Soul of the Matter: Cutting Global Aids Funding

There is no doubt that America has fallen on hard times. Unemployment rates are high, stock values have plummeted, and Americans are frequenting food banks in numbers we haven't seen since the Great Depression.

People are spending less, beginning to save more, and shifting their priorities. Buying and fueling that SUV has slipped to the bottom of the what- we- need- to- survive- list. And, while we feel the strain of the economic crisis here in the US, poor countries have become even poorer. Our inconveniences today barely hold a candle to the ongoing crises in developing countries.

So, I'm concerned that President Obama (Yes, I'm once again asking you to e-mail him) is proposing significant cuts to global AIDS funding. Now is not the time to deny aid to people who need it the most. One AIDS outreach program in South Africa called Living Hope that partners with my church, will be forced to cut it's clinic's availability to children if the budget cuts go through. Living Hope, and many programs like it are recipients of PEPFAR Grants (President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief). PEPFAR is credited with reducing the number of deaths from AIDS around the world by 10%.

In an eloquent article in the New York Times, Bono, co-founder of The One Campaign, sheds some light on why this is a soul issue...

Join me in praying for and advocating for the most vulnerable populations on earth.

An update: A month ago, I posted a blog about a new book entitled "Dead Aid."

I just found a new article that critiques the book, calling it "distastrously irresponsible" and arguing that Africa needs global aid more than ever. You can read that article here.