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Dear faith leaders and faith communities:
This page aggregates faith-based resources to help you engage in key global health, humanitarian and poverty-focused issues. We're adding resources all the time.
Some resources simply ask for a few minutes of quiet -- like enjoying rare photos of a mass baptism in Ethiopia, original songs inspired by water, contemplative writings and scripture. Others ask for your community to take action, or for leaders to lend their voices. Make sure to check out FIA's faith-based talking points to help you and your constituencies make the case for vital U.S. government influence, leadership and funding: Foreign Aid and Faith -- Together Saving Lives. You offer a persuasive voice, compassionate lens, and a wealth of experience. Please speak up!
With gratitude,
The FIA team
P.S. Have a thought to share? Resource you'd like to see? Story to tell? There's a form at the bottom of this page -- we would love to hear from you!
We invite you to check out our growing list of contents, then click or scroll down:
This page aggregates faith-based resources to help you engage in key global health, humanitarian and poverty-focused issues. We're adding resources all the time.
Some resources simply ask for a few minutes of quiet -- like enjoying rare photos of a mass baptism in Ethiopia, original songs inspired by water, contemplative writings and scripture. Others ask for your community to take action, or for leaders to lend their voices. Make sure to check out FIA's faith-based talking points to help you and your constituencies make the case for vital U.S. government influence, leadership and funding: Foreign Aid and Faith -- Together Saving Lives. You offer a persuasive voice, compassionate lens, and a wealth of experience. Please speak up!
With gratitude,
The FIA team
P.S. Have a thought to share? Resource you'd like to see? Story to tell? There's a form at the bottom of this page -- we would love to hear from you!
We invite you to check out our growing list of contents, then click or scroll down:
Photo: Haik Kocharian www.haikkocharian.com
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Inspiration in Scripture
Our scriptures and faith traditions call for us to care for all God’s children, not just those found within our faiths or our nations’ borders. Here are some Faith Leader Quotes to get you inspired and click here to find inspiration in scripture. |
Resources for the Christian Community
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Evangelical Advocacy is an online open source curriculum resource that provides a collection of diverse theological and intellectual materials to foster dialogue, discussion and engagement in Christian global poverty advocacy, especially related to U.S. government assistance.
World Relief has a study curriculum to mobilize churches to stand with the vulnerable and meet the needs of our neighbors called "Standing with the Vulnerable" and a book and discussion guide "Seeking Refuge" Kay Warren shares how local churches unite with communities and governments to help find solutions to key development challenges. Leith Anderson and Galen Carey of the National Association of Evangelicals share their thoughtful and compelling perspective on the valuable and historic role of evangelicals in global health and development: click here ACCORD: Principles of Christian holistic relief and development principles: Integral Mission Principles: click here Micah Challenge has a good curriculum, and also an Advocacy Guide ECLA Church on Society statement framing why faith leaders and churches are called to engage: click here Advocating for Justice: An Evangelical Vision for Transforming Systems and Structures by F. David Bronkema, Robb Davis, Stephen Offutt, Gregg Okesson, and Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy shows how transforming systems and structures results in lasting change, providing theological rationale and strategies of action for evangelicals passionate about justice. Each authors contributes academic expertise and practical experience to help readers more fully debate, discuss, and discern the call to evangelical advocacy. They also guide readers into prayerful, faithful, and wise processes of advocacy, especially in relation to addressing poverty. Available at:
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Photo: charity: water
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UNDERSTANDING:
The Global Water Crisis
The Global Water Crisis
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Water is the single symbol every world religion shares. It purifies and sanctifies. But the lack of access to safe water and sanitation is a critical problem that undercuts progress. From health care facilities and schools to maternal and child health and preventing disease -- access to water and sanitation makes all the difference.
Each Spring, celebrate the spiritual importance of water in your faith tradition. World Water Day is March 22. The U.S. government spends just one one-hundredth of a percent of the federal budget on global WASH! Let’s remind Members of Congress that every health and development plan, policy and legislation, must include WASH. Compassion International partners with thousands of local churches in 25 countries to bring safe water and improved sanitation. World Vision is investing $400 million over six years to address the global water crisis and reach 7.5 million people in Africa alone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Living Water International is a faith-based non-profit organization that helps communities in developing countries create sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene programs in response to the global water crisis. Catholic Relief Services says, every day is World Water Day. Tearfund: Advocacy Toolkit and related resources: |
Photo: Amos Gumulira for Feed the Children
Water in Religion is a fascinating overview of the vast role water plays across the world's religions:
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Former Senator Bill Frist and his project Hope Through Healing Hands
Photo: Amsha Africa Foundation
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Engage Your Faith Community:
Water, our shared symbol, is a most fitting place for people of all faiths to unite and lead. Check out some of the work that faiths groups in your state are doing about safe water Fun and fruitful ways to engage youth and congregations:
Contact your denomination’s global health organization and ask about its WASH work:
Stand up for women. Supporting sustainable WASH projects is an opportunity to stand in support of all women. Like water, women are the source of life and health around the world. The U.S. spends just one one-hundredth of a percent of the federal budget on global WASH! Let’s remind Members of Congress that every health and development plan, policy and legislation, must include WASH. |
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Know Your Water Usage:
Because in just four days, the U.S. uses more water than the world uses oil in a year, leading the world in per person water use. We waste food (agriculture is the biggest water user in the U.S.); over-water our lawns; flush almost six billion gallons of clean drinking water, literally down the toilet, every day.
