World Relief, one of five Christian charities among the top nine voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) receiving $1 billion a year in payments from the federal government as part of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement program, is leading a political charge calling on American taxpayers to “care sacrificially for the refugee.”
Two top executives at World Relief, Stephan Bauman, President & CEO of and Jenny Yang, Vice President of Advocacy & Policy, were among a dozen members of a drafting coalition of the recently organized “Great Commandment and Great Commission Summit” that issued a statement titled “Christian Declaration on Caring for Refugees: An Evangelical Response” on Thursday.
“We acknowledge that there are genuine security concerns and encourage governments to be stewards of safety, but we also observe that choosing to come to North America as refugees would be among the least effective ways for those who intend to do us harm,” (emphasis added) the statement claimed, in part.
The questionable claim that Muslim refugees from countries such as Syria and Somalia, where jihadism is rampant would find entering the United States as refugees “least effective” is at the core of the political controversy surrounding the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program.
As Breitbart News reported previously:
Of the 100,000 refugees resettled in the United States in 2014 under the Refugee Resettlement program, an estimated 40 percent were Muslims.
In FY 2015, the State Department, through the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, spent more than $1 billion on these programs, which settled international refugees “vetted” by the United Nations High Commission on International Refugees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The federal government spent hundreds of millions of dollars more than that on refugees, however. The Department of Health and Human Services also provided a number of “entitlements” to these refugees.
Much of this $1 billion in annual revenue goes to voluntary agencies (VOLAGs), several of which are Christian non-profits, such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, World Relief Corporation, Church World Service, and Domestic and Foreign Missionary Service of the Episcopal Church of the USA. (also referred to as Episcopal Migration Ministries), who are contracted on behalf of the government to help these refugees get settled in their new homes in America.
Five of the top nine VOLAGs are Christian non-profits. The other four are Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, International Rescue Committee, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and the Ethiopian Community Development Council.
Thursday’s announcement was just the latest in a steady public relations effort launched by “non-profit” agencies whose primary interest is now to keep the federal government gravy train rolling into their bank accounts.
As Breitbart News reported previously, many of the supporters of this political call to action are the same leaders who stepped up to participate in the George Soros backed Evangalical Immigration Table and its efforts in 2013 to support amnesty for illegal aliens through the “Gang of Eight” bill that ultimately failed in the Senate.
You can read the full statement, “Christian Declaration on Caring for Refugees: An Evangelical Response,” here:
Affirmations
Impacting nearly 60 million people, the global refugee emergency is a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented size.Never have so many people been recorded as being displaced, put in danger, and sent on the move. In Syria alone, more than 13 million children and their parents need humanitarian aid. Nearly 4.4 million have been forced to flee to neighboring countries for safety.
Moments like these are when Christians cannot remain silent and still. In light of this crisis, we commit ourselves and our churches to actively care for and minister to global refugees with mercy and compassion, both here and abroad, based on God’s compelling concern for all people in need and especially refugees.
In light of these concerns, we affirm the following:
Refugees possess the image of God and, as such, are infinitely valuable to God and to us.
We are commanded to love our neighbor, and it is our privilege to love refugees.
As Christians, we must care sacrificially for the refugee, the foreigner, and the stranger.
We will motivate and prepare our churches and movements to care for refugees.
We will not be motivated by fear but by love for God and others.
Christians are called to grace-filled and humble speech about this issue.
In light of these Christian principles, we cannot allow voices of fear to dominate.
Instead, we commit to actions of love and compassion for refugees who have been admitted into our nation(s) in refugee status.
We acknowledge that there are genuine security concerns and encourage governments to be stewards of safety, but we also observe that choosing to come to North America as refugees would be among the least effective ways for those who intend to do us harm.
So, as governments oversee matters of security, we will care for the hurting, calling Christians to embrace refugees through their denomination, congregation or other non-profits by providing for immediate and long-term needs, such as housing, food, clothing, employment, English language classes, and schooling for children.
We distinguish that the refugees fleeing this violence are not our enemies; they are victims. We call for Christians to support ministries showing the love of Jesus to the most vulnerable, those in desperate need, and the hurting. This is what Jesus did; He came to the hurting and brought peace to those in despair.
Critical moments like these are opportunities for us to be like Jesus, showing and sharing His love to the hurting and the vulnerable in the midst of this global crisis. Thus we declare that we care, we are responding because our allegiance is to Jesus, and we seek to be more like Him, emulating His compassionate care for the most vulnerable.
The Great Commandment and Great Commission (GC2) Summit appears to have been hastily organized, a response, perhaps, to GOP Presidential front runner Donald Trump’s call for a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration to the United States on national security grounds in light of the recent Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.
“The Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College (BGCE) and the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College (HDI) have announced a partnership with LifeWay Research for a GC2 Summit, leading the conversation on engaging refugee communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” according to the Great Commandment and Great Commission Summit website.
The first part of the summit was held on Thursday and was, in effect, an “invitation only” planning session for the “evangelical leaders” politically supporting the continuation of the controversial U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program.
The second part of the session will be held on January 20, and is designed to transform local Churches into political activists promoting the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program:
The GC2 Summit will feature a number of key speakers and collaborators from the Evangelical community and who specialize in ministry to refugees. The GC2 Summit will occur in two parts, with the first gathering occurring on Thursday, December 17, 2015 and the second gathering occurring on Wednesday, January 20, 2016. Both events are open to the public and will take place on the campus of Wheaton College.
GC2 is a moniker that reflects an Evangelical commitment to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The intent of the gatherings is to reflect on and develop behaviors in light of both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
The gathering on December 17, 2015, is an invite-only meeting, comprised of denominational, network and non-profit leadership who are committed to leading organizations who deal with refugees. The event will feature speakers and presentations and culminate in the presentation of a document outlining agreed upon biblical standards and principles that should guide an Evangelical Christian understanding of how to engage the refugee community.
The gathering on January 20, 2016, will focus on equipping Christians and churches to connect with and serve refugees and refugee communities both domestically and internationally. This event will feature top speakers in the field who use biblical principles to help Christians and churches better understand their responsibility to show and share the love of Jesus Christ to refugees and their communities.
The other members of the drafting coalition included Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of LifeWay Research, Rich Stearns, President of World Vision, Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church, Frank Page, CEO of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, Alton Garrison, Assistant General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Jamie Aten, Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, Sue Elworth, Vice President of Development, Marketing & Communications of the Willow Creek Association, Paul Ericksen, Interim Executive Director of The Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, Amanda Bowman, Director of Church Mobilization of World Vision,Micah Fries, Vice President of LifeWay Research.
As these non-profits groups continue to mobilize Christians to support the continued federal funding of the financial programs from which they benefit immensely, the issue is likely to become an even greater lightning rod in the 2016 Presidential campaign.
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