U.S. AID: What Would Jesus Do?

Every day for the last week there’s another story about Trump and Elon Musk dismantling U.S. AID, the 40 billion dollar agency tasked with helping populations in developing countries cope with poverty, crop failures, diseases and the effects of civil wars. The purpose for this blog is not to defend U.S. AID. In fact in the last few decades they’ve funded hundreds of programs that have nothing whatsoever to do with their mission, such the following;

$1.5 million to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia.

$47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Columbia.

$2.0 million for “sex change activism” in Guatemala.

$6.0 million to promote tourism in Egypt.

$310,000,000 to pay for concrete to build tunnels is Gaza for Hamas! (Yes, you read that correctly. $310 MILLION!

Finally, hundreds of millions to fund the “best practices” for farming poppy flowers, a cash-crop in Afghanistan used for heroin. These poppy farms are now under the control of the Taliban, funding their mission!

Clearly this agency needs a serious overhaul. I’ve named only a few of the most egregious examples. I can’t even imagine how much other outright waste is going on. And Americans are fed up with it and many are cheering Trump and Musk on as the dismantle this agency. But there’s another side to this story that should be important to followers of Jesus.

U.S AID provides 42% of all humanitarian aid worldwide and until last week they were funding the feeding more than a million starving victims of civil war in South Sudan and other countries. They dispense over 100 million vaccines annually to protect children against childhood diseases. They pay to dig over 11,000 wells a year for assure people with clean water and to irrigate their crops. They setup medical clinics for the poorest of the poor and train locals to run them. Clearly these kinds of programs should win the support of true followers of Jesus. But as of last week, all of that has stopped putting at risk the lives of millions of “the least of these.” Some of these programs may eventually get started back up. However, 40,000 healthcare workers in Kenya alone lost their jobs last week as clinics and hospital closed their doors. While the courts sort this out, every day thousands of people will likely die!

Not only that, but U.S. AID owns over 16,000 vehicles, it has hundreds of warehouses full of food and medicine which if no one is getting paid will get stolen, or wasted before new people are assigned to restart the good, life-saving programs. Remember the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan where we left behind billions of dollars of weapons and military equipment? What a waste! This could all have been avoided with some planing and common sense. Now the Taliban owns it all. So will the rebels, or corrupt governments in the countries U.S AID has just vacated.

Even the National Association of Evangelicals has weighed in publicly urged the Trump administration to immediately issue an Executive Order reinstating food and medicine programs and personnel to run them. There are dozens of major ministries caring for the poor all over the world who receive significant funding from U.S. AID, including Samaritan’s Purse, Worldvision, World Relief, Bread for the World and Catholic Relief Services. All of these ministries are begging the Trump administration to not stop funding vital services for the most vulnerable people on earth.

So, what would Jesus do? Obviously I can’t quote chapter and verse from the Bible about U.S. AID. But think I can safely say the following; America First should have no place in our decisions as followers of Jesus. Our primary citizenship is the Kingdom of Heaven. Our aligiance to Jesus on maters of morality, trump our U.S. citizenship. With Jesus it was always not only others first, but it was the most vulnerable first.

It just seems to me that Trump and Musk are not only throwing the “baby out with the bath,” they are doing so with complete disregard for the human cost, or even the financial cost of just firing everyone and leaving behind billions of taxpayer paid equipment and supplies. By next week their offices and warehouses in third world countries will be looted and empty. How is that good stewardship of taxpayers money?

What’s needed is both wisdom and compassion. I’m sure there is tons of waste in our government programs and I’m totally in support of eliminating waste, or even eventually eliminating U.S.AID if there’s a better way to manage critical food and medical operations. But just breaking things to quickly save money is neither wise, or compassionate. People in third world countries think all Americans are Christians. The cause of Christ is not served by acting without compassion and wisdom.

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord.” Proverbs 19:17

“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to the poor will receive many curses.” Proverbs 28:27