Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China says the Communist Party’s goal is to keep the peace.

“Their goal is for there to be harmony and unity within China, and for them, that is the majority, Han-based, Mandarin-speaking harmony, communist ideology,” Rovenstine said.

From their perspective, if the government can maintain harmony, it can provide for the comfort and prosperity of its people.

(Image courtesy of Bibles for China)

“They’re simply governing their country in a way that they deem best, in their opinion,” Rovenstine said.

To Rovenstine, this is not a surprising move on China’s part. It’s Communist China being Communist China.

At the government level, it would be easier to govern China through control, demanding one language, a singular culture, and a mindset that is “best for everyone.” However, diversity and independent culture suffer.

“There is a very real opportunity for abuse and overreach in a policy such as this,” Rovenstine says.

While this is not an overt attack on Christianity or any other religious or ethnic minority groups in the country, it could be used as the next in a string of policies in China that seek to control, suppress, and assimilate people.

If this new law does lead to religious persecution, Rovenstine thinks individual provinces and leaders will take advantage of this.

To the people in China, Rovenstine says this is not new.

“They learn how to make adjustments in ministry, whether it’s a registered church, house church, or just somebody trying to live their life in China,” he says.

Please pray for wisdom for those who are wondering how this policy will affect their ability to share the gospel and live their lives in a way that’s consistent with Jesus’ model.

Pray for the wisdom to know when to pivot and that believers will be encouraged and will continue to live in obedience to God and to serve in the country where God has placed them.

(Photo courtesy of Karwin Luo/Unsplash)

Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo live among wolves. Last month, the terrorist group Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) claimed the brutal killings of more than 140 believers. An ambush during a funeral in Nyoto village, Lubero District killed as many as 102 people. Multiple attacks later in the month killed an estimated 40, according to a report from Barnabas Aid.

Church in the DRC (Representative stock photo courtesy of Johnnathan Tshibangu via Unsplash)

“One of the things that we’ve seen even [in] the last couple of months is just the level of violence of these attacks,” says Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA. “[Fighters] coming in and killing dozens of people, beheading people, the idea of putting fear into the whole populace.”

There’s no end in sight, either. ISCAP, also known as the Allied Democratic Forces, is only one of 100 armed groups in the DRC. 

“So if you’re in the government or in the military and you say, ‘Okay, we need to solve this problem,’ this is 100 problems,” Nettleton says. 

He says there is also a question of whether there is a will to solve the security problems. A July 26-27 ISCAP attack killed at least 40 churchgoers in a city with a UN Peacekeeper presence.

“If that’s happening in the same city where there are so-called peacekeepers, is it a lack of will? Is it a lack of information? What is happening that is allowing this to continue on?” says Nettleton.

“If you’re a Christian in DRC right now, certainly you’re asking that question as well: ‘Why does this keep happening, and what needs to happen for our government or for someone to provide some safety, some protection for us?'”

Imagine the disruption to daily life that these dangers cause for everyone, not only for those doing gospel work.

“The baseline of, ‘Am I going to go out today and come home safely tonight?’ — that’s not a given,” says Nettleton. “Every decision, every meeting, every chance to travel to a different location, you’re having to factor in those security questions. ‘What do I need to do to take only necessary risks and not unnecessary risks?'”

ISCAP released a graphic propaganda video in September, boasting of its wars on Christians and calling for reinforcements to join the rising jihad in Africa. (Read an analysis of the video here.) With that in mind, please pray for bold wisdom and innocence for Christians in the DRC in line with Matthew 10:16. Pray that even jihadists in Africa will be won over by the gospel of Jesus.

Header image: Portrait of a Taabwa Catholic priest at the historic mission in the city of Moba, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo, caption courtesy of IMB)

First, some context. Ministry in China requires perseverance, as Kurt Rovenstine with Bibles for China (BFC) implies.

“COVID obviously put everybody back a few paces,” he says. “Then policy changes, and the difficulties that everybody that works in China is facing in terms of what they can and can’t do…. At times, you begin to wonder if the work is necessary or even possible because of some of those changes.”

Bible study (Image courtesy of Bibles for China)

The BFC team has navigated many challenges and now they considering a new need they could help meet in China. For more than a decade they have focused on legally distributing God’s Word to people in China. But there’s been new feedback reaching them.

