JOIN THE AMMPARO MOVEMENT

Last year, the Churchwide Assembly overwhelmingly adopted the AMMPARO strategy,  Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunity. This holistic, whole church response to accompany migrant children and families from Central America has birthed a movement in the ELCA and you are invited to join us! How?

ACCOMPANIMENT: One hundred eighty-five thousand families, 185,957 to be exact, have entered the United States on our southern border in the last 3 years alone. There are another 168,203 unaccompanied children that entered during this same period. Your congregation can accompany thee families and children as a Welcoming Congregation which makes a public commitment to provide pastoral and physical accompaniment of children and families through the difficult transition into life in the US. Since the assembly, the first Welcoming Congregations have been established in six synods for a total of 35 Welcoming Congregations from California to Texas to Wisconsin and Illinois.

ADVOCATE: Now more than ever, our voices as people of faith are urgently needed to protect the human rights of children and families as they reach our border. Go to ELCA Advocacy for the most recent action alerts.

LEARN about the all important work that our companions are doing in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to address the root causes of migration by providing vocational training and psychological assistance to youth deported Mexico and the US. A short video of Suyapa Ucles, Program Director, CASM, Honduras is on the AMMPARO webpage under videos.

PRAY for migrant children and families and for guidance for the ELCA in all its expressions to be faithful to God’s call.

GIVE to AMMPARO to support work by companions in Central America and partners in the US through the ELCA.

For more information about AMMPARO, visit our website or contact Mary Campbell, Program Director at mary.campbell@elca.org

Follow AMMPARO on Facebook

Late Sunday afternoon, an evacuation order went out in Oroville and other towns in Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties of California. The evacuation, having forced over 100,000 people from their homes, was ordered when a hole was discovered in the emergency spillway of the Oroville Dam.

Carol Roberts, CEO of LSS of Northern California, a resident of the Oroville community, told us that the level of the lake was dropping, relieving pressure on the spillway but there was still a possibility of “catastrophic failure.”  According to the LA Times, this failure could send a 30-foot wall of water down the hillside into Feather River.

Workers begun repairing the erosion at the spillway and are working to stay ahead of a forecasted storm system approaching the area.

Two nearby, Lutheran congregations – Faith Lutheran Church of Chico, CA and First Lutheran Church of Orland, CA –offered to provide shelter and food support for evacuees. “As the winter storms fill Lake Oroville and so many of our community are forced to flee their homes, we find our hope in Christ who calms the waters, Pastor Ben of Faith Lutheran said in a message to his congregants. “And we remember, that we as the church are called to be Christ’s body and to participate in providing that peace in the midst of fear.”

As of this afternoon, the evacuation order has been reduced to an evacuation warning. This allows people to return to their homes but they are encouraged to remain vigilant. Lutheran Disaster Response will continue to monitor the situation and hold the community in our prayers.

Be a part of the response:

Pray

Continue to pray for displaced persons in the U.S. and around the world, may God’s healing presence comfort them in their time of need.

Give

Thanks to generous, undesignated donations, we are able to respond quickly to these kinds of crises. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used where there is the greatest need.

Connect

To learn more about global migration and what Lutheran Disaster Response is doing:

• Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook.
• Follow us on Twitter.
• Visit our website at LDR.org
• Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.

In a host community in Jordan, a delegation of Global Mission staff met Jasmine,* a widowed woman from Syria. She, like many others, fled to Jordan for safety with her sisters and her two young children. She had been offered the opportunity to be resettled in the U.S. “I denied the offer,” she told us through an interpreter. “I thought I’d be back home [in Syria] by now.” As time passed, and the conflict continued, she realized that she may not be going home anytime soon and that she wishes she had taken the offer.

Late January, President Trump signed a series of executive orders that would hinder/halt immigration and migration to the United States. The order that garnered the most media attention essentially banned all refugees from anywhere in the world for a period of 120 days and included a ban for anyone from 7 countries where the primary religion is Islam – Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Sudan.

With the signing of the Executive order, refugees, like Jasmine, are feeling less hopeful for new opportunities. Rachel Luce, Country Director for Lutheran World Federation-Jordan – Our partner for work in the camp and host communities in Jordan – told us that there has been a “palpable sadness” in the region. “They [Syrian Refugees] already felt like no one cared about them,” she said. “But this blatant law against them has made them feel unwanted and further depressed.”

The ELCA responded to the Executive Order through blog posts, action alerts, social media, video, and a statement from Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, taking a firm stand in opposition of the string of Orders that would stop or greatly reduce the efforts of asylum-seekers, refugees, etc. In her statement, Bishop Eaton said, “I agree with the importance of keeping our country secure as the administration stated in its executive order last Friday, but I am convinced that temporarily banning vulnerable refugees will not enhance our safety nor does it reflect our values as Christians.”

Matthew 25 says, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” The ELCA is committed to continued work with the most vulnerable.

Domestically, through congregations, partners such as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Church World Services, along with several Lutheran social ministry organizations, the ELCA is committed to refugee resettlement in the United States.

Internationally, the ELCA continues to support internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants and refugees through the accompaniment of companion churches and partner organizations in Europe and the Middle East, and migrant children and families from Central America and Mexico through the AMMPARO strategy that was approved through Churchwide Assembly last summer.

We have a long road ahead but Lutheran Disaster Response remains committed to bringing God’s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. We ask that you continue to walk with us as we continue to stand with displaced persons and work through the long-term effects of the Executive Actions. We also ask that you keep watch for advocacy, giving, and volunteer opportunities as they come and keep all of those working with and for refugees in both the domestic and global contexts in your prayers.

*Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the person quoted.

Be a part of the response:

Pray

Please pray for all those affected by the refugee crisis. Remember those who have lost everything and all those who are working to respond. You can use these prayers and resources in your worship services.

Give

Your gifts are needed now to help with immediate relief. Gifts designated for the Middle East and Europe Refugee Crisis and AMMPARO will be used in full (100 percent) to assist those directly impacted and have fled for safety.

Connect

To learn more about global migration and what Lutheran Disaster Response is doing:

• Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook.
• Follow us on Twitter.
• Visit our website at LDR.org
• Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.

For More Information

• Visit the ELCA Advocacy website at elca.org/advocacy
• Like ELCA Advocacy on Facebook.
• Visit the AMMPARO website at elca.org/ammparo
• Like AMMPARO on Facebook.