Dear Friends of Max,
Max on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on the day of the "incident." 
 
So many of you have been praying for and following  the story of Max Graham since the New Wineskins Conference in September. We want to share the good news that his U.S. asylum application has been accepted and assigned a case number. He will have  his day in court!

The immigration courts are closed due to Covid-19, but Max is now approved to remain in the U.S. legally until his case is heard. We are overjoyed with this news and grateful to everyone for your faithful prayers, emotional support, and donations of cash and clothing!

We are now asking for your support to help pay  his substantial legal  fees for his 500-page asylum application and help his family. 
We are so grateful to The Wilberforce Center team right here in Greensboro for their tireless efforts to piece together his story of being persecuted in three countries, including our own. It helps when your lead lawyer is an Anglican priest at your church, but despite their discounted rate, the fees are greater than what we have raised so far.

In addition, Max's church and extended family back in The Islamic Republic of Pakistan have been extremely hard hit. Many Christians, despite losing  their jobs, have not been allowed to participate in the government's food distribution unless they deny their faith and convert. They need our urgent assistance! Our goal is $10,000 , half to pay for legal expenses and half for relief aid.

We are able to receive funds designated for Max through New Wineskins. Would you consider making a gift now for these urgent needs? Thank you in advance for your generosity! If you give online, please choose Anglican Persecuted Church Network in the dropdown menu and put This gift is for Max in the note section.


Below I have shared a bit of his story, but please do not share this online or on social media so that we can continue to protect his identity until his case is adjudicated. However, feel free to forward personally to your own contacts who might be interested in supporting Max. Thank you!

Blessings,
Jenny
Jenny Noyes
Executive Director 
Pressure from Extremist Groups Forced 
Max and His Family to Flee to Thailand

In 2013, Max was a pre-med college sophomore in Pakistan when extremist terrorists wrote threatening slogans on their church walls and attacked his family in their homes. The perpetrators had Max's family's names on their target list and threatened to kill them if they didn't convert to Islam. As 4th generation Christian leaders in Pakistan, Max's extended family's lives were all in danger.

Even after relocating to a different part of the city, they realized that if they remained in Pakistan they would be killed. They decided to flee to Thailand, since it was easy to enter that country on a tourist visa, and to seek asylum there as persecuted Christians.
Five Years of Seeking Asylum in Thailand Only Led to False Imprisonment and More Persecution

Max and 13 members of his extended family fled to Bangkok, filing for refugee status with the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, upon their arrival in 2013. Their cases were never approved, even though people of other religions were routined given legal refugee status. After about 18 months, Max and five other members of his family were falsely accused of a noise violation, arrested and imprisoned in a criminal jail in horrific conditions. 

While incarcerated for an entire month, Max began to share is faith with the Buddhist prisoners in  his cell. His heart was broken for the lost, and he realized that his calling is as an evangelist. In the midst of his own dire circumstances, Max dedicated the rest of his life to spreading the Gospel of Jesu s Christ in whatever circumstances the Lord places him!

Max with his 82-yr-old grandfather in prison.
The false charges were finally dropped because the accuser never showed up at any of the hearings. There was never any evidence of wrongdoing. Max, his 82-year-old grandfather, his uncle, two aunts and a cousin were finally exonerated and released from the prison. 
A Pakistani Round-Up Led to Illness in the Immigration Detention Center and Deportation

Determined to be a light and a witness even as an asylum seeker in Bangkok, Max planted a church for Pakistani believers and a school for Pakistani children who weren't allowed to attend school in Thailand. I met Max in 2017 during a mission trip to Bangkok. After hearing his plight, I agreed to mentor him and do what I could to help him and his family find refuge in a third country. 

However, in 2018, Max and some of his family were arrested in their homes and thrown into the Immigration Detention Center (IDC - pictured below). Max was in a 800 sq. ft. room with 100 other men for a month. In unsanitary and inhumane conditions, disease spread rapidly and Max became ill. He and his family members determined they would rather return to Pakistan than face sure death in the IDC. They were deported back to the same city they had fled five years earlier, only to face new threats of human rights violations. 
After resettling back in Pakistan, Max continued his evangelistic work, joining the leadership team of Praise and Prayer Church. At my invitation to be a presenter and a scholarship recipient at the New Wineskins Conference in the fall of 2019, Max miraculously received a visa to travel to the U.S. for a multi-week stay.
An Invitation to Share His Testimony Led to a
Threat on His Life if He Returned to Pakistan 
 
Teaching at a Charleston Elementary School. Their vocabulary word that week  happened to be 'persecute'!
At the New Wineskins Conference and in schools and churches afterwards, Max helped raise awareness about the persecution of Christians. As he shared his story, hearts were touched, and children and adults were moved to action to help our suffering Christian brothers and sisters.
Max, Jenny, Faith McDonnell and Hannah Umhau 
at IRD headquarters in DC.

Then, an invitation came for him to share at an international religious freedom advocacy event in Washington, DC. However, after Max shared his testimony, Max's life was threatened publicly by someone in attendance from an opposite ideology. It was determined that it was unsafe for him to return to Pakistan and we were advised to file for asylum for Max in the U.S.
It has taken six months to get to this point. Max is living with us and has become part of our family here in North Carolina. He now leads his Praise and Prayer Church in a daily Zoom service, and helps raise funds to provide food for his community back in Pakistan during this Covid-19 crisis. He also takes every opportunity to continue to inspire prayer and advocacy on behalf of persecuted Christians globally. If you would like to schedule a time for him to speak to your church, school or group via Zoom, 
Where in the world is Pakistan? Just ask Kelly!

We welcome your partnership to help provide for Max, his case and his ministry as the Lord unfolds the future for him as he awaits the next steps in this asylum process.

Every gift is tax-deductible and you will receive a year-end tax receipt. Thank you for giving now by choosing Anglican Persecuted Church Network in the dropdown menu and putting For Max in the note section, or sending along a check.
Our goal is $10,000!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
P.S. If you need help navigating our online giving page, a partial sample donation is below: