The weekend of November 23 – 25 was the first ever ONE Sabbath weekend, in the pilot of year of what we hope will become a major expression of the impact of people and communities of faith in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease.

ONE members across the country downloaded materials from our faith resource page ONE.org/faith and organized services and group activities in their houses of worship. A recap of Bluff Road African Methodist Episcopal Church’s ONE Sabbath in Columbia, South Carolina is below.

On Sunday, November 25, I attended services at Bluff Road AME Church in Columbia, the home church of ONE Vote ’08 SC ambassador Leon Love. Pastor Ellis White led a brief presentation about the One Campaign. He shared with his congregation of 100 plus members that during this holiday season we need to be mindful of those in other countries who are suffering from poverty and disease.  After referencing numerous bible verses and praising the One Campaign, he invited me to address the congregation.  I discussed the importance of fighting poverty and how clean water can save thousands of lives.  I stressed the need to elect a President who cares about eradicating poverty, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and pneumonia, and educating all children.  I also thanked Pastor White for representing South Carolina on our national media call to promote One Sabbath activities.

-Bianca Crawford