“[Before taking action] we’ll discuss it as a ministry with staff and [our] board and analyze the the data, but we’re continuing to get requests not as much for the Bibles for individuals, but [from seminaries],” says Rovenstine.

“Every seminary, every training center that we have the opportunity to visit — or at least talk to their leaders — are really concerned about their students who are graduating and going out into the field not having the resources that they need.”

It seems to be an open door to serve a vital need among future church leaders, partnering with local believers to do so. 

That’s why BFC’s trip to China this fall was so important. (This is where the Chinese Communist Party comes back in.) 

“It’s all about relationships, even when there’s difficulty and challenges. We were very honored [during] this trip to lay a [continued] foundation not just with CCC leaders, but some of the Communist Party leaders that oversee those areas. We were able to meet with [them] and have a little bit of dialog,” Rovenstine says.

“We were there with a larger group of people from the West that were there trying to learn what ministry in China looks like moving forward, and just get to know each other a little bit better.”

These continued connections between China’s Communist leaders and ministries like Bibles for China pave the way for future ministry. Praise God and join in prayer for the gospel to spread further!

“Pray that God opens doors for us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, to be able to make a difference and keep supporting those ministries that are doing work in China, because there’s still a great need, there’s still a great opportunity, in spite of the challenges,” says Rovenstine. 

Header photo courtesy of Bibles for China.

Floyd Brobbel from Voice of the Martyrs Canada says Christian minorities hoped this change might lead to a more favorable government stance toward them. Muslims are also a minority in India. However, this change has not come yet, so caution is still the way forward.

“While there is a little bit of hope, there’s apprehension. Of course, they’re going to protect their identities, they’re going to want to seek to protect their internal partnerships and things that they’re doing within the country,” Brobbel says.

ndia is nearly 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim and 2% Christian. (Source: CIA Factbook) (Photo courtesy of Ron Hansen via Unsplash)

“There needs to be wisdom in in how we [communicate with and support our partners], because increasingly — not only in India, but in the world — we’re seeing governments more hostile to open channels of funding ministries for the advancement of the gospel.”

Voice of the Martyrs Canada is considering alternative strategies to stay connected to partners in India in an uncertain future. 

“Will all our ministry partners be cut off from any type of funding or resourcing, even communications? How will we communicate with them? That may be an extreme measure, but we’ve seen that happen before,” Brobbel says. 

“So we need to operate with caution and also communicate in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the safety of our partners in the field or those that they’re calling to help.”

Representative photo of a remote village in India. (Photo courtesy of Deepak Srinivasan/Unsplash)

Brobbel says the whole situation relates to Jesus’ direction to His disciples in Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Please pray for Christians in India. They need wisdom and unity. 

“I think India has a lot of natural resource[s] within the Church itself. If the Church in India continues to unite and work together, then they can better also do the work of the church, not necessarily be depending on organizations to fund them,” Brobbel explains without criticism. 

“Pray for unity and for those resources to be able to flow, but also [for] wisdom for organizations that are reaching out on how they can make a difference in India.”

Click to learn more about Voice of the Martyrs Canada. 

Header photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs Canada.

Phase three of voting began yesterday. Surging heat waves have made polling difficult.

Regan Miller with Mission India explains, “With 1.4 billion people in India, that’s a lot of people to get [through] the voting system.”

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

What happens politically in India and the resulting policies greatly impact Christian ministry — and there is much ministry work to do.

India is the largest unreached nation in the world. Roughly 95% of the population is unreached, meaning they have never heard the Gospel.

Miller says, “We can pray over the election season for wisdom for the voters. Right now, for the Christians, they would just appreciate prayers for wisdom and that the Holy Spirit would work through the leadership in India.”

Mission India has a timely resource to encourage your prayers.

“If people would like a tangible way to learn how to pray in a meaningful way for India and for their own lives, too, we are offering a 10-day Pentecost Prayer Guide that launches May 9. Pentecost is the day that we recognize the sending of the Holy Spirit in Scripture, so we’re going to be praying into that!”

Get Mission India’s Pentecost Prayer Guide here!

“We’ll walk you through one way each day that God responds to prayer and fasting and Scripture, and how you can pray into that – for India and your own life to,” says Miller.

Click here for more ways to support Gospel work with Mission India.

Header photo of Indian flag. (Photo courtesy of Still Pixels/Pexels)

But if you’re like most of the world, you already know all of that. What you might not know is that a new law in Iran could prevent the Church from spreading the Gospel online. And you wouldn’t be alone; Mike Ansari with Heart4Iran says the law has flown under the radar even for local Iranians.

