WARNING: This post passes the Shannon threshold for post length by about double. I understand if you don't read it all. I probably wouldn't.For the past few weeks, at our Sunday morning services,
Jeff has been going through a series on justice. He is wrapping the series up over the next two weeks and asked a few people that are currently involved in areas of injustice to answer a few questions about their specific area. So, since I took the time to type it all out to him, I figured I would post it here.
Give us a brief overview of the problem and what you are doing.About 40 million, that's 40,000,000, people worldwide are currently living with HIV/AIDS, and about 6,000 more people are infected every day. Approximately 60% of that 40 million live in Sub-Saharan Africa. There are about 12 million children in Africa that have been orphaned because their parents have died of HIV/AIDS. But HIV/AIDS is not just an Africa problem. It's a world problem. It's an African problem, but it's also a Raleigh problem. It's not their problem. It's my problem. It's our problem.
We are currently trying to inform and educate as many people as possible about this crisis. There are a lot of misconceptions people have about HIV/AIDS. On a local level we are partnering with
an organization that provides support and assistance to those afflicted with HIV/AIDS and their families here in the Triangle. On a global level we are trying to raise awareness and organize our ideas into a plan of how we can best put our resources and talents into action.
How is your issue addressed in the bible?In Matthew, Jesus instructs us to love our neighbor as ourself. Then, he is asked by a religious leader, "Who is my neighbor?" With the parable of the good Samaritan Jesus shows us that everyone is our neighbor. For too long,
like the priest and the Levite of Jesus' parable, we have passed by the man on the side of the road, too busy or too "holy" to involve ourselves in lending a helping hand.Jesus showed love and grace to the most overlooked and the lowest people in his society. He touched lepers and healed them when others barely saw them as human. On writer said that those afflicted with HIV/AIDS are
the lepers of our time. The stigma of the disease has kept the Church away and has left those afflicted to fend for themselves.
What was it that led you to get involved in your issue?About a year ago at this leadership conference held at Hope, I saw an interview with Bono. I had heard about Africa having problems and I had seen commercials on TV with images of children with flies on their face, but I had never seen it as my problem. In the few minutes while he talked about what was going on in Africa and the world, my eyes were opened and I began to see the things he was talking about as more than just issues in the world. I started to see the people that are suffering the injustices in the world. I started to see that I had a role to play in bringing justice to those situations, but I wasn't quite sure what that role was.
In January, I went to
another conference, in Michigan. I sat in on a breakout session there that focused on HIV/AIDS. I was shocked by the enormity of the situation. We all know that HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in Africa, but the speaker went around the globe, region-by-region, and described the situation in each area. Experts say that at the current rate of infection, within five years India would surpass Africa in the number of HIV/AIDS infections and within five more years China would surpass India.
Upon leaving that conference I was even surer that something had to be done. I was given
a book at the conference. It was the story of a man who has a faith that leads him to action. I was inspired in many ways by the book. It made me want to take more action. Soon after that, we showed the Bono interview from the conference at Visio Dei. Then, a few weeks later, Jeff talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan. He encouraged us to develop an aggressive love, not just a love that stands by as those around us suffer.
All these things, and more, have pushed me towards action in bringing justice to those, both locally and globally, that have been afflicted with HIV/AIDS.
How can people be involved?The best thing people can do is to educate themselves. Most of us took some sort of "health" class in middle or high school and learned about HIV/AIDS, but there's a good chance that most of that knowledge was forgotten soon after we left the class. Having an understanding of what HIV/AIDS is, how it is transmitted, and how it affects those who have it is a great start. Then, when you hear about people who are afflicted, you will have a better idea of what that means.
As for action, there are a few things that we have already done or started doing. Back in May we had over 20 people participate in the Triangle AIDS Walk/Ride. We also raised over $3,000 for the Alliance of AIDS Services - Carolina. We will be putting together another team after the beginning of the year with the hopes of increasing those numbers.
A few home groups have started working with AAS-C to care for those afflicted by HIV/AIDS. Our hope is to get Visio Dei involved with them doing something, at least one thing, every month. Activities can range from organizing a food pantry, to moving furniture, to painting a house, to doing yard work, to providing transportation for someone.
As I mentioned before we are still working out our global plan. We would like to find those interested and being to pool our ideas. Some ideas already in the works deal with providing support for organizations who care for orphans who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and partnering with organizations who are providing clean drinking water and sanitation for communities.
Labels: activism, church
