Introduction Comfort to Care: ACT’s Early Days Genet was only six the first time Alemu visited the room she shared with her mother.  He brought food, checked on her health and ensured that both were taking an antibiotic to prevent pneumonia. Infected with HIV, Genet and her mother were at high risk of dying from even simple infections. Antiretrovirals, the medications to treat HIV/AIDS, were unavailable in Ethiopia. Alemu has made thousands of home visits as a program manager with Ethiopia Aids Care and Treatment (ACT), a small Christian non-profit providing healthcare support and poverty alleviation to families in Addis […]

As part of our family culture, we revisit the Lenten devotional Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss each year with our young children. This devotional unfurls the stories of animals on the brink, threatened by mounting negative impacts on their environments. In her introduction, Boss writes about her struggle to fully engage her own young children’s imaginations and hearts in the Lenten season. One approach resonated more than others. She recounts: “I learned that for centuries the church had pointed to Noah’s Ark as a symbol for ‘our Lenten passage.’…Next, the spiritual application: Noah’s story […]

This article is part of our series exploring the role of faith-based organizations in providing vital support and care to those affected by HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR. Throughout this series, we will highlight the importance of a clean, five-year reauthorization of PEPFAR to ensure the stability and continuity of lifesaving treatment. The Current State and History of PEPFAR As of this writing, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is facing significant funding cuts. PEPFAR is a vital avenue and program that has facilitated the life-saving treatment of approximately 25 million people around the world, a significant portion of whom are […]

CPJ’s “At a Glance—The White House Faith Office” offers a snapshot of the White House Faith Office initiative in light of CPJ’s Guidelines for Government and Citizenship. This is a plain-language summary of President Trump’s Executive Order 14205 establishing the White House Faith Office—an important presidential action for both citizens and leaders of diverse faith communities. Executive Orders outline tasks, structures, and goals; as always, citizens and others need to monitor what officials and agencies actually do, not just the words on paper.  Plain-Language Summary of the Executive Order Points to Consider Continuation of Past “Faith-Based Initiative” Models Political Community […]

On Friday, February 7th, President Trump signed an Executive Order formally re-establishing a White House office for faith-based initiatives. Announced at the National Prayer Breakfast, this office was framed as a way for the federal government to empower faith-based and community organizations, emphasizing their unique role, different and more effective than government, in strengthening families and revitalizing communities. According to the executive order, the administration “wants faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to compete on a level playing field for grants, contracts, programs, and other Federal funding opportunities.” The establishment of […]

As announced at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 6, President Trump has established a White House Faith Office, headed by Pastor Paula White, his long-time religious advisor who served as his White House Advisor on Faith and Opportunity Initiatives in his first administration. In some ways, the new White House Faith Office seems to be a focal point for the large group of clergy, many, but far from all of them, white evangelical pastors, who are vocal supporters of President Trump and promoters of a national religious revival. Yet Executive Order 14205, which created the Faith Office, outlines its […]