a blog by Keelan Cook
This is a few months old at this point, but I realized I had never made people aware of it through this site. Back in November, the Pew Research Center released a great tool concerning refugees in the United States. The tool is completely interactive and provides both a map animation and a workable table…
Continue reading ➞ Interactive Tool: “Where have refugees settled in the U.S.?”
A few days ago, I stumbled across an article I want to share with you concerning refugees here in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. Of course, the disaster has made thousands of people in Houston into refugees, in a sense. So many people have been displaced from their homes. The last account I heard reported over…
Last year about this time, the BBC created an excellent interactive educational tool to help people experience some of the struggles involved in refugee migration to Europe. If you've not played with, I would suggest doing so. You can find it here: Open this on your mobile device and hold a refugee’s phone. However, yesterday,…
Continue reading ➞ Interactive Tool: Choose your escape route
Had it not been for refugees, the Christian faith would have died in Jerusalem. At least, that is the argument made by Andrew Walls in his classic work, Missionary Movement in Christian History. Walls makes some excellent observations about the unique nature of Christianity, and one of those is its inherent translatability across cultural lines. Unlike…
I think back to a day this past summer. It was during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Those few days were good days for us, but one moment sticks out to me today. The main auditorium was crowded. I was standing to one side, packed in with thousands of fellow Baptist. The proceedings concerned…
It is an interesting time when the Huffington Post beats many churches to principles of Christian hospitality, but that is precisely what has happened in a recent article they published called, "99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner." The premise of this article should be common sense, but for many (and I mean…
Continue reading ➞ Chiming In: 99% of Immigrants Feel More Welcome After a Dinner
There is a free tool for local churches at the bottom. Don't miss it! There is a growing movement concerning local missions in North America, and I saw evidence of it this past weekend. The Reaching the Nations in North America summit was a high-water mark for me, because it demonstrated a swell of concern…
Today is the day for the Reaching the Nations in North America summit in Nashville, The response has been phenomenal, with registration exceeding anything we imagined. And for those of you who wanted to be here but couldn't make it, we have one more opportunity for you to join in! The International Mission Board will…
Continue reading ➞ Reaching the Nations in North America: Free, Live, Online!
When I find helpful resources or articles that speak to the issues of immigration, refugee care, and the local church's responsibility to the Great Commission among these people, I like to share those. Today, I want to draw your attention to a recent interview by Alan Cross on The Reconnect with Carmen LeBerge. Carmen brings the…
Continue reading ➞ Chiming In: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
Recently Lifeway produced a study on current trends in churches concerning the refugee crisis overseas and feelings about refugees here in the US. The results are telling, and I think they point out some significant steps local churches need to take to ensure we are headed in the right direction on this issue. General…
Continue reading ➞ In the News: Refugees, Churches & Fear Spotlighted in Study
