JOIN US in PRAYER for a Faithful Budget

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November 20 Prayer Vigils: 3 opportunities for prayer

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1) Interfaith Prayer Vigil via Teleconference

Hosted by Faithful Reform in Health Care

Sunday, November 20 - 3 pm eastern

With the Super Committee just days away from completing its work, people of faith across the country continue to pray together...

• For our elected leaders and moral discernment as they make decisions about the use of our abundant financial resources
• For those who have the most to lose if our safety net programs are cut or dismantled
• For faith-inspired advocates as we raise our voices on behalf of vulnerable persons in our society
• For our nation and a renewed commitment to civil discourse

Join us for November 20th Interfaith Prayer Vigil via teleconference. This phone vigil will coincide with the gathering of people at a Vigil in Washington, DC, at 3 pm the same afternoon.

RSVP now for call-in information.

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2) Vigil in Washington, DC

Hosted by the Faithful Budget Campaign

Sunday, November 20 - 3 pm

People of faith will gather in Lafayette Park across from the White House to highlight the moral and religious imperative to lift up the most vulnerable members of our communities. If you can be in Washington, DC on November 20th, join others in this important public witness!

More information

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3) Vigils in communities and houses of worship across the country

Hosted by state/local groups committed to a faithful budget

Sunday, Nov. 20 (and other times)

Religious coalitions of Christians, Muslims, and Jews are holding prayer vigils outside the district offices of their members of Congress, in public squares, and at houses of worship throughout the country.

Find a Prayer Vigil near you.

Send an email to Faithful Reform in Health Care if you are planning your own Vigil or would like to do so.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

The world's most vulnerable people need your voice now!
Tell Congress today: Don’t abandon our neighbors in need

Contact your Senators today and tell them that help for families and communities struggling to overcome poverty and recover from man-made and natural disasters must be preserved to prevent great human suffering; and it is vital to U.S. interests in global human security.

Urge them to support the funding level for international programs approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and to vote against any amendments that would reduce funding for impoverished and vulnerable people around the world.

Background:

During the week of Nov. 7, the Senate is expected to vote on the amount of funding to provide for non-military international programs, including humanitarian and poverty-focused foreign assistance for fiscal year 2012. This is a momentous decision will likely have an impact on vulnerable children and families around the world for years to come.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved funding at basically a flat level with last year’s amount. But the House figure is almost $6 billion less. This reduction would be devastating for hungry families, refugees, and victims of disasters in impoverished places around the world. And it would come on top of significant reductions for 2011.

International assistance is only 1 percent of the budget. Polls show that many Americans believe that international assistance is 25 percent or more of U.S. spending. That makes it an easy target for members of Congress. But in fact, when these same Americans are asked how much U.S. aid for poor families abroad should be, they support levels between 6-10 percent! Further reductions will not help balance the budget, but will sever vital lifelines to vulnerable children, women and men, and will undermine global human security.

Each year U.S. international assistance:

• feeds 46.5 million of the world’s most vulnerable people;
• prevents 114,000 infants from being born with HIV;
• saves 3 million lives through immunization programs;
• helps bring safe drinking water sources to 1.3 billion people;
• is helping small-scale farmers, especially women, grow and market more food to feed more hungry people through the Feed the Future initiative;
• and much more.

All for just 1 percent of our budget!

The proposed House cuts to U.S. international assistance would mean that more than 300,000 orphans and vulnerable children could lose their food, education and livelihoods; almost a million children would not be immunized against measles, tetanus and pertussis; HIV-AIDS treatment could be eliminated for more than 300,000 people worldwide; 24,000 more infants will be born with HIV in 2012; and U.S. food assistance for 14 million people facing hunger would be eliminated.

Further cuts to humanitarian foreign assistance will result in countless additional people going hungry and many more children losing their lives to preventable and treatable diseases. Preserving robust, well-targeted foreign assistance will save millions of lives, build self-reliance among the world’s most vulnerable, and help protect our own national security in the process.

Sample call-in message

Please call the Capitol switchboard at(202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senator’s office. Here's a sample call-in message you can use:

My name is ___ and I live in [city and state]. I’m calling to ask that Senator ____ to support the funding level for international programs approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and to vote against any amendments that would reduce funding for impoverished and vulnerable people around the world.

Help for families and communities struggling to overcome poverty and recover from man-made and natural disasters prevents great human suffering and is vital to U.S. interests in global human security.

International assistance is only 1 percent of the federal budget. I believe that responsible budgeting decisions shouldn't be made on the backs of the poor.

Thank you!

You can also send your Senators a message through our online system.

Biblical reflection

Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And when asked “Who is my neighbor,” he told a story that emphatically included the “foreigner” in that circle of neighborly love.

People are struggling in the United States, and maintaining vital programs to assist them must be a priority. But aiding our global neighbors in need is also a priority, and costs so very little in relative terms.

God repeatedly urged Israel, despite its own massive economic setbacks, to give to the poor and help others, saying "Do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You shall rather open your hand...“ (Deut. 15:7-8). In the Book of Proverbs we read that “When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord, and the Lord will pay you back” (19:17 Good News Version).

We do well when we recognize our neighbors close at hand and our neighbors far away. Our own security is bound up with the security of our global neighbor in need in both spiritual and practical ways.

Take action now!