Iran is not exactly known for its religious freedom. “Traditionally, Iran has had a very strict law on anybody who is a Muslim and becomes a Christian,” Ansari says. “They frown on that and the punishments are very severe: imprisonment or even death.”

Recently, those strict laws have stepped up another level.

“Iran is [accusing] our ministries and others of introducing deviant psychological manipulation or propaganda contrary to Islam, whether in real or virtual space. They are now labeled as sects and punishable with imprisonment, flogging, fines, or even death sentence.”

The new law means not only ministries but counseling services, churches, advice groups, or any teaching contrary to Islam could be labeled “deviant” and “manipulative.” Want to share a Bible verse in response to a friend’s social media? Offer to pray to Jesus during a video call? Create a video series explaining the problems of Islam? In Iran, any of these could feasibly earn you a death sentence.

Digital ministry can now earn you criminal charges (Representative photo courtesy of Unsplash)

What’s surprising, Ansari says, is how many people don’t know about the new law. It’s not like this is out of nowhere; a pattern of persecution has existed in Iran for some time now.

“This did not happen overnight. Many people believe that this kind of amendment was part of a greater plan that was put in place by the Iranian supreme leader and his team.”

And yet this new development has largely gone unnoticed. Locals still see Iran as a free country, largely because for majority Muslims, it is. “Sadly, the reality is that the average Iranian that is in Iran is not focusing on minority groups,” Ansari says.

“It’s like an old example; when you put the frog in boiling water, the frog jumps out, but if you put a frog into cold water and slowly increase the temperature, the frog is going to sit through it.”

So what do we do? Ansari is worried that the global Church isn’t going to notice the plight of the Iranian Church. Do not let this story pass silently by.

“When we are quiet towards atrocities and brutalities that we see done in the name of law, in the name of God, many times… there’s a danger of us becoming numb to what is going on,” Ansari says. “Yes, there is a lot of ugliness in the world. But what can we do?”

Join Iranian believers in prayer for the future (Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

You can share this crisis. You can support groups like Heart4Iran. You can pray for peace, wisdom, and justice in Iran.

“We want to work with every single one of you guys to bring more awareness to your church. Members need to know about this.”

Use these tools to learn more about the situation in Iran and share the information with your local body of believers. Help advocate for Iranian believers.

“God is speaking to you stand up and be a part of this global movement.”

Learn more from Heart4Iran directly right here.

Header photo courtesy of Unsplash.

Lebanon’s coronavirus cases are staying low for now, but the hospitals warn they can’t handle a major outbreak. The country doesn’t need this threat; it already suffers a financial crisis and political turmoil.

In this time of suffering around the world, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary asks how Christians, who believe Jesus rose from the dead, can interact with such a threat to human life. ABTS remains open, despite most of their students going home. But with the extra space, the college offers its apartment rooms for medical workers who are concerned about infecting their families.

Still learning

ABTS apartment being cleaned in preparation for medical workers to stay there. (Photo courtesy of ABTS of Facebook)

Colleges across the world have closed their doors due to the coronavirus, but some face this pandemic better equipped for online learning.

Ellie Haddad says, “We’re fortunate that we’re part of a big collaborative team of developing online material. And we launched our online certificate, which is equivalent to one year, a couple of years ago. We have many graduates out of that program.”

All in all, ABTS finds itself uniquely prepared for the outbreak. Haddad says, “We are at a mature place in [the] development of our online platform, where we looked at what’s left of the residential academic year, and we thought it would be [relatively] easy to move our instruction to online. So that’s what we have done.”

Middle East Consultation 2020

We previously reported about the Middle East Consultation 2020. Now, ABTS is reconceptualizing the consultation and looking at meeting in an online format.

Haddad says, “It’s a very exciting topic, the Gospel in Public Life. And there’s a lot of interest in it locally, regionally, and globally. But since the uprising that we’ve had in Lebanon since October 2019, and now with the coronavirus, it [is] very unlikely that we will be able to gather in person for that conference.”

(Photo courtesy of ABTS of Facebook)

Look for more information as it comes available at abtslebanon.org.

How to pray

The coronavirus overshadows the uprisings and financial crisis in Lebanon, but those things haven’t gone away. Pray that the Church in Lebanon would have wisdom to proclaim the Gospel under these new circumstances.

