HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Each week, AIDS claims as many lives as American fatalities in the Vietnam War. Since its discovery, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, nearly ten times the number of earthquake casualties in the last century.1

AIDS has also claimed the lives of more people than the Black Plague in the 14th century and the 20 million who died from the 1918 flu epidemic. The number of people living with HIV rose from around 8 million in 1990 to nearly 39 million worldwide in 2005, and the number is climbing.2

AIDS touches individuals of every race, gender, and economic level. AIDS sufferers may be your father, daughter, next-door neighbor, boss, or strangers in virtually every country in the world.

HIV and AIDS in Your Community

Citizens near the Great Lakes are also affected by HIV and AIDS. However, estimates could be higher because HIV infections remain undiagnosed (or anonymously undiagnosed and unreported). Statistics from major cities more closely reveal the AIDS impact in our territory (see www.avert.org).

Many individuals with HIV or AIDS are confronted with discrimination, misconceptions, and ignorance. They are often isolated at times when human intervention could provide tangible assistance and needed emotional support.

Many individuals do not become involved with HIV or AIDS sufferers because they believe it will bring shame upon the family or community, they are scared of contracting HIV, they fear the behaviors associated with the disease, or their religious beliefs lead them to assume that personal irresponsibility deserves to be punished indefinitely.

The Adventist church, other Christian organizations, private foundations, and world governments attempt to combat the stigma of this disease. However, as Christians, we need to do more to extend the healing ministry of Christ.

Adventists with HIV and AIDS

One in six regularly attending Seventh-day Adventist members in North American has a relative or close friend who is HIV-positive.3 The "Adult Program Guide" published by Adventist Development & Relief Agency International (ADRA) suggests to: “Look at the children sitting in the pews next Sabbath morning, and count to 12. The odds are that one in 12 will become HIV-positive. When that problem develops years from now, they won’t be in church listening to you, so whatever it is that you want to say to them, you need to say it now!”

Just as important, we need to communicate better about caring for those with the virus or disease. This month, ADRA launches a new section on its website, which will offer information about HIV and AIDS education, prevention, and care for afflicted children (see www.adra.org).

ADRA also commemorates World AIDS Day annually on December 1 to join the global effort to stop AIDS. ADRA president Charles Sandefur said, “A disease that has killed 25 million people concerns everyone, everywhere. AIDS can be stopped only when we realize it’s everyone’s challenge.”4

ADRA offers a World AIDS Day Kit to give facts to you, your church, community, or school group, to help make a difference. The kit includes a poster, "Adult Program Guide," "Youth Program Guide," and "Announcement Sheet." Commemorative red ribbons and videos are also available.

Responses to HIV/AIDS Challenges

Sandefur and the authors of ADRA's online resources suggest ways to take up the HIV and AIDS challenge as your own. Excerpts from ADRA's online resources follow.

Pick up resources from local AIDS counseling or testing centers, check out library books, or talk to health care professionals who works with AIDS patients.

Make HIV and AIDS resources available at your church and school, and on your Web site.

Organize a program to teach young people about healthy lifestyle choices and at-risk behaviors.

Offer creative writing, speech, or poster competitions on the topic of HIV or AIDS.

Address discriminatory and uninformed comments that stigmatize people who are HIV-positive. Share the facts and make it clear you will not tolerate unkind or unjust attitudes. Encourage and model sensitivity and compassion.

Write letters or articles for faith-based journals or newspapers, emphasizing the need for religious groups to provide a compassionate response and advocate for the rights of HIV and AIDS sufferers.

March in the yearly AIDS Walk, a fund-raising campaign to help those with AIDS in your community. Consider wearing a T-shirt with a loving message that identifies your group.

Volunteer for a local AIDS ministry, which often delivers meals or offers support groups. Or start a support group for people who are HIV-positive and/or their family members, friends, and survivors of people with AIDS. Allow time for sharing personal stories, feelings, swapping information, and praying with one another. Invite health care professionals to give presentations and answer questions.

Take a shift at an AIDS hospice or relieve a family member caring for a person with AIDS. Organize and train a volunteer team to provide counseling and support.

Visit and pray with AIDS sufferers. Offer to bring food, pick up groceries or medicine, do laundry or yard work, or other household chores.

Operate a food pantry or meals-on-wheels program especially designed for those struggling with AIDS.

Take a special offering for ADRA’s worldwide HIV and AIDS initiatives, or partner with community organizations fighting AIDS.

Select projects to really impact HIV and AIDS sufferers or help prevent growth of the disease. In ADRA's 2007 The Original Really Useful Gift Catalog, for just a few dollars, you can help a woman widowed by the AIDS pandemic to start a small business, give a hot lunch to a Namibian child orphaned by AIDS, save one Brazilian street youth from drug addiction, feed a South African child living with HIV or AIDS, save a girl in Thailand from sexual exploitation, and much more. To order the catalog, call 800-424-ADRA (2372), or view the catalog online at www.adra.org.

Several Bible verses implore us to become involved with human crises such as the HIV and AIDS challenges. One such verse, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these … you did for me,” reminds me of the significance Jesus places on each life (see Matthew 25:40 NIV).

Another convicting text is “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1 NRSV).

I long for the day Jesus will comfort those who mourn, wipe away every tear from our eyes, and restore our body and mind to His image, don’t you? Why not be the hand of God today, and wipe a few tears away for Him? Help someone with HIV or AIDS experience His loving-kindness, forgiveness, and grace in a tangible way.

Diane Thurber is the Lake Union Herald managing editor.

1. Source: www.worldvision.org

2. Source: www.worldvision.org

3. Source: www.adra.org

4. Source: www.adra.org