How Gang Brutality and US Immigration Policies Threaten El Salvador’s Christians

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Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2018

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

In 2001, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck El Salvador, killing nearly 1,000 people. In the wake of the humanitarian disaster triggered by the natural disaster, the United States welcomed nearly 200,000 Salvadorans to live and work legally. (Undocumented Salvadorans already in America could also apply for status.) For more than 15 years, this population has existed under temporary protected status. This week, the Trump administration announced that this program will end in fall 2019. “We’re in 2018, 17 years on, and the country has in fact largely recovered from the earthquakes. The Trump administration at least on that point is absolutely correct,” said Stephen Offutt, an associate professor of development studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. “What’s not been taken into account is the fact that El Salvador is still a dangerous place.” While Salvadorian churches at times offer the only options for gang members hoping to leave that life behind, “that’s not the whole story,” said Offutt. Instead, as CT reported last year, pastors and other religious leaders have been kidnapped or extorted by the gangs. “One of the reasons I respect pastors in these communities so much is because they stay there,” he said. Offutt joined associate digital media producer Morgan Lee and guest host, managing editor Andy Olsen, to discuss how US immigration policies may defund Salvadorean churches, the intensity of the violence in the country, and how pastors instruct their congregations to interact with gangs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.0	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticsky.com.
0:30.2	Music Michael Del Rosario at Apologeticsguy.com. You're listening to Quick to Listen.
0:32.3	Each week we go beyond hashtags and hot takes to discuss a major cultural event.
0:37.2	I'm Morgan Lee. I'm an associate digital media
0:39.7	producer here at Christianity today. And today I am joined by Andy Olson, who is our managing
0:45.0	editor. Hi, Morgan. Hey, how are you, Andy? I'm well. How are you? It's great. Yeah. I can't tell
0:51.1	if you're more or less excited than Mark usually is to be on the show.
0:54.5	Well, Mark has big shoes to fill, so I'm doing my best to imitate him today.
0:59.2	All right. I don't think you need to imitate him. Just be yourself.
1:01.9	Fantastic.
1:02.5	People might even be happy to have a break from Mark, we'll ask.
1:05.7	All right, who's joining us today?
1:07.1	Today we're joined by a professor and a friend Steve Offutt. Steve is an associate professor
1:11.7	of development studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. His research has focused on,
1:17.3	among many other things, global Christianity and poverty. And recently, he's retained a focus on
1:22.4	Latin America, partly because beyond his research, he worked for a number of years in development and missions
1:28.7	in Latin America and in South Africa. His work has touched on a broad range of topics from
1:33.8	human rights to remittances, which is money that folks here send back to their countries of
1:40.0	origin abroad. So he's a graduate of Wheaton College and Johns Hopkins University and Boston
1:45.5	University. He's covered the country geographically. And we're delighted to have him here to talk with us
	...

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