Haddad says, “This is not the time to be afraid and look for our own self-preservation [only]. This is the time to engage our communities in a way that was not possible before. So, pray for wisdom to be able to discern what, what we can do and, and the boldness to do it.”

Certainly, Christians who believe in the coming resurrection must all pray for that fearlessness and wisdom.

ABTS student on campus shortly after lockdown. (courtesy of ABTS of Facebook)

Stories of people’s lives being transformed through Jesus are exciting and encouraging, but we don’t always get to hear back about how someone was changed by hearing the Gospel. Helen Williams of World Missionary Press says that’s something ministries and individual Christians all have to deal with—not knowing the full impact of ministry. She says we’re just called to trust in God’s timing and plan.

“I think that we as people, particularly in ministry, have a tendency to want to see results and perhaps see results… and we need to lean on the Spirit. The Lord said, some plant, some water, and God gives the increase. If we look at the Word as a seed that is planted—we know some seeds come up quicker than others, and some take a little bit more tending. And if we just trust that the Word is the seed and that God will give the increase, I think it will help us not to become discouraged and not to maybe look for instantaneous things.”

(Photo and header photo courtesy of World Missionary Press)

We can accept that perhaps further down the line, something we said or a Scripture booklet we shared will open someone’s eyes to the hope of the Gospel. But perhaps what’s harder to accept in ministry is the limits to what we can do.

All over the world, ministries are struggling to keep up with the demand. Organizations reaching out to refugees, for instance, are having trouble meeting the plethora of physical needs as they share the love of Jesus.

For World Missionary Press, the demand comes from ministries sprinkled around the globe who simply never have enough materials to hand out to the people they’re reaching out to.

Their contact in Argentina, for instance, wants to increase shipments of Scripture Booklets and Spanish New Testaments by 30 percent. He is expanding ministry into Bolivia and Paraguay. Already, they receive about two million pieces of literature every 12-14 months.

Williams says that would require an additional shipment during the same time period. It’s a huge task, but not an uncommon one. In all the major ministry projects World Missionary Press supports (Williams says about 81), contacts run out of materials quickly. People are hungry for the Gospel, and the materials go just like that.

“We have no lack of business. We’re trying to produce as many as we can and get them out as quickly as we can because the Spirit’s working around the world.”

The fact that World Missionary Press can’t keep up with the demand for Scripture is a good sign—people are eagerly accepting the booklets and even if they don’t read it right away, God can use that tool down the road to draw them to himself.

Williams says at the end of January, they already had a list from nations around the world with requests totaling 88 million pieces of literature. You can help fulfill these requests.

(Photo courtesy of World Missionary Press)

First of all, you can help with physical needs. When you financially partner with World Missionary Press, you’re enabling them to give materials away for free to missionaries around the world. If you’d like to give, click here or contact World Missionary Press, here.

You can also be praying:

“We need wisdom, we need strength, we need just to know how to increase production and to wait on the Lord and yet not sit on our hands but just do what he gives us to do and use the funds that we have the best we know how.”

Williams also asks for prayers that they would have patience as the requests roll in:  “We want to do so much and yet practically, there’s only so much we can do. And we need to rest in that—that the Lord will provide in his time for his way.”

And finally, she asks you to pray for funds to be provided, and that the team will have a sense of urgency and constant state of preparedness as new requests come in and new connections are made.

For National Adoption Awareness Month, they shared their adoption story.

When the Schnyder’s decided it was time to start a family, they learned that they couldn’t have biological children. But this isn’t where their adoption story began. In fact, for Beth, it started several years earlier.

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

She says, “For me, that was just fine. [God] had placed adoption on my heart at a very young age and I had been open and willing to do that for quite some time.”

But Harold had a few reservations about the adoption. He explains that a lot of it grew out of a misunderstanding about what adoption, particularly open adoption, looked like in reality.

Reservations about adoption

Growing up, he witnessed at least one open adoption in his church. The adoptive parents invited the child’s birth mother to church, and she often joined them.

“It was always rather mysterious to me how that all worked,” Harold says. He wondered if there were any disputes between the parents and birth mother about raising the child.

His concerns seem pretty reasonable and are probably not all that uncommon.

“I didn’t know what to expect for some child that wasn’t mine because … I think we all have possibly an idolatrous view of what we would wish in a child. We would like them, maybe, to look a whole lot like us and I don’t doubt that was rattling around in my head as well.

