Family Life Inside Out: Current hurdles for Christian ministries which resettle legal refugees - 2/19/25

Current hurdles for Christian ministries which resettle legal refugees

The Inside Out podcast with Martha Manikas-Foster 

Government funding for refugee resettlement in the US has stopped for at least 90 days. This leaves America’s often faith-based resettlement agencies like World Relief scrambling to make up for the money the government contributes as a partner in the resettlement process.

Why would refugee agencies have expenses during President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause in resettlement? The federal government and resettlement agencies work together over 90 days to acclimate new arrivals, and many refugees were still in that window when the funds were frozen. During those three months the agencies find housing and job opportunities for the new arrivals, and connect them with medical, educational, and community resources.

The agencies are on their own to support this work during the funding freeze.

Today on this Inside Out podcast Martha's guest is author and speaker Matthew Soerens. He talks about what makes a refugee different from some other immigrants (our government vets them before they set foot on American soil), and Jesus’ call on His Church to minister to the vulnerable (“whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ Matthew 25:40).

Soerens is the Vice President of Advocacy & Policy for the Christian humanitarian organization World Relief, an arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the nation’s refugee resettlement agencies. Soerens is also National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table. He is co-author of the books “Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis,” “Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate,” and “Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church.”

Connect with World Relief at www.WorldRelief.org

Browse through books by Matthew Soerens from your local library or bookseller.

A special news feature from Family Life focusing on how God changes us from the inside, out.