3 wcr:05/14/2007 — Faith-based angels heal poverty pockets

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Week of May 14, 2007

Faith-based angels heal poverty pockets

Seasoned journalist recounts how NGOs step in and stay to fight for the world's poor

"A lot of good things start up quietly in humble church halls."

- Brian Stewart

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Toronto

The success of churches and faith-based organizations in providing disaster relief and fighting world poverty is one of "the greatest overlooked stories of our time," says veteran CBC television journalist Brian Stewart.

Stewart praised the "courageous" work of churches and faith-based NGOs, calling them "uniquely efficient engines of human development."

Profound impact

These organizations have had a "profound impact" on human rights, peace, health care, clean water, and education around the globe said Stewart, who has covered more than nine wars in his 43-year career.

He was a keynote speaker May 3 at the joint annual conferences of the Canadian Church Press (CCP) and Association of Roman Catholic Communicators of Canada (ARCCC).

Intractable world poverty is the "greatest problem of our time with the exception of global warming," he said. Yet the successes churches and NGOs have had are "almost always overlooked by the mainstream media."

This success story began during the 1984 famine in northern Ethiopia. One million people died in "the worst hell on earth," Stewart said. But the disaster birthed the modern NGO movement and left lasting positive results.

Today, he said, these NGOs represent "the fastest growing sector of the world economy."

In Ethiopia and other trouble spots, the aid and development organizations stayed behind long after the cameras and the reporters left.

Famine camps to college

In Africa alone, churches and NGOs have left a legacy that includes 40 million more children in school, and tens of thousands who "made it from famine camps to college."

"No, I am afraid of no one or nothing – only God"

- Lech Walesa

Concentration on Africa's failures contributes to a sense of defeatism and ignores the marked improvement in the lives of millions through the efforts of small-scale, often faith-based projects, he said.

The story of those successes parallels Stewart's personal transformation that eventually led to his becoming a faithful Presbyterian.

The role of faith in those successes is not taken seriously enough, even provoking "titters" among mainstream journalists, he said.

In the 1960s, Stewart's generation declared organized religion was on its death bed. It underestimated the strength of spiritual hunger and the "human drive to serve and to help others."

Since then, he has witnessed the "galvanic force of faith in action," a faith he described as "hard, institutionalized, organized and clear-sighted."

Since the Cold War, aid has shifted from "big aid battalions" and "five year plans" he said, to smaller, independent NGOs who "partner" with local people and have "refused to give up their sense of mission," he said.

He said he regretted the fact that the words "muscular Christianity" had passed out of fashion, because that is what he has observed on the front lines of famine, war and catastrophe, where he and his crew were almost always greeted by Christian workers who had arrived first.

"A lot of good things start up quietly in humble church halls," he said, pointing to the 1787 meeting of 12 evangelicals in a church basement that launched the movement to abolish slavery.

He noted the rise of the Solidarity trade union in Poland. With the support of the Catholic Church, Solidarity helped bring down the Iron Curtain.

Stewart recalled meeting Solidarity leader Lech Walesa in a stairwell as he was on his way to Mass.

It was shortly after he had been released from prison in the early 1980s and many feared Walesa would be assassinated. Walesa was asked whether he was afraid.

Beyond brave

"No, I am afraid of no one or nothing - only God," Walesa said.

"It was a transcendent moment," Stewart said, revealing that no force or empire could ever extinguish the power of faith.

Stewart emphasized the important work the CCP and ARCCC was doing in getting the word out about these successes.

The CCP marked its 50th anniversary at the conference, while ARCCC marked its 25th. The CCP represents religious newspapers and magazines from a wide range of Christian denominations. ARCCC represents Catholic communicators for dioceses and organizations.

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