Non-Christians need not apply

World Vision continues faith-based hiring as it pulls in $250 million in US grants. Obama vowed to change that. Why hasn't he?
By Krista J. Kapralos
Published: January 11, 2010 07:30 ET in NGOs
Indonesian students sing a song during a trauma healing exercise organized by World Vision at their school which was damaged in an earthquake at Kampung Timbalun in Padang, West Sumatra province, Oct. 6, 2009. For decades, World Vision has fought poverty and famine. Critics fault the organization for refusing to hire non-Christians to staff its $250 million in annual programs funded by U.S. taxpayers. (Dadang Tri/Reuters) Click to enlarge photo

BAMAKO, Mali — For a year and a half, Bara Kassambara kept his mouth shut.

Every day, all of his coworkers paused for prayer time. There were frequent Bible studies, and constant talk about Jesus. Kassambara attended the required events, but otherwise quietly focused on his work: bringing clean water to rural Mali.

“I think many people at World Vision just believed that I was a Christian,” said Kassambara, a Muslim in a predominantly Islamic country.

Fluent in English and with years of development work on his resume, World Vision hired Kassambara to work on the West Africa Water Initiative — a project to provide safe drinking water to stave off water-borne diseases that run rampant in the region.

It was a rare hire for World Vision, Kassambara said; he only got the job because it was a temporary position. When World Vision stepped down as lead agency on the project in late 2008, Kassambara took a similar job with another organization.

[Passport: Inside the faith-based discrimination controversy]

“The goal of World Vision is clearly written: to promote Christianity worldwide,” Kassambara said. “I knew this was going on. I knew the rules of the game. If their goal is to promote Christianity, why should they hire a Muslim?”

World Vision, based outside of Seattle, is one of the largest recipients of development grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal government’s foreign aid arm. The organization received $281 million in U.S. grants in 2008, up from $220 million in 2007 and $261 million in 2006, according to World Vision documents. Those grants, amounting to about a quarter of the organization’s total U.S. budget, came in the form of both cash and food.

The organization employs about 40,000 people worldwide.

Charity Navigator, which ranks charities based on efficiency, lists World Vision as a “super-sized charity,” with $1.1 billion in expenses in 2008, and gave it four stars — the best possible ranking. Throughout Mali, Christians and Muslims alike praise World Vision for bringing food and clean water to hungry people — the organization "extends assistance to all people, regardless of their religious beliefs," according to its website. Malians credit the organization with staving off starvation and helping rural villages develop agriculture. If the group ever leaves Mali, people there say they would be devastated.

World Vision officials say the organization does not proselytize, just that they decline to separate their work from their faith. "We do want to be witnesses to Jesus Christ by life, word, deed and sign,” said Torrey Olsen, World Vision’s Senior Director for Christian Engagement. That wouldn’t be possible, he said, unless the organization’s workers were Christians.

Under U.S. law, World Vision points to civil rights protections that allow religious organizations to hire employees based on their faith. This is an uncontroversial protection of religious freedom, given that churches obviously need Christian staff to carry out their missions, just as synagogues need Jews and Mosques Muslims.

But such religious institutions are typically funded by their followers. The controversial question is whether it’s a violation of the First Amendment to exclude on the basis of religion when U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill, a practice that became increasingly common during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

As a candidate, President Barack Obama promised to end such discrimination. So far, he has not.

And so for now in Mali, World Vision’s hiring practices mean that for many of the best qualified candidates, most jobs are off-limits.

Kassambara said he didn’t deny being a Muslim when asked, but kept quiet about his faith because a job with a stable, well-funded employer like World Vision is a rarity in this landlocked nation, one of the world’s poorest. There are few decent jobs here, and the government struggles to keep its most educated citizens from moving abroad.

World Vision only hires non-Christians if a qualified Christian can’t be found. According to its website, “World Vision U.S. has the right to, and does, hire only candidates who agree with World Vision’s Statement of Faith and/or the Apostle’s Creed,” referring to an oft-quoted Christian doctrinal statement.

Fabiano Franz, World Vision’s national director for Mali, said that jobs held by non-Christians are considered temporary. “There’s no encouragement for a career here if you’re not a Christian,” he said.

Franz argued that separation of church and state is an American concept that doesn’t translate well to many other cultures. In Mali, and in other countries throughout the world, he said, faith is integrated into daily life. An attempt to separate faith and practice in Mali, he said, would be foreign and confusing to those receiving aid. “If you’re a committed Christian, you shouldn’t have this separation between your faith and your work,” he said.

“We’re very clear from the beginning about hiring Christians,” Franz said. “It’s not a surprise, so it’s not discrimination.”

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a longer article on Passport, GlobalPost’s premium content section. To read the rest of the article, and to learn more about President Obama’s unfulfilled promise to end taxpayer-supported evangelical discrimination, please join Passport. Your membership helps GlobalPost support its worldwide journalism.

This article was supported by a grant from the International Center for Journalists.

