Most Christians strongly agree we are called to care for the poor, widow, orphan, and foreigner [Deuteronomy 10:18–19, Isaiah 58:6–10]. Inherent in this moral calling is the biblical dignity that every human is created in the image of God [Genesis 1:27]. Christians are among the many faith-based communities who help others in recognition of our shared humanity, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or nation.
Foreign aid is an expression of Christian care and concern for people both near and far. Faith-based organizations have been uniquely essential partners with the U.S. government to meet the complexity of global needs, and it’s led to unparallelled achievements. Key to understanding modern foreign aid’s historic success is the U.S. government’s participation in it.
When it comes to “the least of these” [Matthew 25:31–46], Christian faith-based organizations, churches, and individuals generously invest funding, skills, and expertise around the world. But the private sector cannot effectively go it alone. It is the U.S.
government that can launch global initiatives to eradicate diseases like polio and underwrite innovations in global health like PEPFAR and the COVID-19 vaccine; set international goals and strategies, convene global leadership and work government-to-government.
The result: 10 million people are walking today who would otherwise be crippled by polio; more children survive and thrive beyond their critical fifth birthday than at any time in human history; billions now have safe drinking water; girls are able to stay in school; whole nations have moved from aid to trade, and more.
Success has been remarkable as has the cost of all these good works. The U.S. government spends less than 1% of the federal budget on foreign aid. But now success is under threat. The U.S. government’s sudden withdrawal from foreign aid leadership and shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) led U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres of offer this bleak assessment, “Hunger and malnutrition are spreading faster than our ability to respond.”
Extremist views of foreign aid are embedded in nationalist and isolationist perspectives. They will assert the word “neighbor” implies a sense of “nearness.” Jesus’s command then is to love the people we personally encounter and prioritize our friends, family and community. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” [1 Timothy 5:8 says] But Christian distrust of or opposition to foreign aid goes beyond the call to focus
close to home.
Some Christians say aid is government overreach, or socialism. Some say it contradicts conservative Christian morals and identify services or categories of foreign aid recipients as godless or immoral (e.g., reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ services, Muslims, communists). They assert foreign aid should be delivered by private faith-based organizations and charities that focus on care and missionary work. Some believe this Christian missionary work should convert people or make aid contingent on conversion. Yet others see foreign aid as a conspiracy, controlled by global elites who wish to erase Christianity. For those who believe in End Times, aid is pointless and interferes with God’s judgment and plan.
One of the key roles Christian communities can play is to remind our government leaders—especially Congress which holds the purse strings—of our calling to care for marginalized children, families, and communities everywhere, and U.S. foreign aid’s unparallelled role in human flourishing near and far. Foreign aid is in everyone’s
interest. It yields tremendous benefits for U.S. health and security, and when global economies improve, so does the U.S. economy and job growth, helping American families flourish, too.
They need to know Christians believe it’s wrong for the U.S. government to rollback global health, humanitarian, and economic progress. Around the world, families are facing dire headwinds as preventable deaths, disease, and poverty increase. We are looking down the barrel of increased instability and conflict, mass migration, even increased terrorism. It's a precarious time for much of the world. 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 tells us, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
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