"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house.

God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives.

God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war.

God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."

Spoken like a true preacher.

Or a rock star.

A prayer? No … and yes. These quoted words are from a speech delivered by U2 lead singer Bono at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., in February 2006.

The U2 frontman is also a social activist known for fronting an effort to end poverty and the AIDS crisis in Africa.

His speech, a call to Americans to take action in Africa, has been published as a 72-page book, "On the Move," by Thomas Nelson Publishers, a Christian publishing company.

The book's title comes from a series of phrases in Bono's speech: "Love was on the move. Mercy was on the move. God was on the move."

He was talking about disparate groups of people being moved to work with one another to fight AIDS and lobby for global healthcare assistance: "conservative church

groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community … soccer moms and quarterbacks … hip-hop stars and country stars."

"On the Move" isn't Bono's first collaboration with Thomas Nelson, which published "The aWAKE Project: Uniting Against the African AIDS crisis," in 2002. The earlier book included an essay by Bono and 20 other contributors, including Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter.

"That began our relationship with Bono," said David Moberg, senior vice president and group publisher for W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson based in Nashville, Tenn. "Also, as a publishing company, we have done some things in support of the ONE Campaign."

The ONE Campaign is a nonprofit, grass-roots effort spearheaded by Bono and others to end extreme poverty around the world. All royalties from "On the Move" will be donated to the project. The book was endorsed by Nelson Mandela, former President Bill Clinton, the Rev. Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others.

"Inspirational words from a man of faith and action," Clinton wrote. "He goes where others don't and makes us want to follow."

Moberg, who attended the National Prayer Breakfast and heard Bono's 20-minute keynote speech, said the audience — including President George W. Bush — was "captivated."

"In addition to being a rock star and having that charisma," Moberg said, "there is a deep sense of faith and compassion and passion that you sense when you hear him talk."

When Moberg returned home from Washington, D.C., co-workers who had read a transcript of the speech "thought it would be a great thing to turn into a book," he said.

The small, square (6-inch-by-6-inch) hardcover book ($12.99) with white and red text on a black background has the look of a U2 CD, thanks to art direction and design by Steve Averill and Gary Kelly of Four5One Creative, the Irish firm that creates album covers and tour artwork for the band.

The text of the speech has been edited slightly, and the book includes photos Bono took on a trip to Ethiopia with his wife, Ali, in 1985. The couple, who went to Africa without fanfare, spent three weeks volunteering in an orphanage at a refugee camp.

One of Bono's photos, of an Ethiopian boy, became the cover for "On the Move." "It would have been easy" (i.e., an effective marketing tool) to put Bono on the cover, Moberg said, but "it was an issue of sensitivity and wanting to respect Bono's wishes to make the issue front and center, not make this a celebrity book."

The overall message of "On the Move," Moberg said, comes from Bono's references to the "laws of man" vs. "higher laws" of justice and equality.

In what has almost become a mantra in his appeals to the public, Bono said the campaign to aid Africa is "not about charity, it's about justice."

He explained in his speech that "preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market … that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents … that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents … that's a justice issue."

According to DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), another advocacy group founded by Bono, every day 6,300 people die from and 8,500 contract HIV in Africa.

Bono bluntly puts figures about AIDS, malaria and other diseases into perspective. He pointed out that 150,000 people died in the 2005 tsunami in Southeast Asia. But in Africa, "150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe."

Americans, Bono said, are "good at charity," but for Africa to become self-sufficient, the U.S. and other countries need to implement fair trade policies and create a modern-day Marshall Plan for the troubled continent.

The goals of "clean water for all, school for every child, medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty — these are not just any goals. … They are the beatitudes for a globalized world," Bono said.

Moberg said he believes "On the Move" can make a difference. "It's a call to put our faith into action, moving beyond staying at a distance and offering a donation," he said.

Religious and political affiliations are irrelevant in this moral crusade. In his speech, Bono quoted Jesus' maxim to "Do unto others as you would have them do to you."

"This is not a Republican idea," Bono said. "It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor is it unique to any one faith."

We're all moving — forward or backward — together.

— On the Net: http://www.one.org.