Federal travel ban affects Church of God operations abroad and at home in Anderson

Jim Lyon, general director of Church of God Ministries, said what has been called a temporary ban to prevent terrorism has affected refugee operations abroad and at home.

“I would hope that a solution would be found to provide clarity and stability and at the same time make the United States a welcoming place for people who flee for their lives,” he said Monday.

The Church of God Ministries, which has its world headquarters in Anderson, is one of several institutions and organizations where operations may be affected by the temporary ban.

Though Anderson University does attract many international students, spokesman Chris Williams said the school currently does not have students from any of the affected countries. They include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

In the meantime, the Church of God has people on the ground in Iraq and Lebanon and is working with Syria refugees in Germany, where some churches have burst at the seams as Muslims convert to the religion of those who assist them, Lyon said.

“Lebanon, of course, is really Refugee Central,” he said. “I think it’s very possible that some of the people we’re working with on the ground in the Lebanese arc of the Mediterranean may have been detoured.”

For many working in the field with particular families over a two- or three-year period, seeing a door close likely is stressful and emotional, Lyon said.

“If you’re engaged in that kind of ministry, you have to be used to the unpredictable and be nimble,” he said. “We’re trying to help out people in the field to hold steady and not let their emotions overwhelm them in this turn of events that was not foreseen last week.”

On the other hand, some churches have prepared to receive a family and may feel something that can be likened to the disappointment of a family waiting to adopt who has been informed of a delay, Lyon said.

“Their plans are on hold until this situation finds a close or other resolution on the ban,” he said.

However, Lyon said this is not the first time he and Church of God congregations have faced these types of measures. Lyon recalled how while growing up in Seattle, where many Vietnamese refugees were sent during the 1970s conflict in southeast Asia, similar fears of Communist infiltration and terrorism were expressed by some.

“The stream of engagement did not start with this particular crisis,” he said. “The fears in those days there were plants – they were called the ‘boat people’ – and the fear was who might infiltrate.”

Those fears, Lyon pointed out, never materialized.

“The principles, you might say, are similar because of the fear of the unknown,” he said. “It sounds crazy looking back on it, but that was the tenor of the time. Fear and uncertainty can breed a lot of clouded judgments.”