“If we can bring in some light, the darkness will not overcome the light, and that’s where faith is. We believe that,” says Lyn Lusi, who has spent her professional life in medical care for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As the debate over the federal budget continues in Washington, religious leaders such as Jim Wallis of Sojourners are urging members of both parties to protect the poor. "A budget is a moral document," he says, "and the common good has to outweigh ideological political battles in this town."

"It's in the people around us who are the most vulnerable where we are going to see the face of God," says Nelson Kraybill, president of Elkhart's Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.