The subhead of this article has been updated. It previously read "World Vision hires only Christians under its $250 million in US government foreign aid grants." As noted in the story, the organization gives preferential treatment to Christians, but hires non-Christians for temporary positions as needed, and about 20 percent of World Vision International's staff is non-Christian. Also, World Vision asked GlobalPost to point out a) that World Vision does not infringe upon the rights of its non-Christian employees to worship freely in the workplace around the world; and b) that while the West Africa Water Initiative referenced in the article received grant money from USAID, World Vision's participation was privately funded (the organization's hiring policy is the same for both publicly and privately funded projects).

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who is more radical,

Submitted by socceroo on January 11, 2010 14:26 .

who is more radical, Christians or Muslims?

Who is more radical,

Submitted by heckflosse23 on January 15, 2010 13:54 .

Who is more radical, Christians or Muslims?

Muslims are radically depraved, that's for sure.

What a stupid question, in the context you mean it.

Actually I don't think that

Submitted by Derrick on May 18, 2010 06:34 .

Actually I don't think that this question is stupid anyway. And we can't surely tell that one of this two religions is more radical than another. Because the radical thinking is burning in the minds of each separate person. And even I'm, Dr Derrick Palm, can be radical or not despite I do not belong to any of this religions! So, the question is who is more weakness from the point of view that church has...

It depends on who is calling

Submitted by Wafula on June 28, 2010 09:29 .

It depends on who is calling who radical

This article is amazing. It's

Submitted by bluebombbuster on January 11, 2010 15:57 .

This article is amazing. It's author has so eloquently told a side of the story I had never thought of before. As someone who has participated in similar christian organizations, I find myself re-evaluating the ethics portrayed and the true dedication to their mission statement. I find myself torn. I understand the blind can not lead the blind. Meaning if the ultimate goal is to spread christianity, christians must be spreading it. I get it World Vision... but can't that also be done within the organization? If a child is hungry you give him food, a man thirsty you give him water. If a man needs a job... employment. What better way to build a personal relationship, spread Gods love, and meet the need? Think of the difference it could make in the community...a man is able to provide for his family by providing for his community. All the while intertwining himself in a christian organization, emerged in bible studies and prayer. Sounds like a win-win to me...so whats the problem? ...I would love to hear what other insight and experiences Krista K. has on this topic.

I'll have to agree with you

Submitted by grill on May 9, 2010 11:00 .

I'll have to agree with you and I liked the analogy about dealing with hunger by providing food and dealing with unemployment by providing jobs. Well, I am sure that Obama is trying to do his best in this situation, but you just can't judge a person if you haven't been in his shoes.

The president can't deal with all the nation's problems at the same time, he is just a human being like everybody else.

Public funding of World

Submitted by Chris Highland on January 11, 2010 16:00 .

Public funding of World Vision should cease immediately. President Obama needs to act decisively. Tax money should never be used to propagate one faith over another. This support should never have been allowed.

But it is okay to use tax

Submitted by psychsecty on January 15, 2010 22:31 .

But it is okay to use tax money to fund abortions?

What the heck does abortion

Submitted by olsonlev on January 16, 2010 15:00 .

What the heck does abortion funding have to do with this?

World Vision is accomplishing

Submitted by angelinabattle on January 11, 2010 16:01 .

World Vision is accomplishing something that completely tax-funded social programs can't. Why not allow tax-payer money to go toward an organization with a business model that is sound with proven results?

Oh wait, we should continue to throw that money toward incompetent, mismanaged programs that don't discriminate at all...**at least not outwardly**. That really makes sense.

What's sad is how much I looked forward to a truly unbiased news source...not one that leans left or right. Just report the facts as they stand. There is such obvious anti-Christian bias from this reporter. My decision about becoming a Passport member has been made.

Almost 60 NGOs opposed to

Submitted by alexanderkaufman on January 11, 2010 17:18 .

Almost 60 NGOs opposed to religious discrimination in certain faith-based charities' hiring practices appealed to US Attorney General Holder in Sept. 2009 to fulfill Obama's campaign promise to "curtail federal funding to religious organizations that proselytize and that hire only people who are members of the same faith," according to The Washington Post (http://www.urltwit.com//la)

Since our constitution

Submitted by Theresa on January 11, 2010 18:56 .

Since our constitution guarantees a separation of church and state such organizations should not receive ANY government assistance. They do quite well at fleecing their sheep and that should be sufficient for them. To give them tax payer money is to undermine the protection of the rights of those who do not believe in their religion. We are forced to support religious activities through taxation. Secular, governmental support for aid to poor countries could easily replace our reliance on organizations whose purpose is to evangelize. Our president has refused to keep most of his campaign promises. He is a great disappointment to many and this will probably result in the Democrats losing control of congress.

Very thought provoking and

Submitted by Debbie on January 11, 2010 19:14 .

Very thought provoking and troubling. Thank you for facts about World Vision and U S aid money. As a Christian I understand what WV is doing, but with tax money? Yes, they have a vehicle in place to quickly aid many people, and more effectively than a government agency. Does that make it right? World Vision is helping many people, I applaud them. Is it ethical for them to use tax money in the name of God? It's a difficult issue, with no simple answer.

