How Congress can help SC churches help poorest nations

When Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson visited Guatemala with a faith-based organization that my church partners with, he got to see firsthand what we see over and over: smart foreign policy through foreign assistance. In fact, my church, Calvary Lutheran, knows the Guatemalan community Rep. Wilson visited, and so do I.

Inside many dirt-floor homes are open fire pits that provide warmth, cooking and boiling unsafe drinking water. I will never forget the distraught young mother holding her whimpering baby who had fallen into the family cooking pot and suffered severe burns. Or the young couple who buried two children who died from asthma.

Our church, determined to find a solution, partnered with Food for the Hungry, a humanitarian-aid organization that helped us find a local company to provide safe cooking surfaces, which we supported financially. The organization also partners on large-scale projects with the U.S. Agency for International Development and invited Rep. Wilson to witness impressive work being done with this funding.

Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, and our faith communities and organizations work with USAID to help people reach their God-given potential. Poverty has dropped; crime is down. These partnerships improve nutrition, health and schools — for the long-term — by collaborating with local groups and officials. I am grateful that Rep. Wilson, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has seen the faces I’ve seen, which are helped by U.S. foreign assistance.

Most people don’t understand that our government spends less than 1 percent of the federal budget on all this life-saving good work. While there is certainly economic benefit to South Carolina’s agricultural exports, and national security benefits to our country, foreign assistance reflects a powerful expression of our American generosity, concern and values.

During his trip, Rep. Wilson commented multiple times on how important these partnerships are. I couldn’t agree more. U.S. foreign assistance isn’t left or right. A bipartisan Congress, millions of Americans and churches like mine donate time, skills and money for God’s children near and far.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 8:02 AM with the headline "How Congress can help SC churches help poorest nations."