Over at The Anxious Bench blog, David Swartz of Asbury University explains the anti-communist roots of World Vision, the Christian relief agency known for its child sponsorship programs and efforts at fighting poverty and hunger among children and their families around the world. Swartz says that World Vision, founded in 1950, “operated from a posture of full-throated, flag-waving Christian Americanism.” He calls it “an authentic creation of the Cold War.”
Here is a taste:
World Vision, established in 1950 both to help Korean orphans and to stem the expansion of communism in Korea, framed the conflict in apocalyptic terms. “Like a deadly red plague spreading out in all directions,” founder Bob Pierce wrote, “the massive force of Communism has spread over the globe until today it claims over one third of the world’s population.” Pierce produced popular films called The Red Plague and The Poison of Communism. In between caring for orphans, building hospitals and supporting American GIs, World Vision staged a huge evangelistic crusade in Seoul. Pierce framed the event dramatically: “With Communist jet bombers poised only twenty seconds from Seoul as these words are written, the Seoul Crusade might well prove to be one of the most strategic evangelistic efforts of our day.” For American evangelicals in the immediate postwar era, defeating communism and spreading the gospel were companion efforts. Each utilized a rhetoric of liberty. America would protect the human rights of peoples threatened by the tyranny of Marxism. Then they would be positioned to receive spiritual liberties offered by Christ.
World Vision moved quickly past its Cold War origins. Even before the demise of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, World Vision had de-Americanized as recipient nations from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa became full partners of World Vision International. The dominance of the U.S. office was replaced by a United Nations-style confederacy. But that’s a post for another time.
This reminds me of another anti-communist crusader mentioned in Swartz’s post:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SpyppSVrmA]
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