Who doesn’t want a lower water bill? |
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Photo: Haik Kocharian www.haikkocharian.com
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Inspiring Photos:
Blessed by Water, Photo Exhibit by Haik Kocharian Contemplative Reading: Sacred Water: Sustaining Life: A wonderful look at water and faith created for the Festival of Faiths, Louisville, KY. Why is the Bible and Water Important to Christians? Water and Faith Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs comprehensive report entitled Water and Faith: Rights, Pragmatic Demands, and an Ethical Lens Inspiring Original Music: Rondi Charleston: Land of Galilee more about Rondi at: www.rondicharleston.com Anna Huckabee Tull: Sweet Water more about Anna at: www.customcraftedsongs.com |
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UNDERSTANDING:
Immigrants and Refugees Refugees are caught in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. Millions of children and their families are seeking safety after fleeing their homes due to conflict. Download this small group guide to help your church compassionately respond with prayer and action. Look to scripture for guidance about refugees, and you’ll find dozens of references in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and the Qur’an speaks of the migration experiences of many prophets prior to Islam -- Adam, Abraham, Lot, Jonah, Jacob, and Moses. Since Adam, the father of humanity, migrated from heaven to earth, the tradition of Islam considers all human beings as immigrants. The fatherland of humanity is heaven, the earth a place for temporary relocation. Click here to read dozens of Bible references to immigrants and refugees. (New Revised Standard Version) 
Photo: World Vision
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Photo: World Vision
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Photo: Catholic Community Services
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Photo: Interfaith Worker Justice
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The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) is a partnership of faith-based organizations committed to enacting fair and humane immigration reform that reflects our mandate to welcome the stranger and treat all human beings with dignity and respect. Coalition members work together to advocate for just and equitable immigration policies, educate faith communities, and serve immigrant populations around the country. Click here to get involved. |
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World Relief has volunteer opportunities throughout the U.S. to help re-settle refugees; and connects U.S. churches with partner churches overseas. They also offer World Relief's U.S. Refugee Services, the Immigrant Legal Services, Ways to Rally Your Congregation, and the "Host a Refugee Sunday" article.
The Catholic brothers, sisters and lay leaders of Maryknoll are very active in refugee work. You can sign up for their latest action alerts, and information about Short/Long Term Immersion Trips and Service Opportunities: “Friends Across Borders” offers immersion trips to Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as opportunities for short and long term service. Click here to learn more. |
Photo: World Relief
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Photo: Mathieu Ngah/IFRC
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Maryknoll Magazine Classroom Program offers free lesson plans about articles in the magazine that teachers and catechists can download free copies of the magazine for students.
