ABHMS urges support for Syrian refugees, recommends resource
VALLEY FORGE, PA (11/24/15)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) urges American Baptist individuals and congregations to take action and speak out on behalf of Syrian refugees, recommending Church World Service’s (CWS) online “How Can We Help?” resource as a starting point.
The resource includes prayers, a bulletin insert with instructions for calling Congress, and ideas for collecting home goods to be donated to incoming families.
“American Baptists and our mission partners have both historic and recent experiences of extending welcome and hospitality to persons fleeing danger, seeking refuge and resettling on America’s shores,” says ABHMS Executive Director Dr. Jeffrey Haggray. “Our faith dictates what our works should be. The welcome we extend to the most vulnerable and to those considered to be the least reflects the welcome we extend to Christ.
“During this season of Thanksgiving and Advent in the life of the Christian family, we are thankful for these worship and mission resources from our partners at Church World Service so we may actively become the hands, feet and loving voice of Jesus, welcoming all who seek refuge from danger, exploitation, oppression and wars. Presently, our attention is drawn to those refuges from Syria. Let us continue to pray that we will be enabled to see the image of God in the faces of all God’s children seeking peace, safety and sanctuary among us.”
American Baptist Churches USA is a founding member of CWS, an organization committed to immigrants, refugees and other forcibly displaced persons since its founding in 1946. CWS includes a network of 36 denominations and communions, plus 34 refugee resettlement affiliates.
For more information, visit CWS at http://www.cwsglobal.org/.
American Baptist Home Mission Societies—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.
