An Unprecedented Global Crisis, a Diminished US Response, a Polarized American Church
Dear friends,
A decade ago, two colleagues and I released a book, Seeking Refuge, aiming to raise the alarm that the world was facing an unprecedented global crisis – 60 million people forcibly displaced from their homes by persecution, conflict and war – and inviting the Church to lead boldly in response.
In just ten years, the number of people forcibly displaced has roughly doubled, to about 120 million. Nearly 40 million of those meet the international legal definition of a refugee: individuals who have crossed an international border fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution for specific reasons like their faith, their race or their political opinion.
But rather than increasing its response in light of this growing crisis, the U.S. has largely stepped back from its traditional role of global leadership with respect to refugee resettlement. From 2007 through 2016, about 650,000 refugees were resettled to the United States. From 2017 to the present, only about 350,000 have been resettled, roughly a 45% decline.
For years, the U.S. resettled more refugees than any other country, including many persecuted for their faith. But that is not likely to be true this year. In fact, this fiscal year, the United States is on track to resettle just 3 refugees who meet the traditional, international legal definition of a refugee – people identified outside of their country who have a well-founded fear of persecution. All others have been excluded.
American evangelical churches have long been on the forefront of welcoming refugees and helping them integrate into local communities, and polling suggests that most American evangelicals remain very supportive: 70% of evangelical Christians overall and 78% of evangelical pastors believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees, according to recent surveys from Lifeway Research.
But the response of evangelical churches to this retreat in U.S. leadership has been decidedly mixed. Some have boldly advocated, to be sure – but others have remained silent, perhaps paralyzed by the polarized political divisions plaguing our country and even some of our congregations. According to Lifeway Research’s recent study, most evangelical pastors have never addressed refugees, forced migration or immigration in a sermon or teaching, and while about one-quarter of evangelical pastors say their church is actively involved in ministering to refugees or other immigrants, most are not.
I recognize just how hard it is to address this topic: no pastor is looking for a new divisive issue to engage that will divide a congregation.
But I also believe with all my heart that this global crisis desperately needs bold, biblically guided leadership from the global church, including American evangelical Christians. The ramifications for the Great Commandment (to love our neighbors as ourselves, see Luke 10:27) and the Great Commission (to make disciples of all nations, see Matthew 28:19) are simply too great for us to stay on the sidelines. And my experience has been that evangelical Christians are eager to respond if the topic is explained to them in a biblically rooted way that centers the experience of refugees and addresses common concerns, fears and misconceptions.
That’s precisely what why my friends Stephan Bauman and Issam Smeir and I have sought to do in a new, thoroughly updated edition of Seeking Refuge: The Human Face of the Global Refugee Crisis, from Moody Publishers. It will be out next week, and I’d be grateful if you’d consider pre-ordering it (from your local bookstore or an online bookseller like Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ChristianBook.com or wherever you prefer to buy books).
Lastly, as always in this monthly email, we’d ask for your prayers:
- For 120 million people around our world who have been forcibly displaced from their homes, that God would meet them in their distress and offer them comfort, hope and healing
- That God would work through His church – in the United States and around the world – to respond to this crisis with the love of Christ, drawing many to Him
- That governmental leaders would respond wisely and compassionately to this global refugee crisis
- For this new edition of Seeking Refuge, that it would be a tool to catalyze a bold, distinctly Christ-like response to this global crisis.
In Christ,
Matthew Soerens
National Coordinator, Evangelical Immigration Table
P.S. Another way to stand with refugees and other immigrants is through advocacy, and World Relief has an opportunity to meet virtually with your congressional leaders or their staff during the week of June 22-26. If you’re interested, please sign up here by May 29.
