The Boston Globe is running a four-part series titled "Exporting Faith". Part I is titled "Bush Brings Faith to Foreign Aid-- As Funding Rises, Christian Groups Deliver Help -- With a Message". It points out that the present administration has almost doubled the percentage of U.S. foreign aid dollars going to faith-based groups-- mostly Christian groups-- and through a series of executive orders has removed many of the restrictions on intermingling government aid with religion. New policies permit foreign aid groups to engage in faith-based hiring, and to offer religious services immediately before or after distributing government funded aid.
Part II is titled "Religious Right Wields Clout-- Secular Groups Losing Funding Amid Pressure". It points out that USAID officials have favored groups that promote abstinence as the most important way to prevent AIDS. Of the $15 billion in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), $3 billion is for prevention, and $1 billion of that is required to be spent for "abstinence-until-marriage" programs. A 2003 law requires groups receiving anti-AIDS funds to have a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. A number of foreign aid groups are concerned that this interferes with their outreach to sex workers who are at high risk for transmitting AIDS.
UPDATE: Part III is titled "Together, But Worlds Apart -- Christian Aid Groups Raise Suspicion In Strongholds of Islam". It says that hospitals in Muslim countries run by Christian groups create suspicion both because of popular opposition to U.S. policies around the world, and concern about proselytization.
Part IV is titled "Healing the Body to Reach the Soul-- Evangelicals Add Converts Through Medical Trips". It focuses on medical missions to developing countries by evangelical Christian medical personnel.
