Rich Stearns in Africa. Photo credit: World Vision.

Rich Stearns, president of World Vision and ONE partner, had a tremendous op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this week on the necessary role of US-funded foreign assistance to transform lives. Emphasizing the impact of programs like PEPFAR, the US Malaria Initiative and Feed the Future, Stearns makes the case that the 1 percent of the federal budget devoted to foreign aid and development cannot afford to be cut further – despite these tough economic times.

Each of us has a role to play in helping our world’s most vulnerable sisters and brothers -– whether they be individuals, churches, private institutions or, yes, governments -– all of which have their own unique roles and responsibilities.

Stearn goes on to say:

“Our aid programs don’t have an unblemished record, and water and corruption need to be rooted out. But PEPFAR, for example, is now providing lifesaving drugs to 3 million people living with AIDS – mostly in Africa. It also provides care and support to another 2.5 million orphans and vulnerable children. If Congress cuts that program by just 10 percent, my organization estimates, 400,000 people will lose their medicine and potentially lose their lives.

The US Malaria Initiative, meanwhile, has saved more than a million lives in Africa. And at a time when more than a billion people do not have enough food to eat, President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative provides nutrition assistance and helps 21 South America, African and Asian countries feed themselves, without dependence on aid. Finally, American relief following natural disasters such as the Haitian earthquake or South Asian tsunami save lives and win America friends.

One objection that I often hear from evangelicals is that while aid is good, it is not the government’s job. Yes, individuals and churches play a vital role in aid and development. But governments play a unique and vital role that private organizations cannot. The poverty-focused programs in the foreign aid budget are facing cuts of between $1.2 billion and $3.2 billion from 2010 levels. In comparison, the largest American Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, has a budget of $308 million for its missionary and aid organization.”

You can Stearn’s piece in full here on the Wall Street Journal website.

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.

First, American aid is a small fraction of the US budget. Aid to the poor is less than 0.5 percent of the federal budget. It amounts to 14 cents per American per day. It hardly makes sense to think we can solve our fiscal problems by cutting funding to the poorest people in the world.
Despite its small proportion to the budget as a whole, American aid is extremely effective. Three million people today are alive because of the PEPFAR AIDS program, which provides lifesaving drugs and 2.5 million AIDS orphans are being cared for. American assistance in the fight against malaria has saved an estimated 1 million lives. Preventable child deaths have declined from more than 20 million in 1960 to 7.6 million in 2010. Lives are at stake in this discussion.

Foreign aid promotes liberty and prosperity. A study of American assistance found that it led to increased democracy in the countries that received the aid. We are providing to others the freedoms we enjoy, allowing them to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This wins America friends and creates goodwill. It even leads to jobs back home as half of US exports go to developing countries….

Doing good around the world is what I love about America. I have seen first-hand the incredible work our country does. I’ve seen the goodwill it builds. I have met people who are alive today because of American assistance. I believe in America, and that is why I believe in American aid.
In his parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told the story of the man who had compassion on the victim of robbers. While others passed by, Jesus commended the person who acted as a neighbor. ‘Go and do likewise,’ he said. (Luke 10:37)”

You can read his piece in full here.

We hope… ‘The Hole in Our Gospel’ will mobilize even more Christians to care for the poor worldwide,” said ECPA’s President Mark Kuyper. “In a year of unforgettable world disasters, including the devastating earthquake in Haiti, we are eager to encourage believers to take action for those in need.

The Hole In Our Gospel tells Rich Stearns’ story on how faith inspires deeper engagement and action for the world’s poor. If you’re looking for an inspirational title and a thoughtful summer read, I highly recommend it. The paperback edition just came out last week.

This year for World Malaria Day in the Twin Cities we organized a picnic under bed nets. It was a great day to spend in the park while raising awareness about malaria and the impact an individual’s voice can make. Despite the heavy winds practically blowing the bed nets away, we had intimate discussions on the disease and its impact in developing countries.

At our ONE event, we promoted Malaria No More’s TEN campaign to raise awareness that only $10 buys a bed net that can protect a family from malaria. In addition, attendees had the opportunity to see an actual bed net – one of the most effective prevention tools in the fight against malaria. We also partnered with World Vision to provide attendees with postcards to mail to their representatives, in an effort to make them aware that they, as constituents, care about solving the global problem of malaria.

Our members enjoyed learning about malaria and had a great day in the park! I was excited to see people from so many different ages and walks of life participate and show the initiative to help end malaria deaths.

-Reena Dhake, ONE Twin Cities volunteer

On April 21 and 22 in Washington, DC, we’re hosting an Action Summit to End Malaria, our very first event that brings people from across the country together to advocate for an end to this horrific disease.

Malaria was eradicated in the United States 60 years ago. But tragically, malaria is still a leading cause of death for children around the world. With enough focused attention, we could be the generation that actually does away with a disease that has killed generations of people – many of them children under five.

