small ethnic minority that has been persecuted by the Islamic State.

“We are planning parties. We want them to be here and to heal,” said Mansour Zendo, a member of London’s 1,000 strong Assyrian Christian community that has been calling on the federal government to help their relatives back home for years.

“Thank God for Canada to let us feel we are part of this community,” said Zendo, who owns an auto body shop in the city.

As many as 200 Syrian refugees are expected in London before the end of the year, Mayor Matt Brown said.

“I look forward to any opportunity to welcome any Syrian refugees arriving to our community, but I also want to be very respectful of their privacy,” he said.

Other faith organizations and individuals sponsoring the newcomers have said they are simply waiting to learn from the government when people will actually arrive.

The family arriving Wednesday in London is the first known of the 200. Another family is expected to land in Toronto on Monday.

It will be none too soon for hundreds of volunteers working with faith-based organizations and settlement services across the city to prepare for the arrivals, organizers say.

And they are leading the way for more than 20 families sponsored by London’s Assyrian Christian community.

“We are excited to be a part of the whole Canadian experience of welcoming Syrians,” said David Cottrill of London’s North Park Community Church that has supported London’s Assyrian Christian community and assisted with the paperwork.

The small Christian population has lived in northeastern Syria for decades but has been under ISIS control for almost three years. Last February, ISIS militants kidnapped more than 200 members of the community in northern Syria.

Many Assyrian Christians have been living in Beirut as refugees waiting to be sponsored to Canada by relatives living here. Others remain in northern Syria, an area where more than two dozen were killed in three suicide bombings last week.

Sponsors of the new family say they would like their arrival to be quiet.

“Because the refugees are considered vulnerable people . . . we won’t even put them up on the screen for the congregation,” Cottrill said. “It’s part of protecting them.”

Members of the Assyrian community do have plans to meet the newcomers soon.

“They are excited,” Cottrill said.

jennifer.obrien@sunmedia.ca

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