Faith @ ONE member John Alley urges Christians around the country to pray for those living in famine in East Africa during the Thanksgiving season.
In addition to the Great Commission, the Christian mandate to spread the good news of Christ to every tribe, tongue, and nation, Christians are called to serve those in need. Jesus urged his disciples to do three things: heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons. While a plague raged through the Roman Empire in the third century, it was Christians who stayed behind to minister to the sick while others fled for the hills. These actions, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are part and parcel with Jesus’ commandment to love one another.
Carolyn Worthge and Adeela Tajdar, ONE and the Tony Blair Foundation’s 2011 Faiths Act Fellows, share an opportunity for people of faith to help put an end to the Horn of Africa famine.
Hopefully you’ve heard about the famine in the Horn of Africa by now — at least 30,000 children have died in the past few months. Even today, lives are still being lost, and more people are being displaced. The stories, pictures and statistics continue to show us that we need to take action to help those who are suffering and prevent this from ever happening again.
So many of us in DC are beginning to get a little too used to the grinding partisanship and divides that we often miss good news when it comes through. Yesterday morning, Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and member of President Obama’s White House faith advisory committee, and Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention and former supporter of President George W. Bush, sat down on on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program to talk about the moral issues facing the 2012 election. Joe Scarborough opens up with a joke, expecting Rev. Wallis and Dr. Land to come into the studio wearing boxing gloves, since they disagree about a lot. But when it comes to fighting global poverty, both Wallis and Land agree: We must maintain our commitments to the world’s poorest people.
Kirsten Singleton, a long-time ONE supporter, got the chance to volunteer at the David Crowder* Band show in New York City. Here’s her take:
Photo credit: Mike Dodson
It’s pretty cool when you find out that one of your favorite bands, the David Crowder*Band, supports one of your favorite organizations as they raise awareness about one of today’s most pressing injustices. It’s even cooler when you get to volunteer for that organization at your favorite band’s show.
Tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m., ONE members of faith will have the opportunity to join a special call with USAID Administrator Raj Shah. The event will update our national network of churches, local faith groups and ONE members on the famine in the Horn of Africa and discuss FWD, USAID’s initiative to fight famine, war and drought. Michael Elliott, ONE’s new president and CEO, will also be joining us to give an update on ONE’s overall campaign on agriculture.
This call will also help formally launch our ONE Sabbath Thanksgiving campaign, “Fight the Famine, Feed the Future.” Throughout the entire month of November, faith communities across the country will call on world leaders to help break the cycle of famine. So far, 200 individuals and faith groups are participating — but of course, the more voices, the better. We hope you’ll join our call tomorrow afternoon! RSVP for our event here.
Rich Stearns, World Vision’s president and longtime friend and partner of ONE, has a tremendous piece in the Huffington Post called “Cutting Foreign Aid: Not the America I Love.” In his post, Stearns articulates cornerstone reasons why poverty-focused foreign assistance is not only a proud American value, but an effort that needs to be bolstered in these tough economic times. Separating fact from misconception, Stearns also gives us a peek at how he’d advise the current presidential candidates on efforts to save lives around the world.
Here’s an excerpt of his piece:
“If I were advising the Republican candidates, I would encourage them to clear up some misperceptions about American foreign aid.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
