Immigrant Protection, Ukraine Relief, & Annie Armstrong

The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity is exhorting Congress to act quickly to guard undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children from deportation.

Chelsea Sobolik, director of public policy for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), told the online audience the need for a legislative solution for Dreamers, the name given to children brought across the border illegally, is acute because a federal judge struck down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last year. The Biden administration has appealed the ruling.

The ERLC and Evangelical Immigration Table “have long called on Congress to provide a permanent solution for Dreamers because we believe that this is a justice issue, that the Bible is clear that we do not hold children responsible for the actions of their parents,” Sobolik said. “Our vulnerable neighbors are not adequately protected.

She said, “It’s important for us to remember that Dreamers are not an abstraction. They are people who are created in God’s image. [T]heir entire lives and livelihoods are at stake right now.”

Andrew Moroz, teaching and vision pastor at Gospel Community Church in Lynchburg, Va., said he is communicating with his loved ones in Ukraine every day as well as assisting his church with Ukraine-related relief efforts.

Although Moroz permanently moved with his immediate family to the United States in 1999, much of his extended family and friends still lived in the country before the invasion began. Gospel Community Church is supporting its pastor and Ukrainians during this time of crisis both “spiritually and tangibly.”

The church has set aside specific times during services to pray for the crisis in Ukraine, raised financial support for Christian ministries in Ukraine and even sent a missions team from the congregation to Poland to minister to fleeing refugees.

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When Annie Armstrong heard of the plight of destitute ministers on the U-S frontier she saw a missions opportunity. She organized an effort to send relief through frontier boxes and helped to build chapels on the frontier.

Ever the encourager, in 1900 Armstrong made a 4,000 mile, a 40-day trip to Oklahoma – via train, carriage and horseback – with the hope of doing unifying work in the territory.

You can read the full story of Annie Armstrong at Baptist Press.com.

Find more stories at BaptistPress.com.