Why I Support US Foreign Assistance
Here are some facts and points you can use to show your support for U.S. foreign assistance.
Resource Hub to Help You Advocate
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- I urge the reinstatement of life-saving programs supported by USAID and PEPFAR. As a Christian, these initiatives uphold our moral responsibility to care for the most vulnerable, strengthen global and national security, and contribute to both international stability and economic prosperity.
- For decades, U.S.-funded humanitarian assistance has supported the work of organizations, including Christian organizations, living out their calling to serve. These programs help people–including infants and children–who face disease, war and conflict, hunger, natural disasters, and lack of clean water.
- For Christians, helping those in need is deeply rooted in our faith tradition and demonstrated in scripture. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40 and “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” 1 John 3:17
- We know as faith actors that 84% of the world’s population belongs to a major faith group. The local church, mosque, or temple does not merely work in the community, but is part of the community. Any effort to improve local health and welfare must include religious actors.
- The Christian Health Asset Mapping Consortium released a report in 2023 with information about the scope and scale of Christian health care in Africa, including more than 8300 Christian health assets in 17 countries. Many of these facilities and programs receive US government support, leveraging what they are able to do.
- Local Christian organizations are ready to build their capacity and serve their populations. Abruptly stopping assistance the U.S. has consistently provided to these local organizations has caused chaos and confusion, and some have even let staff go. This chaos is not building their capacity.
- Many Christian organizations partner with local churches in those countries to carry out their work. Such partnerships build goodwill and foster strong local organizations that can withstand emergencies while saving lives. Global goodwill and positive feelings toward the U.S. also make Americans safer at home and abroad.
- U.S. foreign assistance demonstrates leadership, and builds security and stability, especially in fragile regions. In the absence of U.S. leadership, the vacuum will be filled by other actors, particularly those who are unable and unwilling to create a peaceful, healthy, and safer world for all. Halting this support threatens not only the world’s most vulnerable people but also security for all across the globe.
- As Christians, we are also called to be wise stewards of the resources entrusted to us. Stewarding creation, financial resources, and laborers are all part of what is specifically mandated in scripture. I welcome an evaluation of foreign assistance programs to increase efficiency. However, I urge you to conduct the review while live-saving programs continue.
- It is difficult to build up trust, but it is easy to lose it. The world is quickly losing trust in the United States. Radical and sudden changes in policy and direction signal that the US is prone to internal political winds, rather than a long-term commitment to principles that are agreed on over time.
- The U.S. is more prosperous when we have healthy trading partners purchasing U.S.-manufactured goods.
- Countries value the investment provided by US Foreign Assistance, even if they have challenges with the bureaucracy behind it. Rapid shifts in policy and funding of the magnitude in US programs place enormous strain on local governments, local religious institutions, and civil society organizations. Chaos communicates clearly that we don’t value local governments and local institutions.
- Strong, vibrant local institutions and global partnerships are part of a resilient global infrastructure that can manage sudden-onset humanitarian emergencies, widespread disease outbreaks, and significant population displacements from conflict. Failure in such responses contributes to a destabilized world.