“And it was the skepticism of my broader family and other people that I knew that surely got into my head as well. They had not been first-party to an adoption before. They had witnessed it from afar.”

Some of these people had strong opinions on the subject and it made Harold a bit hesitant.

But the couple decided to start the process anyway.

Everything changed…

Beth says, “We were both very excited about what God was going to do through this and our first daughter came April 4, 2000. And I would say—and Harold would probably say—definitely yes that once we brought her home, he had no hesitation about adoption at all after that.”

(Picture courtesy Bethany Christian Services)

As with any new child, there were some growing pains. Beth says they had to work through challenges specifically related to the open aspect of the adoption. With their daughter came new relationships with her birth mother, sister, and grandparents. But through these relationships, God opened their eyes to the struggles of other people and grew their compassion. Their child’s biological family became their family, too.

“And since then, we just felt, again and again, God calling us to just try it again,” Beth says.

And it turns out, adoption is contagious. Neither Beth’s nor Harold’s families had a history of adoption. It was unfamiliar territory for them. But now, a spirit of adoption has infiltrated Beth’s family. Both of her sisters and their husbands have now adopted.

“Altogether there are nine on my side of the family that have been adopted,” Beth says.

An unexpected blessing

More recently, the Beth and Harold adopted a baby girl. But unlike the other adoptions, this baby came as a total surprise.

Beth says, “This one, we were not planning on, and we actually hadn’t done any paperwork nor taken any steps. But the Lord knew. And what happened was our son, who’s our fifth child, he was three—had just recently turned three, and his birth mom told us that she was pregnant again and still in a tough situation, still feeling like she couldn’t adequately provide for this child.”

She asked the Schnyders if they would be open to “parenting another munchkin.” At first, they didn’t know how to respond.

“We just took time to pray for a couple of weeks and asked many people to pray for us. We are not young. We are 48. So that was in the back of our minds. And it was just amazing throughout that two-week period the Bible verses that came to mind or that we opened up the Bible and they appeared.”

She references Psalm 127:3 which says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Even the story of Abraham and Sarah having a child at their old age reminded them, they really aren’t that old. They also trusted in the teaching of Philippians 4:13 which proclaims that Christ’s strength makes all things possible in our lives.

So after those two weeks, they knew that the answer was yes.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been easy. We’re very busy but she brings us so much joy as well and we’re just so thankful,” she says.

Adoption through Bethany

The Schnyders were familiar with Bethany Christian Services because their church supported the ministry. They liked that it was a Christian ministry and after six adoptions through Bethany, they’ve never had any reason to look for another agency.

(Logo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

“We believe the help we received was competent and correct. And we also think that the birth parents received good counsel from there.”

Bethany isn’t just focused on the legal aspect of things, but they also counsel the birth parents who are struggling.

Adoption: a picture of salvation

We asked the couple how much their faith interplayed with their decision to adopt, and their understanding of it after.

Not without emotion, Beth says, “Before adopting, we knew that we were adopted, spiritually adopted, that we call God our Father, that we are his children.”

In other words, they knew that adoption was a picture of the Gospel. But after actually adopting their own children, this picture took on much more meaning for them.

Harold says, “We’re not naturally members of his household because we walked away from it and we’re received back in through Jesus’ work and given all the benefits of that household.”

Adoption didn’t just give them a deeper understanding of their relationship with God, it deepened their faith so that they adopted again and again when they felt God calling them to it.

Encouragement to those considering adoption

Have you considered adoption, but feel like you don’t have all your ducks in a row? Maybe you’re not sure that you’ve been uniquely equipped for adoption. Or, you are just scared to take a risk. Making the decision to adopt should never be done lightly. The Schnyders share some advice on how to navigate the uncertainty.

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

Harold says, “You can’t always discern what the end of something is from the beginning. In adoption, it’s well to not think too far ahead, but rather to be willing to take the first obvious step.”

He explains that if you’re waiting until you can see clear to the end of the process, you’ll likely never begin. Part of that is because we are only human and cannot possibly anticipate all the outcomes of a decision. The other part is that God has mysteriously and divinely orchestrated each adoption story.

“Now what holds a lot of people up perhaps is the idea that they have to be utterly sorted out on all the details. And I say that that’s never the way that you ever approach any challenge that’s before you. You always take the first step and you pray ardently about it,” Harold says.

