Blog
By Tim Patterson on June 28, 2018
A farmer flees his land for the safety of a nearby city, driven out by insurgents who are killing his neighbors and trying to recruit one of his sons as a child soldier, living in a tent with his wife and five children, and now about to face a harsh winter. How can they find […]
By Abraham S on June 25, 2018
For months, the Syrian refugee crisis has been in the news. Unfortunately, while attention to this disaster seems to be waning a bit from main-stream culture, the monstrous disaster continues, with little sign of abating soon. If progress is to be made, it is critical to understand the source or and nature of this catastrophe […]
By Pat Melancon on June 21, 2018
Over the past several months, one of the largest refugee crises in history has emerged among the Rohingya peoples from the country of Myanmar. More than 600,000 have fled their homeland to find refuge in Bangladesh. It is a very complicated situation and with no simple answers. Here’s a brief look at the origin of […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on June 18, 2018
Any conversation about refugees, particularly within the borders of the USA, is typically met with legitimate concerns. However, those concerns can easily and unnecessarily conflate into fear, thus distorting the conversation and the reality of refugees and resettlement. As Christians, though, we should be and are called to be a people of faith–not a people […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on June 14, 2018
The magnitude of the refugee crisis can seem daunting and it’s easy to feel powerless against such a colossal situation. However, I’ve always believed that power emanates from knowledge, which is why I’m sharing with you some of my favorite resources for understanding refugees and refugee work around the world. The more I learn, the […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on June 7, 2018
So, as Christ-followers and God-worshippers, why should we be concerned about refugees – those around the world and those even in our back yard here in the USA? Here are a few simple reasons… 1. IT’S THE BIBLICAL THING TO DO Refugees are seen all throughout the Bible although called by different names. Usually they […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on June 4, 2018
It may seem to have slipped from the headlines, but the refugee crisis is not going away. In fact, it’s getting worse. Today, there are over 65 million people worldwide who have been forcibly displaced. In other words, they have been made to leave their homes. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) is […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on May 24, 2018
This series on corruption has focused a lot on issues that arise within or around the target area served. But I’d like to share an example about a problem that arose, causing us to walk away from a lucrative contract with a large donor. In the 1990s, we were working in the Philippines, with a […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on May 21, 2018
Sometimes, you can cross every “t” and dot every “i.” You follow best practices, work with communities to solve a problem, and still run into corruption with no plausible solution. When all is said and done, if the situation can’t be resolved, you can and, at times, should walk away. That may sound a bit […]
By Jeff Palmer, CEO on May 17, 2018
Time and experience have taught me that most instances of corruption at the local or regional government level are most effectively countered by the people living in that region. That scenario played out in South Asia following a major earthquake. We had initially been on the ground meeting lifeline needs such as food, water, medical/health […]