Accompanying migrants and refugees around the world

For many years our church has sought ways to walk alongside migrants and refugees on their long journeys. At the 2016 Churchwide Assembly the ELCA adopted the AMMPARO strategy to accompany migrants with protection, advocacy, representation and opportunities. The AMMPARO network grew to include partners, from Chile to the United States, that can provide respite and resources for people forced to leave their homes.

Yet the number of people displaced globally continues to grow due to conflict, economic shocks, natural disasters and more — and all these hardships have been compounded by COVID-19. In response AMMPARO is expanding to reach more people on the move around the world. The AMMPARO network now includes partners in countries such as:

• Zimbabwe: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe’s Symbols of Hope program is raising awareness about human trafficking and creating job opportunities at home. About 13,000 program participants are learning skills in masonry, sewing, soap-making and more.
• Serbia: The Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization provides shelter and resources for individuals and families fleeing countries such as Afghanistan and Syria. Ali, a refugee from Syria, says, “I will never forget who helped me to ease the trauma and harsh life of a migrant and dress the wounds inside caused by separation from my family.”

News Around the World

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, along with over 140 other faith leaders, signed a letter by Churches for Middle East Peace that calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

“We, as global Christian leaders, stand with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Palestine and around the world and say the killing must stop, and the violence must be brought to an end,” the letter states. “We ask world leaders to exercise strong moral courage to bring an immediate end to the violence and to open a pathway toward peace and an end to the conflict.”

Mission Personnel

YAGM news: From March 14 to 17 the 2024-2025 Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) cohort, along with YAGM’s country coordinators and alumni team, gathered the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill., for the Discernment Interview and Placement weekend, also known as DIP. During this event the new cohort members discerned their calling to the YAGM program and learned where they were being called. With time spent together in worship, prayer and workshop sessions, the YAGM cohort members were able to discern their call more deeply. In total, 25 young adults will be deployed to six country programs for the 2024-2025 program year.

New Service and Justice executive director: The Rev. Khader El-Yateem is the new executive director of the ELCA churchwide organization’s Service and Justice home area.

“I am deeply moved by this new appointment to be the executive director of the Service and Justice home area,” El-Yateem said. “My deep faith commitment is to help advance the mission of our church in making disciples and loving and serving our neighbor. We as the ELCA are uniquely positioned and called to make a difference in this broken world, both locally and globally.”

Born and raised in Bethlehem, El-Yateem received his Bachelor of Theology from Bethlehem Bible College in 1989 and his Bachelor of Theology and World Religions from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo in 1991. He received his Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Seminary) in 1996. El-Yateem has served as assistant to the bishop and director for evangelical mission for the Florida-Bahamas Synod and as pastor of Salam Arabic Lutheran Church of Brooklyn in New York City, among other positions.

New missionaries: We welcome our new missionaries: Steffen Riley, serving in Kumamoto, Japan, as an ESL teacher with our Japan-3 (J3) program, and Hannah Kurtz, serving in Cambodia as a country coordinator for Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM). We also welcome the Rev. Kristin Engstrom in her new roles as country representative and as YAGM country coordinator in Madagascar. God bless our new global personnel and their ministries!

Get Involved

• ELCA World Hunger turns 50 this year! For 50 years we have joined together as Lutherans to address the root causes of hunger and poverty around the world. Watch our new 50th-anniversary video and share it with your community to generate excitement.
• The new, interactive Global Mission Personnel directory gives you the opportunity learn more about ELCA missionaries. It also allows you to see some of the ways they walk alongside our companions around the world.
• See yourself in the world? We’re hiring! Apply to serve with our global companions as a pastor, seminary professor, English teacher and more! Browse openings at the ELCA job board by visiting the ELCA Global Service Opportunities page. Contact [email protected] with your questions.