(RNS) — On Tuesday (Nov. 18), the pastor of an 80-person Latino Pentecostal church got a concerning WhatsApp audio message. The message, allegedly created by an unidentified pastor, circulating among Atlanta-area evangelical faith leaders, claimed massive immigration raids would occur there on Thursday and Friday.
Soon, church members were sending him messages asking what they should do about the potential raids. By that evening at their teaching and prayer service, he had to address the rumor with his congregation.
“Stay calm,” he told them in Spanish, but “take care of yourselves. Don’t go out if you don’t need to go out.”
The pastor, who requested anonymity to protect his congregation, said he’d evaluate the situation on Thursday and make a decision about whether to cancel that day’s service three hours before its scheduled start.
By Thursday afternoon, he decided to go on with his service, having seen a video from Luis Estrada, a Telemundo Atlanta anchor, saying the viral message was unreliable because of lack of evidence. The anchor noted the Trump administration’s pattern of targeting Democratic-led states, which if consistent, would exclude Georgia. But other pastors canceled their services, and Estrada said in the video he received over 100 messages asking about the mysterious audio.
Faith leaders in other parts of the country were also worried thi …