We recently gave a report on Mayflower Church led by Pastor Pan Yongguang, a church made of individuals who fled China in 2019 but faced deportation in their new home in Thailand.
If they were extradited back to China, they would face imprisonment, torture, and possibly death.
The church was seeking asylum in the United States, but the Biden Administration's State Department stonewalled their application, despite allowing tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees and millions of illegal immigrants to enter the country.
The church's options were running out. They had first fled to South Korea, but after exhausting their legal options they ran to Thailand.
The Thai government then placed them under arrest and separated the church members from each other. All appearances suggested they were on their way back to China.
The future of the Mayflower Church looked dark.
Then, in an Easter miracle, all of the red tape cleared around the world.
Humanitarian parole status was granted from the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, various UN agencies, and the Thai government. Next thing you know, the whole church was on a plane – not to China, but to Dallas, Texas.
"It is the most joyful homecoming to welcome the Mayflower Church to Texas," said Dr. Bob Fu, Founder and President of ChinaAid. "None of this would have been possible without the help of partners, members of Congress, and U.S. government staff who worked countless hours in order to bring the Mayflower Church to safety. Now they can live out their faith fully without fear of persecution!"
Is it a coincidence that this church, named after the famous Pilgrim's own ship, mirrored their journey by fleeing persecution in other nations before finally coming to the New World?
Check out the list of worldwide government officials and organizations that helped make this happen, with special note of Senator Ted Cruz working with Representative Nancy Pelosi:
This is a successful example of nonpartisan, international cooperation. We are thankful to all parties including various US government agencies, particularly the State Department's International Religious Freedom Office led by Ambassador Rashad Hussain, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, USCIRF, and a number of congressional offices including Chairman Mike McCaul and Chairman Chris Smith. Other legislators aided in the process including Rep. Nathaniel Moran, Rep. August Pfluger, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Special thanks to Speaker You Si-Kun of Taiwan Legislative YUAN (Parliament), former Congressman Frank Wolf, OHCHR, UNHCR in Thailand and Washington, D.C., and the US Mission to Geneva in the UN. Many others advocated for the Mayflower: USCIRF Commissioners; International Religious Freedom Alliance led by UK MP Fiona Bruce; Lord David Alton; IRF Summit co-chairs Ambassador Sam Brownback and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett; IRF Secretariat leaders; David Trimble of Religious Freedom Institute; and Chairman Sen-hong Yang of Taiwan Association for Human Rights in China. Several organizations visited the church and supported them in numerous ways, like Christian Freedom International, Family Research Council, Alliance Defense Freedom, Religious Freedom Institute, and 21Wilberforce. We also especially thank our coalition partners, namely Deana Brown with Freedom Seekers International. Thank you to the Royal Thai government and many individuals around the globe. ChinaAid is truly honored to be a part of this miracle!
Sometimes things can look very bleak in this day and age, but then you see God move the entire world on the behalf of His people: Just ordinary people like you and me.
It's a good reminder that God is in charge.