Much more Maryknoll resources and thoughtful articles can be found on their website. Here are a few: |
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UNDERSTANDING:
Human Trafficking Faith-based and secular groups offer a wide and deep array of resources — from how to talk to our kids and be a better consumer to prevention and care for victims: Faith Alliance Against Slavery and Trafficking, FAAST, a strategic alliance of Christian organizations working together to combat slavery and human trafficking. FAAST provides a framework for collaboration between Christian churches, denominations, universities and communities around the world. By equipping partnerships with resources, training, and anti-trafficking programs, efforts are combined to form large-scale anti-trafficking projects. She Is Safe partners with holistic, faith-based initiatives of local women, churches, and nonprofits, many having personally suffered under abuse, and are eager to show their communities that every person is valuable. The National Association of Evangelicals' humanitarian arm, World Relief, empowers the local church to serve the most vulnerable. Click here to learn more about World Relief's anti-trafficking programs. Salvation Army is committed to anti-trafficking. Worship Resources: Freedom Sundays and Freedom Shabbats The Episcopal Church is working in the current crisis involving unaccompanied children migrants. Contact: 202-547-7300. Chab Dai is an international organization that combats human trafficking so its victims “can be all that God created them to be.” Its U.S. office is in Sacramento, Calif. Chab Dai also operates in Cambodia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Contact: media@chabdai.org 866-305-9800. ”Break the Chains” has also prepared a 40-page booklet to help congregations combat the problem at the local level. Contact: wmc@covchurch.org, 773-784-3000. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has developed a human trafficking curriculum and much more. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service serves both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, helping to resettle refugees, protect unaccompanied refugee children, advocate for the just treatment of asylum seekers, and seek alternatives to detention for those incarcerated during immigration proceedings. Contact: president@lirs.org, 410-230-2785. International Justice Mission, a Christian human rights agency that works with congregations to combat sex trafficking and forced prostitution. Contact: info@combathumantrafficking.org, 703-465-5495. United Methodist Women has many resources on human trafficking team. T’ruah, formerly Rabbis for Human Rights — North America, has worked internationally on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Contact: 212-845-5201. The National Council of Jewish Women has been combating human trafficking in the U.S. since the early 1900s. Contact: 212-645-4048. United Church of Christ Human Trafficking Website and synod resolution. Presbyterian Mission Agency Human Trafficking Website WE International Inc., a Wisconsin-based Christian NGO, addresses injustice and poverty in the underdeveloped world. WE International has an anti-trafficking campaign as a central part of its mission. Contact: 608-467-7655. |
Many U.S.-based secular organizations are working hard on trafficking, among them and will collaborate with the faith sector:
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Photo: Vurayayi Pugeni for MCC
Photo: FAO Giulio Napolitano.
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UNDERSTANDING:
Hunger & Food Security Bread for the World offers resources for preachers and teachers with:
Check out this remarkable hunger map! UNICEF Nutrition report Thousand Days The Pope visited to World Food program for the first time ever... and met with interfaith leaders to promote collaboration among FBOs against hunger. Read his prayer. |
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UNDERSTANDING:
HIV/AIDS The faith community can and will play a major role in many global health concerns, but one of the trickiest, and ultimately most successful, has been the unity around defeating HIV/AIDS. It’s been a 30-year fight that has brought together allies from different political parties, different administrations, and different faiths. Ambassador Debbi Birx is the longtime head of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). She began her HIV/AIDS advocacy as part of the U.S. military’s effort to limit the spread AIDS and comfort those who were suffering. Her faith-driven passion to help others sustained her through the grueling hours and the bedside of those who were suffering, as she applied her expertise in vaccine development to get a handle on how to contain a raging plague without a solution. Looking back, she says her leadership success was due to her ability to work with people on all sides of what was a contentious issue at the time. She worked hard to see that the faith community had a seat at the table, encouraged its participation, and gave hope to so many people of faith throughout the world, who were affected by HIV/AIDS. |
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator & U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, M.D.
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Photo: Children’s AIDS Fund International
Photo: Haik Kocharian
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HIV/AIDS: More Resources
World Council of Churches
UNAIDS:
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UNDERSTANDING: BREASTFEEDING AND CHILD SURVIVAL
Especially at the family and community level, religious leaders have the power to raise awareness and influence attitudes, behaviors and practices. They can shape social values in line with faith-based teachings. Religious leaders can:
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Photo: © UNICEF/NYHQ2014–3667/Nesbitt
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Photo: Health 24
Photo: UNICEF ROSA/2017/Pirozzi
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Religious leaders can promote and support public policy that protects the health of mothers, children, and families. Religious leaders can be powerful advocates that:
More at: Supporting Breastfeeding Interventions for Faith-Based Organizations Every religious tradition emphasizes the beauty, sanctity and value of children and most place particular emphasis on the total care of the child. One of the most important things a mother can do is breastfeed, and many religious texts treat breastfeeding as a right and responsibility and as an act of love, sacrifice, and kindness:
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- Because of your father’s God who helps you, because of the almighty who blesses you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and the womb. (Holy Bible, Gen 49:25; Proverbs 10:22).
- Drink deeply of her glory even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breast” (Holy Bible, Isaiah 66:11)
- So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned, (Holy Bible, Samuel 1:23b)
- Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast, (Holy Bible, Psalm 22:9)
- May four oceans, full of milk, constantly abide in both your breasts, you blessed one, for the increase of the strength of the child! Drinking of the milk, whose sap is the sap of immortal life divine, may your baby gain long life, as do the gods by feeding on the beverage of immortality!” (Susruta, III, 10)
- Whenever you want to do a bodily action, you should reflect on it: ‘This bodily action I want to do — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Would it be an unskillful bodily action, with painful consequences, painful results?’ If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both… then any bodily action of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection you know that it would not cause affliction… it would be a skillful bodily action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then any bodily action of that sort is fit for you to do. (Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta)
The following text also points to the role of faith leaders in communicating appropriate messages based on knowledge about child survival strategies:
- My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. (Holy Bible, Hosea 4:6 NIV)