Excellent article. Great

Submitted by Apuleius Platonicus on January 12, 2010 17:20 .

Excellent article. Great investigative work and great writing. I guess journalism isn't dead after all.

People in the US and around the world really need to know about this. One of the key buzzwords of the West African Water Supply Initiative is "sustainability". But how can a project be sustainable when it is run by people who, as a matter of policy, exclude 90% of the local population from any consideration for hiring (Mali is 90% Muslim)? It's crazy -- unless you are really only interested in winning souls to Jebus, and the whole clean water thang is just a ruse.

What the reaction to this

Submitted by pennysworth@yah... on January 14, 2010 19:10 .

What the reaction to this story from the White House? The U.N.? Victims of the incessant proselytizing from the group we used to called Blurred Visions when we were on the Thai-Cambodian border? I used to watch in amazement as the poor, terrorized Cambodian refugees, having just got away with their lives from the Kymer Rouge, had first to withstand singing Christian hymns--in English--before they could get a morsel of food.

Soulless, deluded loons!

The Muslim should have been

Submitted by heckflosse23 on January 15, 2010 13:52 .

The Muslim should have been fired.

There should have been no problem finding a job with all those large, wonderful Muslim charity organizations.

Oh wait, they've all been shut down for terrorist activities, DOH!

Keep in mind, you Christian haters, the concept of modern charities comes from Christians.

Every non-profit org that

Submitted by DanielM on January 15, 2010 19:02 .

Every non-profit org that takes federal dollars has its ideals and not every person who pays taxes agrees with all of them. While atheists, for example, may regret funding WV, I'm sure Pro-Lifers regret funding Planned Parenthood. And while you may try to separate church and state (not that you'll find that phrase in the US Constitution) you cannot separate ideals and people. There is no organization that can even do good except that it first defines what it thinks good is and then bases its activity on that defintion, which would include hiring people that agree. So then how can we ask any org to do good without defining good? Perhaps we would ask our government to define good for us. Oh, but then we would run headlong into that wall that is supposed to separate church and state.

heckflosse23's comment is

Submitted by nesa09 on January 16, 2010 20:14 .

heckflosse23's comment is simply ignorant and ridiculous.
How could you say Muslim charities are all shut down and funded by terrorists? You think all Muslims are radicals? Do some research and open your eyes. Islamic Relief USA is a huge charity organization that has right now donated $1 million to Haiti's earthquake relief.
Charity is not a Christian concept. It's a firstly, human concept and secondly, one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Zakat is charity and all Muslims must donate 2.5% of their income every year as well as on holidays and whenever possible to help the poor, needy and orphans.
Charity shouldn't be held to any specific religion. I'm not criticizing World Vision for holding faith strongly, but I don't see the point in only hiring Christians to do foreign aid and service. There aren't any Muslim charities that exclude non-Muslims from employment, as far as I know.
It's people like you that continue to spread hatred and bigotry for no good reason when everyone else is trying to work together for a common good. This guy is dedicating his life to serve and help other people and you're attacking him?
Wow. I hope you feel great about yourself....

Charity was a central feature

Submitted by Apuleius Platonicus on January 22, 2010 11:02 .

Charity was a central feature of Pagan Roman society. Christians merely took over a pre-existing system of public and private charitable institutions. The only difference was that Christians invented the idea of cynically using charity as a tool for proselytizing.

As a taxpayer, regardless of

Submitted by MachitaMeg on February 11, 2010 17:58 .

As a taxpayer, regardless of my religion, I am not comfortable with my tax dollars being distributed to a discriminatory organizaiton. If WV wants to continue their mission as such, they can continue to recieve their funding privately.

In addition to the editor's

Submitted by cynthia colin on February 12, 2010 12:27 .

In addition to the editor's note, I would like to point out the following corrections to this article:

1. World Vision prefers Christians as employees while serving people of all faiths.

2. World Vision International employs about 40,000 people globally.

The reason the comment about

Submitted by GraceMary on March 15, 2010 22:01 .

The reason the comment about government funded abortions is relevant is because the demand for immediate cessation of funding to World Vision raises the following question: If government is using tax dollars for funding that indirectly supports an ideology such as christianity - is that funding in contravention of the principle of separation of church and state? However, it could be argued that where the demand for immediate cessation of funding of World Vision is forwarded the same reasoning would support the immediate cessation of funding of other initiatives where such initiatives are undergirded by an ideology such as government funded abortions. And I would suggest that ideology undergirds every position with respect to social issues so that the argument for immediate cessation of funding to World Vision would necessarily call into question government funding on a plurality of intiatives.

Don't humanise the ways and

Submitted by dido on May 6, 2010 06:21 .

Don't humanise the ways and the love of God, God love the Christian and the Muslim same . Cause when he shed his blood , he shed it for humanity. Let's show them the real love of what Jesus showed. He died for those who never love him. Let's God do his work. Christian is converted through the work of the Holy spirit , Not by forcing thing , obligation or laws.
mutuelle
manga x

Let us judge NGOs whether

Submitted by Wafula on June 28, 2010 09:27 .

Let us judge NGOs whether they can deliver or not?

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