So join us this April in Washington, DC. We will train advocates from across the country to use their voice to draw awareness and drive change around a cause. We’ll hear from a friend in Zambia who knows the threat of malaria first-hand, from a leader in the Administration and from a child advocate and pastor from Dallas, TX with a passion for tackling poverty and injustice.

In addition, the event will include training for face-to-face meetings with elected leaders, a Night of Nets event (a model of an artistic, experiential, interactive evening gathering anyone can host in their church/community) and an afternoon of outside-the-box creative activism opportunities near the nation’s capital.

Let’s join forces to descend on Capitol Hill and let our legislators know that we won’t remain silent while more than 2,000 children die every day from this preventable disease.
The means to end malaria is cheap and available, but we need your voice to make it a reality. Learn more and register here.

-Kelli Day, World Vision’s Advocacy Manager

Gilbert Bailly is my favorite person in Haiti. His three Muncheez pizza restaurants miraculously remained intact during the quake. But he realized he had not a chance of running a business in the current chaos. Did he retire to a corner and sulk? Actually, no. He calmly reopened one of his restaurants and uses it as a base to provide cooked meals for free to people who desperately need it and can’t afford to pay.

Right now food is coming from the organization I work for, World Vision. Other donors are providing the fuel he needs. His formerly paid staff have become volunteers. They know there is no money in this. I’m sure their satisfaction comes from seeing the hundreds of hungry come through the door to get, not only a free meal, but also take away 5-pound bags of lentils, beans, and flour so they can feed family members who may be too badly injured to come to the restaurant.

I’m picking many years from now, when Gilbert reflects on his life and what he has accomplished, he will probably remember this as one of the toughest times and a commercial failure. I think he will also remember it as his finest hour.

The Muncheez story contains valuable reminder for all of us involved in working in humanitarian emergencies. It’s this: Never underestimate the capacity of those in the midst of the crisis to come up with practical solutions for resolving it.

The worst thing donors and aid organizations can do in a situation like Haiti is to adopt a “we know best” attitude and become so enamored with their own relief and development plans that they overlook the insight of those within the communities they are attempting to serve.

I think a more satisfactory approach, which World Vision does, is to find out what community efforts are already working, support them, develop them, and see if they can be replicated, and encouraged to expand in the long-term. This way, Haitians are less likely to become passive recipients of aid and much more decisive players in the recovery and rebuilding of their country.

To learn more about World Vision’s long term relief efforts, click here.

-James Addis, senior editor for the donor magazine of World Vision United States

American Red Cross:
“We are humbled and thankful for the outpouring of support from our blog visitors offering their services to help those in need in Haiti. We committed $200,000 last night, and increased that amount this morning to $1 million.”

AmeriCares:
“AmeriCares is sending $3 million worth of medical aid to survivors of yesterday’s deadly, 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti from our Stamford warehouse. Disaster relief modules stocked with emergency medicines and medical supplies valued at $2 million have been deployed from the Amsterdam warehouse.”

Bread for the World:
An extensive list of where and how to help earthquake victims.

Catholic Relief Services:
“In the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, CRS is preparing 10,000 packages, each containing food and water for a family of five. The first 500 are scheduled to be delivered to Port-au-Prince on Friday. Today four CRS staff members are traveling by bus from the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince as CRS begins to increase our presence in Haiti to respond to this unprecedented disaster. CRS has committed an initial $5 million (US) to help survivors of the devastating quake.”

Episcopal Relief and Development:
View a video statement by Presiding Bishop and President of Episcopal Relief & Development.

FEED:
In 2009, WFP School Feeding reached over 400,000 Haitian children in 850 primary schools. FEED is working to maintain WFP School Feeding in Haiti during this critical time.

International Relief & Development:
IRD, a specialist in disaster response and emergency relief operations, has mobilized an emergency response team to Haiti. IRD will focus on the provision of emergency commodities, such as water, sanitation kits, medicines, hygiene kits, and shelter materials.

Islamic Relief:
Islamic Relief USA announced that it will immediately fly a $1 million shipment of aid to Haiti.

Jubilee USA:
Jubilee USA is calling on the Obama administration to take 3 specific steps as part of its comprehensive response to the Haiti earthquake.

Mercy Corps:
A blog post showing satellite images from Port-au-Prince.

Oxfam International:
A six-strong team of Oxfam emergency specialists has been dispatched to Haiti from the UK today to assist the 200 staff who were already stationed in Haiti when the earthquake hit on Tuesday.

Partners in Health:
On the ground reports from staff in Haiti.

Save the Children:
An interview with President and CEO Charles MacCormack.

World Food Programme:
“A WFP food distribution reached 3,000 people in the southern town of Jacmel on Wednesday and, despite logistical difficulties, more distributions were planned for Thursday in three areas of Port-au-Prince with high a population concentration.”

World Vision:
“On Thursday, World Vision will rush 18 metric tons of lifesaving supplies from its warehouse in Denver to Haiti, which was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake Tuesday that affected some 3 million people. Thursday’s shipment will include tarpaulins for temporary shelter, blankets, collapsible water containers, hygiene kits, and cooking sets.” Also, click here to watch an interview with Laura Blank, Media Relations Manager at World Vision.

