International Christian Response is pleased to announce Hans Erchinger as the ministry’s new Executive Director.

Hans brings a lifelong passion for the persecuted Church, extensive nonprofit leadership experience, and a deep dependence upon Christ into this new role. Raised in a Christian home in Bellingham, Washington, Hans’ heart for persecuted believers was shaped early through a trip into Communist Romania, where his family helped deliver Bibles and Christian literature to believers behind the Iron Curtain.

For the past several years, Hans has served as President & CEO of Lighthouse Mission Ministries, leading significant ministry expansion while helping strengthen outreach programs serving vulnerable people throughout Whatcom County.

As ICR enters this new season, the ministry remains committed to serving persecuted believers around the world through prayer, advocacy, practical support, and Gospel-centered partnership.

Please join us in praying for Hans, his wife Janel, their children, and the entire ICR team during this transition.

A letter from Hans

Dear Friends, Supporters, and Staff,

I thank God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – for His faithfulness to International Christian Response thus far. This ministry has never been merely a human endeavor. ICR was raised up by the Spirit of God, sustained by His hand, and entrusted with His mission.

When Moses died and Joshua stood before an uncertain future, God told him, “Be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). As I step into this new season with ICR, I do so with deep gratitude for the remarkable foundation that has already been laid. Praise God for His faithfulness! What God has accomplished through this ministry is extraordinary.

I believe faithful leadership begins by listening well – understanding the history of a ministry, honoring those who have gone before, and discerning where God is leading in the present moment. It means listening carefully to persecuted believers on the front lines, to trusted partners, to staff, supporters, and to the voice of the Holy Spirit in prayer and through the Word. Courageous leadership gets on its knees before it makes plans. It seeks God’s wisdom, walks humbly, and follows wherever Christ leads.

I also believe leadership means building clarity, empowering teams, and calling the Church forward in faithfulness and courage. But above all, leadership must flow from a personal walk with Jesus. As Christ told His disciples in another moment of transition, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Only by anchoring our identity in Him will we truly bear lasting fruit. I genuinely believe the best days of ICR’s ministry are still ahead.

In this season, I ask for your prayers. Pray that as I learn all that is ICR, my heart would remain guarded and grounded in God’s Word. Pray for wisdom and perspective – that I would clearly understand what has come before, discern where we stand today, and faithfully seek God’s direction for the future. Pray for courage to lead with conviction, humility, and clarity, and for discernment to choose what is most excellent among many good opportunities.

Please also pray for my character, that the responsibilities entrusted to me would never outpace my dependence upon Christ. Pray for protection and joy for my family, for my wife Janel and our children, Cora and Apollo. Pray that our home would be a place of peace and encouragement, and that together we would experience this season as a joyful calling from the Lord.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20–21

Your servant in Christ,
Hans