Letter To President Trump from Southern Baptists Leaders in Support of Rohingya

President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Christians in Burma are under attack and we must act before it’s too late, before we have hundreds of thousands new refugees!  Knowing your commitment and action to religious freedom and fight against religious persecution we are appealing directly to you Mr. President.  Myanmar must be stopped.

The Burmese military is on the rampage, bombing Christian churches, Christian homes, and raping Christian women in Kachin state.  Christians are the second largest religious group in Burma, with substantial numbers of Baptists and Catholics, and other protestant denominations. The goal of the Burmese military leaders has been clear: slaughter anyone not like them.  What has occurred there is genocide.  Having mostly completed their campaign against the Rohingya, the same forces have turned their guns on Kachin & Karin Christians and other vulnerable minorities. They are targeted for their Christian faith.  We have seen the horrific atrocities against the Rohingya population with gross violations of human rights, now it is against the Christians.  Since 2003 400,000 Kachin Christians have fled Burma and over 160,000 Burmese Christian refugees are now in the U.S. alone.

Accordingly, we request that you reinstate full economic sanctions against Myanmar. Specifically, we ask that the Executive Orders of Sept 14, Sept. 28, and Oct 7, 2016 and the Presidential Determination of December 2, 2016 issued by President Obama be rescinded. These horrendous errors must be corrected.  It was the existence of these sanctions that led to democratic reforms in Myanmar. Once lifted, their absence sent an unmistakable signal to the Burmese military that there would be few consequences for its brutal actions. President Obama’s executive actions were a mistake of historic proportions. Bipartisan leaders in Congress and human rights advocates across the globe agree that these executive actions were a grave miscalculation. 

Governments that behave in this manner cannot be rewarded. They must not receive preferential economic status. It is unconscionable that Bangladesh (which bears the financial and logistical burden of caring for over 700,000 Burmese refugees) does not enjoy the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) while Myanmar enjoys GSP.  No American Administration should ever reward brutal, dictatorial governments that engage in genocide.

We are praying for you, Mr. President. We pray that God may grant you wisdom and discernment, that you may govern wisely, and that your administration will bring relief to the needy and justice to the afflicted.  We wish to thank you and Vice-President Pence for your consideration and plea for action.

We anticipate your swift response.

Sincerely,

Cc: Vice-President Mike Pence
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Speaker Paul Ryan
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

For other signatories, please scroll down.

Signatories

(CONTINUED)

James Robison
Life Outreach International
Fort Worth, Texas

Michael Farris
President, CEO, & General Counsel
Alliance Defending Freedom

Bob Roberts
Senior Pastor
Northwood Church
Glocal.net
Keller, TX

Nic Burleson
Lead Pastor
Timber Ridge Church, Stephenville, TX

Tadd Anderson
Lead Pastor – Mosaic Church
Crestview, Florida 32536

Kevin Cox
Lead Pastor, Vista Church
Crandall, TX

Stan Britton
Lead Pastor, The Church at Buffalo Creek
Rockwall, TX

David Falldine – Pastor
Sunrise City Church
Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548

Kevin Brown
Lead Pastor, The Perfecting Church
Sewell, NJ

Lighthouse Church of Deliverance
Bishop Tony Harley
Lindenwold, NJ

Keystone Church
Pastor Matt Pilla
Sewell, NJ

Ross McMorris
Lead Pastor
Live Oak Church of Comanche, TX

Sicklerville United Methodist
Pastor Steve Shuster
Sicklerville, NJ

Transformation Church
Pastor Anthony Gilmer
Trenton, NJ

West Park Church
Pastor Marc Poland
Philadelphia, PA

Mitch Jolly
Lead Pastor
Trinity River Church, Rome GA

Dr. Ward Hayes
Senior Pastor
Valley Grove Baptist Church
Stephenville, Texas

James Cotten
Pastor, The Heights Church
Marshall, TX

Chris Bradford
Lead Pastor, The Pathway Church
Mount Belvieu, TX

Jeremy White
Lead Pastor, Stonewater Church
Granbury, TX

Brett Levy
Pastor To Families, First Baptist Church
Georgetown, TX

Dave Koenig
Lead Pastor, Newbrook Church
Fort Worth, TX

Ryan Hurt
Pastor, Lingleville Baptist Church
Lingleville, TX

Dante Burress
Founding Pastor, Trinity Worldwide Church
Grand Prairie, TX

JT Riley
Lead Pastor, Providence Village Church
Denton, TX

Jared Johnson
Senior Pastor, The Woodbridge Church
Ranger, TX

Jonathan Attaway
Founding Pastor, Freedom Church
Winnsboro, TX

Matthew Johnson
Lead Pastor, Backroads Church
Hamilton, TX

Damien Williams
Founding Pastor, The Word Church
Dallas, TX

Dale Levan
Fellowship Baptist Church
Senior Pastor
Rome, GA

Rev Steven Bezner, PhD
Houston Northwest Church
Houston, TX

Rev. Curt Plaxco
Pastor
Church of the Nazarene
Stephenville, Tx

Russell Stanphil
Lead Pastor, Hope City Church
Austin, TX

Darrell Vang
Pastor, Unity Point Church
Plano, TX

Jon Herrera
Lead Pastor, Collision Church
Alpine, TX

Jason Crandall
Lead Pastor, CityView Church
Pearland, TX

Clay Smith
Family Pastor, Timber Ridge Church
Stephenville, TX

Matthew Gassett
Discipleship Pastor, Timber Ridge Church
Stephenville, TX

Tanner Sparkman
Pastor of Worship & Production, Timber Ridge Church
Stephenville, TX

Johanna Burleson
Chief Of Staff, Timber Ridge Church
Stephenville, TX

Frank A. Robinson
Pastor, Crosspoint Community Church
Ranger, TX

Terry Robinson
Pastor, Crosspoint Community Church
Ranger, TX

Darrell Phillips
Pastor, First United Methodist Church
Eastland, TX

Jerry Maston
Pastor, River of Life Church
Eastland, TX

Cory S. Blais
Pastor, Second Baptist Church
Ranger, TX

Gerald Gunstanson
Pastor, First United Pentecostal Church
Ranger, TX

Daniel L. Akin
President
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, NC

Nathan A. Finn
Provost and Dean of the University Faculty
North Greenville University
Tigerville, SC

Micah Fries
Chattanooga, TN
Pastor l Brainerd Baptist Church

Keith S. Whitfield, Ph.D.
Dean of Graduate Studies and
Associate Professor of Theology
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, NC

Bruce Ashford
Professor
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, NC

JD Greear
Pastor Summit Church
President Southern Baptist Convention
Raleigh, NC

Travis Wussow
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Greg Surratt
Founding Pastor Seacoast Community Church
President of Association of Related Churches
South Carolina

Phillipe Nassif
Executive Director
In Defense of Christians

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