The Weekly is a highlight of the work the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is doing to strengthen you and our churches for God’s glory.

5 Facts about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

This year marks the 15-year anniversary of former President George W. Bush signing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Here are five facts you should know about this historic global health relief effort.

The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a federal governmental initiative focused primarily on Africa to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. The current budget for PEPFAR is $6.75 billion, with the total spending on the program since its inception being $72.7 billion. Since the start of PEPFAR, new HIV infections have declined between 41 percent (in Swaziland) and 76 percent (in Malawi). But as the U.S. government notes, PEPFAR has an impact beyond HIV/AIDS. As a recent report to Congress observed, PEPFAR’s investments in countries with sizable HIV/AIDS burdens have “bolstered their ability to swiftly address Ebola, avian flu, cholera, and other outbreaks, which ultimately protects America’s borders.” The program has also enhanced global health security, accelerating the progress toward a world more secure from infectious disease threats.

This Week at the ERLC

We’re thrilled that Christianity Today awarded its 2019 Book of the Year Award to Russell Moore’s The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home.
Executive VP Phillip Bethancourt attended the Wheaton College GC2 Summit which focused on responding to sexual harassment, abuse, and violence. Speakers included Beth Moore, Christine Caine, Max Lucado, Eugene Cho, and Ed Stetzer. You can view the event site here.
Travis Wussow and Andrew Walker were in Geneva this week at the United Nations advocating for the persecuted church in China and North Korea.
We sent the latest issue of ERLC’s Light Magazine off to the printer. This issue’s topic focuses on leadership and biblical ethics. You can expect it before the New Year!
Russell Moore joined Prison Fellowship’s Senior VP Craig DeRoche to film a video focusing on the importance of criminal justice reform and human dignity.

What You Need to Know

Is there a loneliness epidemic? Russell Moore says there is and that it shows up in ways that we don’t quite expect. Read his full article here.

Where there are not real communities, where people are genuinely connected via neighborhoods or churches or unions or civic organizations, people craving connection will seek to find substitutes, often through the hive-mind of social media or through the debased artificiality of pornography or, sometimes, even through violent, radical movements.

Jennifer Nelson says one way you can help children of incarcerated parents is through Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program. It reminds children they’re not alone and helps keep them connected to their loved one(s). Find out how you can get involved here.

Richard was released for the second time in 2011. . . . He often shares the lessons he learned about humility, and clinging to God for the strength to face each day’s challenges, no matter how big. “I try to tell people, trying to live life without God is like trying to have someone work on your car [who] has never seen a car before,” he says. “They are just guessing, trying to find their way to what’s going on, and they have no clue.”

Brittany Salmon has 9 great book suggestions for the child in your life this Christmas. If you’re looking for resources that will enlarge your child’s heart toward the Lord, one of these books might be for you!

Christmas time is here and like most people, I’ve already started gathering gifts for family and friends. Every year we fill our kids’ stockings with odds and ends: toothbrushes, little trinkets, silly putty, tiny stuffed animals, and always a book. Sometimes it’s a holiday book; other times it’s a book we think they’d enjoy. But every year I start perusing the children’s literature in search of the right book for each child that Christmas.

Rumors have recently been circulating regarding Google, China, and human rights. Jason Thacker explains to us what’s been going on and helps us think wisely about it. Check it out here.

It remains to be seen what the long game is for Google concerning Project Dragonfly and plans for the search app for China. It is concerning, however, that the U.S.-based tech giant would be openly considering working with the Chinese government to propagate censorship, anti-democratic values, and surveil the Chinese people, while not providing clear answers to Congress about its U.S. practices that are potentially politically biased and contain misinformation.

News From Capitol Hill

The ERLC policy team is encouraged at the positive movement to bring the First Step Act to the Senate floor for debate and votes in December. The ERLC joined a coalition letter led by Prison Fellowship, which was signed by over 40 organizations and delivered to all House and Senate offices this week, urges Congress to “advance this legislation to the President’s desk before the end of session.” The letter notes the reforms in this bill which aim to “right-size sentences and improve our prisons’ rate of return.” The letter concludes its case with the following:

Federal prisons should provide opportunities for men and women behind bars to make amends and earn back the public’s trust. Federal sentences should be just and proportional, holding people accountable in a manner that is consistent with their culpability. This legislation will allow men and women in our federal prisons to return home sooner and better prepared to give back to their families and communities at their highest potential.

The First Step Act passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 360-59 in May, gained a White House endorsement in November, and currently boasts the bipartisan co-sponsorship of 33 Senators. Overwhelming consensus is rare in Washington, but this bill proves that agreement on a step forward is possible when the policy reforms are sound. The ERLC calls on the Senate to pass the First Step Act and for leaders in both chambers of Congress to send a finalized bill to the President's desk to be signed before the end of the year.

Featured Podcasts

For this special two-part series of Capitol Conversations, Russell Moore teaches on Christian ethics. These lectures were recorded live in Washington, D.C., at the ERLC Academy on the Hill events earlier in 2018. In part one, Moore gives an introduction to Christian ethics. And in part two, he teaches about the role of conscience in battling temptation.

Russell Moore is often asked how he chooses the books he reads or how he reads the books he chooses. He answers these questions in the latest episode of Signposts.

From The Public Square

Virginia high school teacher fired for refusing to use transgender student's new pronouns
Graham Moomaw, Richmond Times-Dispatch

A Virginia high school teacher was fired Thursday for refusing to use a transgender student’s new pronouns, a case believed to be the first of its kind in the state.

Mainstream Media Continues to Miss Story on America’s Abortion Decline
Michael J. New, National Review

In late November, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released updated abortion data for the year 2015. Overall, the news was good.

What Faith-Based Efforts Can Do to Help Prevent Veteran Suicide
Steven Bucci, The Daily Signal

Faith-based programs have a strong record in preventing veteran suicide, but the military doesn't offer any.

China continues persecuting church members
Onize Ohikere, WORLD

Chinese officials on Tuesday continued to crack down on members of the Early Rain Covenant Church after a Sunday night raid.

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