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ONE by ONE
The ONE campaign was founded by 11 non-profit
organizations*, including
Bread for the World,
that came together to make an impact on global HIV/AIDS
and poverty in the world’s poorest countries. About
3 million people have joined the ONE campaign, and
more than
2 million people have signed its petition to
the federal government asking that an additional ONE
percent of the United States national budget (or about
$25 billion over five years) be put toward meeting the
basic needs of the world’s poorest people and countries.
Major progress would be made toward ending poverty and
hunger; providing medicines, education, and
infrastructure; reversing the spread of deadly diseases
like HIV/AIDS and malaria; and improving access to clean
water. This effort also encourages debt cancellation,
trade reform, and anti-corruption measures to help
nations deal with the scourge of HIV/AIDS
and extreme poverty.
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The average American thinks the
United States spends 15 to 30 percent of its budget on
foreign aid. In reality,
less than 1 percent
of the United States budget
*
is spent on non-military foreign assistance. Less
than 1 percent!
* MDG Campaign research, 2004. |
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Because of its long history
of advocacy, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
through its
advocacy offices and
ELCA World Hunger
efforts, has joined the ONE campaign and the effort to
rally Americans one by one to fight global AIDS and
extreme poverty. ONE Lutheran is the ELCA-specific
effort to promote the ONE campaign.
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* Bread
for the World, CARE, DATA, International Medical Corps,
International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam
America, Plan USA, Save the Children US, World Concern,
and World Vision.
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I don’t think
Scripture would turn away from these expressions of love, but I think
the author of the “Hot Topic” might challenge us to expand our ideas
of what loving another means.
When we focus our efforts to love others on the problems of others, we
forget why our neighbors suffer poverty or other injustices in the
first place. Asking what it means to love in truth and action brings
us to the scary place of acknowledging that the ways we contribute to
racism, sexism, classism, environmental degradation, and globalization
are actually not very loving acts. To truly love those in need, we
also must acknowledge our own need for transformation. This requires courage. I would imagine that God also had to be
very courageous to come share this precarious life with us here on
earth.
God showed us how to love in truth and action, not just in word or
speech. God created us with a word and then re-created us through the
life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Still today, the Holy Spirit
(named by the feminine Sophia or ruah in the Old Testament)
blows through our lives in the most unexpected ways; she shapes and
forms our passions, our hopes, and our dreams.
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