Dear Friend,

Full disclosure, yes, I just quoted my husband. As Eric and I both work in the world of international development, we have been discussing at great length these past few weeks the recent dismantling of USAID and all its far reaching ripple effects on both our organizations, the communities we serve, and even our dear local friends who have been furloughed. Eric recently put thought to pen and wrote an OpEd that got picked up by TIME Magazine called Foreign Aid is Retreating. The Church Must Not.

Admittedly, I am not objective when I say this is worth a read. However, I share this article because I believe it is relevant to the Five Talents community.

In the OpEd, Eric writes that the body of Christ, “must not outsource its calling. This means doing more—caring for the vulnerable in our own communities and going to the margins where suffering persists.” And as inevitably governments and their priorities shift and consequently foreign aid shifts, people of faith are ever called to “not only fill the gap but also challenge the retreat.”

While not without flaws, I believe in the church’s capacity to be a transformational agent of good in times of crisis. I see it in countless ways with our courageous Five Talents’ church program partners from Myanmar to South Sudan, and I see it in my own local church when church members deliver meals or offer prayers to those in my faith community in great need. Oftentimes, it takes the most difficult and darkest situations that call into action the most beautiful acts of love—Christ’s sacrifice on the cross being the ultimate example.

I see it in our Five Talents community that continues to generously support us so that we may carry on our good work to those communities bearing the heaviest weights of poverty. As I said a few weeks ago when I initially shared about USAID’s stop-work order, and will probably say many times over in the months to come, thank you for your faithful support. Now more than ever we need you to do this work together.