Some conservative congressmen sighed when the House of Representatives on July 19 passed on a 233-198 vote H.R. 7, the legislative vehicle for President Bush's faith-based initiative. The bill, in their view, had been so weakened in the process of picking up some liberal votes that it was barely worth voting for, because it was unlikely to help the religious groups that Mr. Bush himself had praised the most.

Chicago-Over the past eight years I've been occasionally writing columns about church-based poverty-fighting successes. I've tried to describe programs accurately, praise the unknown heroes who are God's instruments in changing lives, and maybe inspire others to go and do likewise.

Presenting good news, though, can backfire among those immersed in bad. A pastor friend of mine said he liked reading about successes in WORLD but, despite effort, did not see many in his own backyard. Was he doing something wrong?

Ottawa-Last year Canada seemed like a dream to conservative evangelicals in U.S. politics. This year it's a nightmare.

Evangelicals flocked to George W. Bush's banner last year. They realized that Mr. Bush in his associations and many of his attitudes was not one of them. They understood, though, that in American politics they could do no better than a presidential candidate willing to declare his allegiance to Christ and deeply respectful of evangelical ministries.

"Be strong and courageous," Joshua told the Israelites. The word from Washington last week, as President Bush's already-weakened faith-based initiative became even weaker, was "Be timid and quaking."

Under conservative pressure, administration officials on April 10 had agreed that church-related groups applying for governmental grants would not have to segment their "religious" activities from their "non-religious" ones (see World, April 21). Last week, though, the administration bowed to liberal pressure and reversed its April position.

LEADVILLE, COLORADO-"America's not what you see on the six o'clock news," said Tom McRae, founder and CEO of The Great Race. "America's about loving God, honoring country, and singing 'God Bless America.'"

Several concerned readers have asked me about the dearth of baseball coverage so far this year. It's true: I haven't had time to meditate on the major leagues, and I'm certainly not the type of dad to drop in a mention of my youngest son Ben being the first player in his Little League to slam an over-the-fence home run.

Our cover story (p. 20) emphasizes the view from the poverty-fighting front lines, but it's important to remember that battles are being fought in every city, large and small, not just the great urban centers.