That may mean scheduling your home for an inspection. They suggest you go for it and see what happens. By starting somewhere with prayer, you’ll know soon enough if God is opening or shutting doors. God has done both for Beth and Harold, allowing them to adopt the children they were meant to have, and keeping them from adopting children who are meant for a different family.

Beth says, “Bottom line … God is sovereign, and just take the steps as [Harold] said and God will either continue to open doors or close them.”

Now for the other issue: you’re convinced that you’re an ordinary person, unequipped for the special call to adoption. But maybe that’s the wrong way to look at it. Take it from Harold:

“We’re not superhuman. We collapse into bed at the end of the day. We perhaps wouldn’t have regarded ourselves as gifted specially for this and indeed don’t regard this being able to adopt these children as the ultimate act of service that anyone could do.”

He continues, saying, “We would like it to be well understood that this is an enterprise for average people because we don’t have an average God. We have a superior, supreme God. So I hope that that would be an encouragement to those who think that you need special characteristics to be adoptive parents. I would like to say that that is not the case. If special characteristics are required, they are given to you as meets the occasion and as they are requested from our all-knowing and fantastically rich God who can gift us with anything that is required.”

If you’d like to learn more about adoption, consider speaking to a Bethany Christian Services representative. To get connected, click here.

USA (MNN) — The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of President Trump’s travel ban in October. But until then, a limited version of the travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries has been reinstated.

The courts said refugees from banned countries — Somalia, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Syria — can still come if they have a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity” in the U.S.

Bethany Christian Services works with refugee and immigrant resettlement, and Bethany’s Kristine Van Noord says they hope to still bring over those individuals qualified for resettlement once they figure out what constitutes a “bona fide relationship”.

“What we do know is that immigrants who are coming who have a green card or have a visa and are connected to have a close familial relationship or are connected to an education or employer, then they are able to still come into the United States. So that’s this terminology of a bona fide relationship,” she explains.

“We are waiting for an understanding of the definition of ‘close familial relationship’, what exactly that relationship needs to be, and also of what a bona fide relationship or connection includes. Does that include the refugee resettlement agency that has already assured the case and is preparing for them to come, or does it not?”

(Photo courtesy of SAT-7 USA via Facebook)

One thing is for sure, the discussion is littered with controversy. Van Noord shares, “I think one of the concerns has been, ‘Is it possible to welcome refugees and also ensure national security?’ And we believe that it is possible. The top priority of the refugee resettlement program in the U.S. is security, and there is an extreme vetting process. At the same time, we can also offer a life-saving opportunity to refugees.”

In Bethany’s work, they emphasize the Church’s responsibility towards compassion, even as it’s balanced with wisdom. “All throughout God’ Word, He talks about welcoming the stranger and caring for the orphan and the widow. We believe, as it says in 2 Corinthians, that Christ’s love compels us, and we desperately want to share the love of Christ with these refugees that are coming. And we have local churches and community groups that are ready to welcome the refugees that we plan to welcome in July.”

It’s the cases of those refugees who were slated to arrive in July that Van Noord is worried about. She explains, “Those that we are welcoming in July are truly the most vulnerable, and we’re concerned that they may not be able to come in. They have major medical needs and we’re concerned that they may not be able to wait 120 days to be able to come into the United States.”

Right now, the best case scenario would be if refugees who have already been approved with major medical or safety concerns could apply for an exemption from the travel ban as well.

“We haven’t heard if that’s a possibility or not. When the executive orders first originally came out, they talked that it might be possible, especially for those with major medical or security concerns.”

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

For now? Van Noord says these refugees and immigrants could use the prayers of God’s people.

“Pray for our leaders and for our courts. Pray for the opportunity to be able to continue to be the hands and feet of Christ and welcome refugees. And what we’re really hoping is that our government will be able to come to a place where they feel very strong in the security screening process, but also can continue to offer welcome to refugees as we face the largest refugee crisis we’ve ever seen and give an opportunity for the Church to be able to respond in the midst of this crisis.”

If you’d like to learn more about Bethany’s refugee and immigrant resettlement program, click here! You can also contact Bethany here if your church or small group would like to get involved in welcoming the refugees who make it to the U.S.

“We see so many churches wanting to respond and share the love of Christ with refugees, and we really hope that that’s still possible. America has a beautiful history of welcoming refugees, and we definitely do not want to lose that.”