Alexi Kolosov sought refuge in West End Baptist Church in St. John's in 2005. (CBC)

A Latvian national who fought deportation from Canada while taking sanctuary in a St. John's church for almost four years has left the country.

Alexi Kolosov moved into West End Baptist Church in April 2005. Last week he gave himself up to Border Services agents and left Canada.

Rev. Gordon Sutherland said Kolosov decided that all of his options had been exhausted, after an appeal to stay in the country was denied last fall.

"This is a good man. He can leave holding his head up high," Sutherland told CBC News.

"He's never had any trouble with the law, and he was simply availing himself of the options that were available to him as we tried to argue his case," he said.

Kolosov's supporters argued that the Latvian man, who had a poor command of the English language, paid money to an immigration consultant who later left the country, without doing anything to aid Kolosov's application.

Kolosov's case attracted national attention over the last four years. At one point, Kolosov used pliers to remove an infected tooth after a request for medical help was turned down.

"Alexi never complained much about any of the situations he found himself in," Sutherland said.

"He held the high ground in everything that he did. Many of the things that we faced, we might find hard. But knowing what he's likely to face going back into Latvia, this wasn't so difficult."

Sutherland said that Kolosov faces discrimination in Latvia because he is of Russian descent.

However, Sutherland said members of the West End Baptist Church are hoping they will be reunited with Kolosov. Supporters have started worked to help Kolosov apply to enter the country again.

"We don't think this is the end of the story," Sutherland said.

Church-based sanctuary has no bearing in Canadian law, although officials rarely enter houses of worship to apprehend people living illegally in the country.