Explainer: What you should know about the coup in Myanmar

About three dozen people, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in Myanmar on Wednesday when the country’s police and military forces opened fire on peaceful anti-coup protesters. According to The Economist, video footage showed officers firing slingshots at protesters and beating an ambulance crew. The killings mark the worst day of violence since the military launched a coup on February 1. 

The military took control of the country and declared a year-long state of emergency following a general election which Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide. The military, which backed the opposition, claimed election fraud, though the election commission found no evidence to support that accusation. Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest and faces criminal charges for possessing illegal walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions during last year’s election campaign, and publishing information that may “cause fear or alarm."

This Week at the ERLC

• Russell Moore talked to Christianity Today about Bethany Christian Services' decision to place children in LGBT homes. He also joined the SOLA Network to talk about politics and social media and spoke to the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities about faithful leadership. 
   
• Chelsea Patterson Sobolik was quoted in Baptist Press discussing abortion funding being included in the most recent COVID-19 relief bill. 
   
• Josh Wester was interviewed by DeseretNews about religious liberty and the Equality Act. 

What You Need to Read

ERLC Staff with SBC organizations provide aid to storm-struck Texans

Last week, a winter storm struck the American Southwest and Southeast, knocking out power in several states. Hardest hit was Texas, where all 254 counties were under extremely cold temperatures. Soon after the storm hit, a number of SBC organizations rushed to the aid of Texans. Send Relief, the compassion ministry arm of the North American Mission Board (NAMB), partnered with Feeding America, Southern Baptist of Texas Convention (SBTC) Disaster Relief, and Texas Baptist Men to help meet immediate needs for those affected by the storm. 

Barbara Reaoch with Preparing for Easter during a time of hardship

Disruption is hard! What parent can say they are not battling discouragement? Where is God in all of this? Will life ever feel normal again? How can we give our kids hope when we’re struggling ourselves? Consider this. Hardship is God’s fuel to reignite his children’s love for him (Romans 5:1-5). Here are three truths to hold on to as you prepare your family for all God desires.

ERLC Staff with How the ERLC works with SBC churches to prevent sexual abuse

One of the most important initiatives we have worked on in the past two years is the Caring Well Challenge. As we’ve said many times, churches should do everything they can to be a refuge for those who have experienced abuse and to protect the vulnerable among them. Which is why over the last two years, we have come alongside the many Southern Baptist churches who have taken the Caring Well Challenge and why we will continue our efforts to resource and equip churches to care well.

News From Capitol Hill

As news reports grow over the potential surges of unaccompanied minors at the U.S. southern border, the ERLC policy team wants to help equip you to think critically about immigration. 

How do we care for immigrants well and celebrate immigration as important to America while also not creating a magnet for a border crisis? Jeff Pickering and Travis Wussow welcome Laura Collins to the ERLC’s Capitol Conversations podcast to help answer that question.

Laura Collins is an immigration expert and currently serves as director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute. Former President Bush has long been an advocate for immigration reform, noting often that “immigration is a sign of a confident and successful nation.” He has a new book to be released in April of portraits of America’s immigrants.

Collins brings an expertise to this conversation that recognizes, as she wrote in this 2019 op-ed, border challenges are real and urgent, but solutions are more complex. Pickering and Wussow talk with her about the new Bush Center’s new white paper, Smart Border Policy For The 21st Century. While the details are more specific than the policies in the ERLC’s advocacy portfolio, it represents the kind of serious debate America needs to find a better way forward.

Listen to the episode: Laura Collins on immigration and border policy solutions.

A Message from our Partners at Prison Fellowship®

Since launching the first Second Chance ® Month in 2017, Prison Fellowship® has spearheaded the nationwide effort to raise awareness about barriers for people with a criminal record and unlock brighter futures for them.

Prison Fellowship welcomes you and your church to join us this April by helping people live up to their potential after paying their debt to society.

Their free Second Chance Sunday toolkit equips you and your church to help break down barriers and create opportunities for second chances through teaching, study, and prayer.

This carefully cultivated toolkit includes pastors’ notes, a small-group discussion guide, a bulletin, and coloring pages for children—everything your church needs to host a Second Chance Sunday. Get yours here.

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