Global Fountains

Man’s law is not perfect while God’s law is “holy, righteous, and good” (Rom 7:12). Christians should uphold God’s law when it comes to ethical or moral standards. Christians should be able to address moral and social concerns and ethical positions in the public arena while submitting to the governing authorities set in place by God.

The U.S. government is not perfect in regards to its policies on refugees. However, much good has risen from the work of the American government particularly with its refugee resettlement program. In fact, the U.S. has been the country accepting the highest number of refugees into their home country for resettlement. According to the Global Report of UNHCR from 2007 until 2016, the U.S. helped refugees remarkably for their resettlement as it is shown on the following table and graphs:

America may have the ability to accept more refugees into the country for resettlement. However, I believe that this does not mean that the U.S. is obligated to do so. While the U.S. may have a sense of moral responsibility to admit refugees into the country, they are certainly not bound by law. The government’s resettlement program should be considered as a favor instead of a right. Even if the new administration reduces the number of refugees admitted, the U.S. still admits the highest number of refugees for resettlement in the world. We should thus be more grateful for what the government has been doing thus far and continues to do in terms of refugee resettlement. Though the government has its faults, we should not be so quick as to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Notes:
1.This article originally appeared in the book, People Disrupted: Doing Mission Responsibly among Refugees and Migrants (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library Publishers, 2018). This is slightly edited portion of my little chapter for a blog post.
2. UNHCR's Global Report is found at http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/the-global-report.html.
3. The Global Report 2017 should be available after this summer (August 2018?).
4. The Resettlement countries are different from the Refugee-Hosting Countries.
5. There are far more refugees living outside of the United States.
6. Top 10 Refugee-Hosting Countries in 2016: 1) Turkey, 2) Pakistan, 3) Lebanon, 4) Iran, 5) Uganda, 6) Ethiopia, 7) Jordan, 8) Germany, 9) DR of the Congo, and 10) Kenya
7. The refugee cap (accepting number of refugees) in the U.S. has been decreased dramatically since the current U.S. administration.
8. According to the International Rescue Committee, "the US will resettle only 21,292 refugees in fiscal year 2018. State Department figures show that 53,716 were resettled in fiscal year 2017." Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/26/trump-administration-refugees-resettlement
9. I believe that the U.S. has the ability to admit more refugees and should consider to accept more while we are grateful for the goverment in terms of resettlement program.
10. It's the National Day of Prayer in the U.S.! May God continue to bless America as His people return to the Lord!

Then what? Love your Neighbors, Reach the Nations!

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D. David Lee is the founding president of Global Ministries Inc. and currently serving in Madagascar with his faimly. A graduate from Southwestern Seminary, he served at the World Missions Center from 2008 to 2017. He is husband to Jee Su, and father to Shion, Siyoung, & Siyul.