A South Carolina Baptist pastor has been tapped to head the Spartanburg office of World Relief, an organization that will seek to help people fleeing persecution to find refuge in the Upstate.

Jason Lee, who has served as pastor of Oak Grove Baptist Church in Spartanburg for five years, will serve as executive director for the Spartanburg office.

Prior to his time in the Upstate, Lee served as a pastor in rural Georgia, a developer and leader of ministry to Somali refugees in urban Louisville, Ky., and as a missionary among the Samburu people of Kenya.

In a story published March 8 in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Lee said 65 refugees are expected to move to the Spartanburg area this year.

He said it’s unknown what nations the refugees who will resettle in Spartanburg are from. Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Bhutan are possibilities.

The most recent statistics from World Relief, he said, showed half the refugees it assisted were persecuted for their Christian faith.

“Fifty percent of them we would consider our brothers in Christ,” he said.

Lee said he hopes church groups will join volunteers in helping refugees search for jobs and housing and in providing assistance with transportation and enrolling their children in schools.

World Relief is a corporation of the National Association of Evangelicals. Its mission, according to a statement at WorldRelief.org, is “empowering the local church to serve the most vulnerable.” In addition to refugee resettlement, World Relief has ongoing initiatives in child development, HIV/AIDS, agricultural development, microfinance and other areas.