The Syrian refugee crisis has split the US into two camps. Frances Fuller, award-winning author of 'In Borrowed Houses' spent many years as a Christian publisher in Lebanon during the Lebanon civil war. She believes the position taken by Franklin Graham is wrong.
"Franklin Graham is wrong again," Fuller stated. "According to Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra in Christianity Today, Graham opposes opening the country’s doors to Syrian refugees, saying, ‘We cannot allow Muslim immigrants to come across our borders unchecked while we are fighting this war on terror.’
"Graham is wrong,” Fuller says, “because he is ignoring the facts. Immigrants do not get here without passing through extensive interviewing, screening and security clearances. They don’t even get to choose what country they will go to but must be referred by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Then they must be cleared by six different government agencies including the Dept. of Homeland Security. The process, according to immigration lawyer Scott Hicks, is difficult to get through and 'most people languish in camps for months or years while their story is evaluated and checked'.
"This information is attested to by Matthew Soerens, US director of church mobilization for World Relief, which opposes the decisions of thirty-one US governors to ban Syrian refugees from their states. Soerens, also quoted by Zylstra, says that since the 1970s the US has received three million refugees and ‘No one from that program has attacked anyone.’ Refusing Syrian refugees will, in Soerens’ words, 'punish the victims of ISIS for the sins of ISIS.'
"Franklin Graham is wrong also because his attitude is unchristian. He is responding not to a great humanitarian need but to fear. To put security above compassion is selfish and not the way of Jesus. Graham is dangerous, because he is both influential and wrong."
Fuller spent many years in the Middle East. As the result of her time spent as a missionary, Fuller wrote an award-winning book entitled 'In Borrowed Houses'. Told in short episodes, Fuller’s book reveals the alienation, confusion and courage of civilians in the Lebanese civil war, introducing to the reader a variety of real people with whom the author interacts: editors, salesmen, neighbors, refugees, soldiers, missionaries, lawyers, shepherds, artists, students. With these people she works, studies, plays games, prays, laughs and cries, all to the accompaniment of gunfire. Together these small stories tell what war is like for civilians caught on a battlefield, and they create the impression of the Lebanese as a fun-loving, witty, patient and resilient people. They also compose, not a political history, but a historical document of a time and a place.
Critics have praised ‘In Borrowed Houses.’ A judge in the 22nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards called 'In Borrowed Houses' “…a well written book full of compassion…a captivating story…”. Another reviewer described the book as “Wise, honest, sensitive, funny, heart-wrenching…”. Colin Chapman, lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut said, “….western Christians and Middle Eastern Christians need to read this story…full of remarkable perceptiveness and genuine hope.”
Frances Fuller is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at frances0516@att.net. Fuller's book is available at Amazon and other book retailers. A free ebook sample from 'In Borrowed Houses' is available at http://www.payhip.com/francesfuller. Frances Fuller also blogs on issues relating to the Middle East on her website at http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com.
About Frances Fuller:
Frances Fuller spent thirty years in the violent Middle East and for twenty-four of those years was the director of a Christian publishing program with offices in Lebanon. While leading the development of spiritual books in the Arabic language, she survived long years of civil war and invasions.
Contact:
Frances Fuller
frances0516@att.net
http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com
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