Passion to Politics:
What moves People to Action
Call of God
E Anne Peterson, MD,MPH
2007 Princeton Colloquium on Public & International
Affairs
Princeton, NJ
April 2007
Our calling
 Tutu
 God given compassion for the hurting
 Verses – lots that call, require, admonish us to
care for the hurting of the world
– James 1:22 Religion that is pure …
– Mathew 25 Sheep and goats
The Great Requirement
Micah 6:8
“He has showed you O man, what is
good and what does the Lord require of
you? To act justly, to love mercy and to
walk humbly with your God”.
President Theodore Roosevelt in his address to the troops
in 1917:
“Do Justice and therefore fight
valiantly against those that stand
for the reign of Moloch and
Beelzebub on this earth. Love
mercy. Treat your enemies well.
Succor the afflicted.Treat every
woman as if she were your sister.
Care for the little children and be
tender with the old and helpless.
Walk humbly. You will do so if you
study the life and teachings of the
Savior,walking in His steps.”
The world’s poor
How are
the children?
Enough to eat
Call to Africa: Clinical Care
Zaire
 Why?
– 4th year medical school
– New Christians
– Matthew 25:31-46
 Where?
– Nyakunde-large mission hospital
– Ocicha-120 bed hospital, no doctors,
surgery
– Village outreach
Clinical Care
Exotic Diseases
Outreach
A life changing child
Call to Prevention
Measles Complications
Kenya
 Community Health
Development
Zimbabwe
Cholera Bed
 Public Health Training, AIDS
prevention
Haiti, Brazil
 Elephantiasis treatment and
prevention
All orphans and orphans due to AIDS by HIV
prevalence for Uganda, by year
A New Calling: Politics Oh No!!
 Out of the blue
 Political appointment
 Persistent call
VA Commissioner of Health
“You can make a Difference”
–
–
–
Left Kenya desiring to impact US
international health policy
Moral, ethical, policy issues
Biblical examples: Samuel, Daniel
Assistant Adminstrator, Global Health, USAID
Voices of Hope - Afghanistan
Politics: Leaders as Models
Show me your faith apart from your
works and I by my work will show
you my faith James 1:24
Banda Aceh – post tsunami
Resilience of Children
They are our future
Religion that is pure and undefiled is
this, to visit orphans and widows in
their affliction
No child in Sub-saharan Africa is
unaffected by AIDS
“Whoever knows what is right to
do & fails to do it, for him it is sin”
James 4:17
Unfinished Child Health agenda
~11 Million Children Die/year
(70% From 5 Major Causes)
Malaria
7%
Other
31%
Birth Trauma
Neonatal Deaths
Tetanus
Fever
Low Birth Weight
ARI
29%
Malnutrition
56%
Diarrhea
25%
Measles
8%
Another Change:
Return to the faith based world
• Largest NGO in the world
• 90+ countries, 22,000 employees
• Disaster, development & child sponsorship
• $2.1 Billion
• 3 million sponsored children
• Reach ~ 10 million children
Distinctly
Christian
Our
Community
Integrated
Based
Community
Focus
Based
Child
Focused
India
Heart to Change!
Integrated
Ministry
CONTEXT DEPENDENT
EXPANDED FOCUS
Example:
Communicable
Disease Profile
(Malaria/TB)
Health
WV HEALTH FOCUS
Criteria:
Community Based Maternal Child Health
Profile of need
and
Promoting Equitable Access to
Primary Health Care
•Life-cycle approach (especially 0-5 years)
•Addressing malnutrition
•Prevalent childhood diseases,
water/sanitation/hygiene
Evidence-based
interventions
available
Community-based
approach
PARTNER ONLY
Criteria:
May be less
community based
but do
ONLY if small
investment & done
in partnership
Example:
Surgical case
ADD ONS
Criteria:
Example:
Chronic disease
prevention
Empowerment &
moving toward
sustainability
Only in Special Circumstances
May be less community or
less child focused
• Infrastructure
ONLY if Focus areas have
already been addressed
• Most clinical care
• Annual check ups for CIP
•School feeding programmes
Team-mates
Local leaders - buy in
“God Space”
Bringing
expertise &
hope
Dialogue with
the
community
Respect and
belief in hope
and change
enables
action
We don’t want to be the gorilla
in the relationship
Gal 6:9 And let us not grow
weary in well-doing,
How do we retain our passion?
How do we sustain the call?
What makes us weary
 Wash DC – politics, lack of team, being shot
down by our own family of faith
 Lack of progress in our work
 Corruption, greed, sin that undoes all that we
have done,
 Bureaucracy, pettiness, inflexibility, Lack of
compassion
 Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7 “wars and rumors of
war:
 Revelation – end times will be worse than
now
Overcoming weariness
 What does the world do?
 What can we do?
– Heb 10:25 “And let us consider…
– Fellowship with one another
– Shelter in God’s presence
– His word
– A phone call or e-mail out of the blue
– What verses are an encouragement to you
Refresh your soul
I glorified thee on earth having
accomplished the work which
Thou gavest me to do John 17:4
Not all the work in the world but only
the work He has called YOU to do
Gal 6:9 And let us not grow weary in
well-doing, for in due season we
shall reap if we do not lose heart. So
then, as we have opportunity let us
do good to all men and especially to
those in the household of faith
1 Cor 15:58 Therefore my beloved
brethern, be steadfast, immoveable always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
that in the Lord our labor is not in vain
Expect the Unexpected
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God has a sense of humor
Don’t box yourself in or think too small
Follow your heart
Know your strengths – no false humility
But be ready to be used through your weaknesses
The need is great
The opportunities are great
The chance to serve and make a difference is
bigger and better than you can likely imagine
God does call us to action
His call is compelling and
demands a response
What is God calling you to do?