Trinity Forum Conversations29 Huhti 2025

Faith and Foreign Aid

US foreign aid is unexpectedly in the news in 2025 as never before. What do Christians need to know, to help us be part of the dialogue?

America's history of foreign aid dates back at least to the Marshall Plan that followed World War II. Many Christians have been involved. How have these believers thought about the appropriate roles of government and of faith-based institutions? What has the US been doing, with what impact? And what is the situation on the ground now?

Three believers knowledgeable about this work join us for this episode to illustrate the scope of how faith-based foreign aid has impacted regions worldwide, share their perspectives on what a Christ-like spirit looks like in this field, and discuss where they see aid is most needed—now more than ever.

"Jesus calls on us to help the poor, your neighbor, the stranger, the sick, the shunned, the scorned, the stigmatized. Think of Jesus embracing those in poverty, prostitution, leprosy ... the US ... is not a savior. That’s Jesus’s job. But it can be an enabler of human flourishing so that people can survive and thrive." — Mark Lagon

Ambassador Mark Lagon has served as the US Ambassador to combat human trafficking, and is now focused on the fight against malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.
Nicole Bibbins Sedaca has held leadership roles in the government, academic and NGO sectors working and teaching on democracy, human rights and religious freedom.
Myal Greene leads World Relief, the development arm of the National Association of Evangelicals; while serving in Rwanda, he developed its church-based programming model.

This podcast is an edited version of our Online Conversation from April 2025. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.

Jaksot(151)

Learning to See, with Jennifer Trafton

What does it mean to truly see? In a world that rewards speed, certainty, and quick judgment, the patient work of attention can feel almost countercultural. Yet learning to see clearly—to notice beaut...

29 Syys 47min

Practical Wisdom for Chaotic Times, with Alan Noble

How do we live a life of meaning, in a time when so many competing voices tell us who to be, what to want, and how to live? Told to construct meaning for ourselves, we find anxiety instead of wisdom, ...

15 Syys 47min

What Does Citizenship Require of Us? with Russell Moore

The relationship of Christian believers to government has long been fraught, from Jesus’ time to today. The command to love God, our neighbor, even our enemies can flatly contradict the world’s exalta...

4 Syys 51min

Bringing Meaning to Your Work, with Barry Rowan

We want the thousands of hours we work over our lifetime to matter. But how do we make them truly significant? What can infuse our lives, our offices, and our world with meaning?Today’s guest is the b...

18 Elo 47min

Baptizing Our Imaginations, with Mia Chung and Malcolm Guite

The term “baptized imagination” has come to the fore of Christian discussion in recent years, and this recent episode considers what a baptized imagination can actually look like.In the Christian trad...

4 Elo 33min

Practices of Hope: Antidotes to Confusion, Cynicism and Nihilism, with Curt Thompson and David French

We are subjected to the temptations of confusion, cynicism, and nihilism like never before. So many pressures, including new ones, seemingly by the day, push us in these directions. What formative thi...

21 Heinä 26min

Beauty + Justice: Why We Need Both, with Makoto and Haejin Fujimura

Beauty is often dismissed as a luxury—something secondary to the urgent work of repair. But what if beauty is not peripheral, but essential to healing what is broken?Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Makoto...

7 Heinä 57min

Cultivating Christian Resilience

How can we cultivate a faith that endures and flourishes?Author, Anglican priest, and Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Tish Harrison Warren shows us how lasting and beautiful things can take root and grow ...

23 Kesä 47min