Yele Haiti:
Wyclef Jean’s nonprofit organization, Yele Haiti, has raised over $1 million for the victims of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake from mobile donations.

CARE:

CARE is attempting to contact our country office in Haiti and assess the humanitarian situation following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck near the impoverished nation’s capital city. Initial reports indicate the disaster could be a major catastrophe.

World Vision:

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a region about 14 miles from Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, according to media reports. World Vision staff members are assessing the situation and determining a potential emergency response.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviews a World Vision official:

Save the Children:

WESTPORT, Conn. (Jan. 12, 2010) — Save the Children is verifying the safety of staff just hours after a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, near the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Houses are down in the area surrounding the Save the Children office, which was also damaged in the quake, according to Ian Rodgers, the agency’s Emergency Response Advisor, who is currently in Port-au-Prince.

An estimated 1.8 million residents were violently shaken by the earthquake and aftershocks affecting the densely populated areas near Port-au-Prince.

Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1985, primarily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau region, providing health, education, protection and food security programs to vulnerable children.

Right now, Save the Children is assessing staff and program safety, which will be complicated by the onset of evening. Employees who were in the office at the time are uninjured, though about half of program staff were elsewhere. The agency plans to deploy emergency teams and begin relief efforts soon.

American Red Cross:

Our thoughts and support are with Haiti. We have pledged an initial $2oo,ooo and are accepting donations to the International Relief Fund.

For the most updated Red Cross information about the earthquake, visit our Disaster Online Newsroom.

We are releasing all our supplies located in a Panama warehouse, from kitchen and cooking sets to mosquito nets.

We expect to see immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support.

Mercy Corps:

I’ve been on the phone for most of the last three hours figuring out the best way we can respond to the news in Haiti.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has toppled buildings, including at least one hospital, and we assume there are significant casualties (the news has been slow to trickle out).

We do not currently have staff in Haiti, but we do have extensive experience responding to earthquakes — most recently in Padang, Indonesia last September. My colleagues and I have been canvassing our own emergency operations team as well as veteran relief workers from throughout the agency to determine the most qualified and immediately deployable staff.

We will begin deploying our team tomorrow and working now to line up resources to respond.

When I served in the Peace Corps in West Africa a few years ago, I saw HIV/AIDS and its effects firsthand. I saw children who were orphaned from the disease, met people who were sick, knew adults and children who died. I saw the devastating impact of AIDS on a community.

Upon returning to the U.S., I began to work with World Vision’s college advocacy network, World Vision ACT:S. We seek to mobilize a generation to respond to injustices, particularly AIDS, malaria, hunger, and child slavery. I see the passion and idealism of college students. I’ve seen how a small group of committed people can mobilize to make a difference.

I’ve also seen how much competes for our attention today, and understandably so. Health care, the war in Afghanistan, the economic crisis, swine flu, climate change… the list goes on. The AIDS crisis can seem like old news. I’m ashamed to admit that I struggle to remain focused sometimes, even after seeing the effects of AIDS day by day for two years while in the Peace Corps.

World AIDS Day is a time to rejuvenate our commitment to respond to AIDS. We’ve made great strides to combat this pandemic, but we must respond to the challenges ahead.

Now more than ever we must rally around those who are affected by HIV/AIDS around the world. This year, we want to draw special attention to mass of invisible victims whose voices are not being heard–the 2 million children under age 15 who are living with HIV. Most of these children contracted the disease while in the womb, during birth, or while breastfeeding.

Mother-to-child transmission is preventable. Let’s join together to help their voices be heard. We’re rallying together this week to call our senators to ask them to keep their promise in the fight against global AIDS.

It’s simple. You just need 10 minutes, an Internet connection, and a phone. Go to our website and click “Make the call.” You’ll get the phone numbers and call script you need. One phone call is worth several hundred petition signatures. Just ten phone calls can make a significant impact.

Watch this video by Princess Kasune Zulu, talking about why we should advocate for AIDS:

Joined by Tim Costello of World Vision Australia as well as representatives of Micah Challenge, Prime Minister Rudd highlighted Australians collective commitment to increased international development assistance, and the role faith groups have in advocating for more and better aid:

Of course, for those of us engaged in national political life, our work on policy is incomplete unless we are working arm-in-arm with the great organisations of the Church and charitable sector.

All of you in this room know full well that there is a limit to what Government can do. All of you know full well that, when it comes to dealing with poverty, at home and abroad, this is often done best when you have a creative and effective partnership between the resources of Government and the compassion of Church and charitable organisations.

…In Australia, what we have sought to do in recent times is to put our shoulder to the wheel by lifting Australia’s contribution to ODA around the developing world…

Problems abroad however, cannot be ignored. Remember, it was [John] Wesley who said ‘the world is my parish’. And so it is for us as well.

Therefore, by lifting what we seek to do around the world, and by also putting our shoulder to the wheels of other countries in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, our objective is to make a real and quantifiable difference.

Video of the speech can be found here.

-Adam Phillips