SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — NHCLC/Conela, which serves 40,118 U.S. churches and more than 500,000 churches worldwide, is immediately launching a concerted effort to keep unaccompanied children away from the U.S. border.

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Through an informative and educational campaign, NHCLC/Conela will work with thousands of churches in Latin America to urge congregants not to send their children to cross the border. Additionally, the organization is asking churches worldwide to join in prayer on five important fronts: unaccompanied children, their parents, Latin American government leaders, U.S. government leaders and the overwhelmed law enforcement officers who are in the middle of this crisis and doing their best to enforce current policies.

“This is a humanitarian crisis and we must act now,” said Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, president of NHCLC/Conela. “The Bible gives us clear instructions on how to treat both our neighbors and children, and therefore we must show compassion for them.”

NHCLC/Conela leadership will meet with Latin American church leaders from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on July 10 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“Our global world requires global solutions,” said Ricardo Luna, executive director of NHCLC/CONELA. “Our organization is positioned to serve and encourage real solutions to the heartbreaking situations that children and their families are facing.”

NHCLC/Conela will also launch a comprehensive PSA campaign across Latin America through television and radio advertisements as well as leaflets, print ads and other materials with the goal of reducing the number of unaccompanied children at the border to zero by the end of the year.

“We urge for Congress and our President to continue to work together to seek both short- and long-term solutions for the crisis of unaccompanied children at the border,” said Rodriguez. “Additionally, we encourage all God’s people to commit to pray specifically this Sunday, July 6, 2014, for this dire situation.”

NHCLC/Conela is the largest Hispanic Christian organization serving millions of Evangelicals, 40,118 U.S. churches and more than 500,000 churches across the globe. Seeking to reconcile evangelist Billy Graham’s message of salvation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march of prophetic activism, the NHCLC/Conela emphasizes “7 Directives” of Life, Family, Compassionate Evangelism, Stewardship, Justice, Education and Youth. For additional information, visit http://www.nhclc.org.

SOURCE NHCLC/Conela