In a letter today to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Religious Broadcasters commended the "powerful message" the Trump administration is making by holding a historic Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom this week in Washington, D.C., pledging: "You will not be alone in this great cause.

Pompeo is convening foreign ministers from around the world, July 24-26, to "focus on concrete outcomes that reaffirm international commitments to promote religious freedom and produce real, positive change," according to the U.S. Department of State.

"I am particularly grateful that you have chosen America's first freedom—religious freedom—to be the focus of your first formal ministerial," wrote Dr. Jerry A. Johnson, president and CEO of NRB. The Ministerial is the first-ever such meeting dedicated to religious freedom.

"Religious liberty is a source of strength and stability for societies, and the focus that President Donald Trump and his administration have placed on this core principle sends a powerful message within our nation and to governments abroad," Johnson said. "Indeed, this emphasis is needed now more than ever as affronts to freedom and human dignity grow more severe in many places around the globe."

Johnson noted NRB members—with a cumulative weekly, worldwide audience of 60 million—"know firsthand the struggles" for religious freedom. NRB's board of directors unanimously adopted a 2016 resolution that encouraged the United States government to advocate for religious freedom and "to be loud and lucid in its condemnation of attacks on Christians and other religious minorities."

In commending the leadership of Pompeo and Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, Johnson pledged NRB is "committed to the amplification of this critical message through our members' ministries. You will not be alone in this great cause."

He concluded, "May the Lord bless your Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom," noting he's praying for "open hearts and consequential conversations" during the meeting. "I firmly believe the Lord has placed you and Ambassador Brownback in your positions for just this time in America's history," Johnson wrote.

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