Acts of Faith
Caputo’s novel Acts of Faith takes place in Sudan, Africa, where wars seem to be the "permanent crisis." Different relief organizations from America and other parts of the world attempt to lessen the suffering of the Sudanese tribal people by flying food and medical supplies into remote settlements. But weapons are also needed, and most of the foreign relief workers find it difficult to adjust to such a civil war. Most of them find that it is "...inhuman not to take sides," and even more challenging, that "Neutrality is just another word for cowardice."
Fitzhugh is a mixed-race African who had worked for the UN, but now is employed by an independent airline, Knight Air Services, that flies needed supplies to various villages in the Sudan country. Most of these flights are to help the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army and have to be done without the Sudan government or their warlords' knowing.
Religious groups are also active in Sudan. Quinette, a young woman who in her small Iowa church accepted Christ as her savior, goes to Africa as part of the Worldwide Christian Union which helps buy off poorer black slaves and return them to their native homes. To her, any relief work was a form of religion and an act of faith. But falling in love with a black officer in the SPLA rebels was an act of faith, also.
Phyllis, a TV correspondent for CNN, enjoyed getting in touch with the different non-profit relief groups to find out what they hoped to accomplish. She visited some of the remote settlements of Sudan and based stories on her photographs and personal interviews. She questioned Quinette on her religious activities and decided such "... belief is a virus."
Mixed in with the conflicts and half-truths about war and which people needed to be saved, three of the main characters of the novel had romance problems, also. Age and race differences were ignored. But Michael, the black SPLA rebel, warned Quinette that "Love is the enemy of wisdom."
Philip Caputo gives a vivid and timely picture of the African civil war problems. Much of the dialogue in the story is challenging and goes beyond fiction. Acts of Faith was published in 2005.