While many in the United States are reeling under the revelation of the corruption and misuse of tax dollars by the U.S. Agency for International Development, those of us in the global church are reeling because of revelations of how USAID pushed political and cultural agendas under the guise of developmental work. We thought it was helping the poor, but actually, it was creating political conflict in many of our countries.

One major story in India is about how USAID was carrying out its transgender agenda in the city of Pune. There are too many hard questions that arise out of USAID’s flagrant involvement in cultural agendas in many nations of the world.

We know of how the U.S. government ran afoul of the governments of Uganda and Kenya when it tried to push forward the same-sex marriage agenda faster than those countries could cope, a question so new that the U.S. itself didn’t come around to it until the Obama administration. Now we know that USAID money was freely available for such programs in many parts of the world to advance a U.S. policy agenda, whatever the effects on the politics and cohesion of these developing countries, which really just needed some extra food and healthcare.

Do not misunderstand: We care for the gay community in our cultures and nations, and India itself actually has a long history of dealing with these issues. But what gives a foreign nation the right to use its money and power to supersede our own democratic processes in order to export its own agenda?

It is also shocking to learn that USAID funded media organizations both in the U.S. and around the world. Surely, this was not about freedom of speech, which is fundamental. Was the funding of the British Broadcasting Company funding of freedom of speech or the slanted BBC agenda, which has often been unfair to the Christian identity and voice and sometimes unbalanced with regard to India?

My reaction also comes from the fact that I am the archbishop of a Christian church body in India. For years, our religious opponents have attacked us by insinuating that foreign aid comes with strings attached and is motivated by a political and cultural agenda. We deny this, and we have told the truth.

But it is now clear that some foreign money was given to foster a cultural and political agenda via covert U.S. government-sponsored philanthropic work. I am relieved that none of our own church entities received a single dollar from USAID or similar foreign government aid entities.

Do folks in the U.S. realize the global damage to the U.S. reputation? And it isn’t only damaging those in America. Right now, the Christian community in India is contending with rampant anti-Christian bias among many sections of the Hindu Right, which assumes that America is a Christ-following nation and associates all aid with Christians. This USAID scandal is the last thing we need.

Allow me to be clear: I am a patriotic Indian Christian, and I, like all Indians, am opposed to any foreign aid being used against the interests of my nation and agendas controlled and initiated by foreign agencies, governmental or not. Nationals must always be in charge of their programs.

I do believe that the U.S., as the richest nation in the world, has a part to play in feeding the poor, battling AIDS, promoting education, and advancing scientific endeavors around the world. This is especially true given that much of America claims to be Christian. However, it is Christian motivation toward love and care for fellow human beings, not some ulterior agenda, that should motivate genuine and tangible care for the poor and needy around the world.

With the abrupt shutdown of USAID and foreign funding, the chaos and pain the poor and needy around the world are feeling is enormous. Millions now suffer because of the foolishness of the USAID entity and its leadership. This has led to the perception that those in power in the U.S. do not care about the world’s poor or suffering.

And what about the Christian community in the U.S.? Will they be able to wean off their dependence on the U.S. government to provide relief around the world and rise to the challenge? Will they band together to give to the world’s poor and needy to address critical needs in health, education, employment generation, and agriculture?

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There is no point in blaming others. The Christian community must search its own hearts and decide what it is going to do in a world suffering from systemic poverty. The church has always been a charitable community in its very essence. The same cannot be said of the state.

So that must once again become our call and purpose. We are not called to wait for the state to show charity. Instead, we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Archbishop Joseph D’Souza is a renowned human rights activist. He is the founder of Dignity Freedom Network, archbishop of the Anglican Good Shepherd Church of India, and president of the All India Christian Council.