Christian humanitarian group ‘did not serve as sponsor’ but doesn’t rule out providing ‘services’
The Evangelical aid charity World Relief says it “cannot confirm” if it assisted in the resettlement of an Afghan national to the U.S. who later shot two National Guard members, killing one.
A spokesperson for the Christian humanitarian organization, which partners with both local churches and the U.S. government under its official title, World Relief Corporation of the National Association of Evangelicals, said it was “shocked and devastated” by the shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard in Washington, D.C., last week.
The shooter, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in 2021, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under “Operation Allies Welcome,” which allowed him to live and work in the U.S. for two years while he applied for permanent status.
Following the U.S military withdrawal from Afghanistan, former President Joe Biden and his administration faced heavy criticism for their handling of the chaotic situation, which resulted in the Taliban taking control of the country about two decades after U.S.-led forces toppled their regime.
“We cannot confirm whether or not we have served any specific client without permission from our federal government partners who administered the process for bringing Afghans to the United States beginning in 2021,” the World Relief spokesperson said.
“Notably, World Relief did not serve as a sponsor for any of these cases — individuals were selected and transported by the U.S. government, and we provided services to those assigned to us by our governmental partners. We are eager to support law enforcement in any way possible.”
Lakanwal’s family received resettlement help from World Relief after they arrived in Bellingham, Washington, in January 2022, The New York Times reported Monday. Shawn VanDiver, the founder of AfghanEvac, told the newspaper that he received work authorization and was expected to apply for a more permanent immigration status.
On Tuesday, World Relief CEO Myal Greene condemned the shooting of the National Guard members and called on churches to resist “the temptation to vilify neighbors who may look like someone who has acted out evil.”
“The perpetrator in this case should face due justice under the law, but we should recognize these evil actions as those of one person, not judge tens of thousands of others who have nothing to do with this offense,” he said in a statement.
“When fear dictates policy, compassion disappears. We must model love for neighbors and work for an immigration policy that both protects national security and extends compassionate welcome to our foreign-born neighbors as our Scriptures repeatedly teach us to do.”
A supporter of the U.S. Refugee Reception and Placement program, which previously offered refugees assistance for housing, health care and enrolling children in school for at least 90 days after entering the U.S., World Relief condemned a decision by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to halt the processing of permanent resident status for all refugees who were resettled between the years of 2021 and 2025.
Under the revised USCIS guidelines, nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen will no longer be approved for admission into the U.S.
Greene said the organization was “deeply grieved” by the USCIS decision and warned the move could leave the status of an estimated 200,000 people in limbo.
“Refugees admitted under the U.S. refugee resettlement program have undergone some of the most rigorous vetting of any immigrant lawfully admitted into the United States, yet this sweeping re-interview initiative is nothing less than a calculated effort to strip lawful status from thoroughly-vetted, law-abiding people,” Greene asserted.
“It is a moral and ethical betrayal of due process at a time when the Trump administration is attempting to lower the standard for refugee admissions to include Afrikaners and others who do not meet the legal standard of a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ that past refugees have been required to meet,” he claimed.
In an October op-ed for CP, Greene defended the refugee resettlement program, calling it “a legal form of immigration established by Congress decades ago that is specifically for individuals who can prove they have fled a well-founded fear of persecution for specific reasons, including religious beliefs.”
In 2024, the U.S. welcomed approximately 30,000 Christian refugees from 50 countries where Christians face severe persecution, but Greene says “almost zero persecuted Christians have been resettled” since President Donald Trump temporarily suspended the refugee program in January.
In May, Greene and more than a dozen Christian leaders shared a public letter calling on the Trump administration to continue “ensuring that Afghan Christians, among the most vulnerable religious minorities in the world, are not returned to danger.”
The letter featured signatories including former Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood, Open Doors US CEO Ryan Brown, Family Research Council Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Travis Weber and Focus on the Family Vice President of Government and External Relations Tim Goeglein.
World Relief, one of nine organizations that receives grants from the State Department to resettle refugees, also condemned the Trump administration’s decision in February to cut around 10,000 United States Agency for International Development and State Department (USAID) grants and contracts.
While approximately 500 USAID awards and around 2,700 State Department awards were reportedly left in place, officials projected the 92% cut to foreign assistance-related grants would save taxpayers approximately $60 billion.
