Forget analysing and finger-pointing – knowing how to respond to those devastated by HIV and AIDS should be something the church shines at.
The church worldwide can stop AIDS and the spread of HIV – that’s according to a new Tearfund report, Faith untapped. It's also the message that we and more than 30 of our partner agencies will take to the 28,000 delegates converging for the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto this month.
They will tell the untold story of the church’s fight against HIV and AIDS, bringing individual perspectives from the stark realities they encounter. The pandemic is no longer a crisis: it's a global disaster.
A women's group in the evangelical church in Fombe, southern Malawi, wants to start up a group to care for families affected by HIV and AIDS.
The hidden killer – and a new strategy
But where congregations and pastors have made the battle a priority, the church has become a vast network that crosses front lines, tending the sick and caring for thousands of orphans.
It is barely noticed, never mind acknowledged, by governments and major donors. And it receives little of the billions of pounds being poured into the battle against AIDS.
In places such as Uganda the day-to-day hard work of churches is fighting the disease and the social issues that invite it: ignorance, stigma and complacency – on top of extreme poverty.
The heartbeat of the church
The church in Fombe, Malawi, wants to offer support to families affected by HIV and AIDS. First they have to tackle the stigma so those who desperately need help feel able to come forward.
Paul Kabunga Katois is programme manager for Acet Uganda, a church-based organisation that Tearfund works with. For 12 years they have run AIDS-awareness activities among village communities and soldiers in war-torn rural areas.
‘The church is one of the only structures that transcend the waves of life,’ says Paul. ‘It is agile and provides the most potent and reliable mechanism to respond to AIDS across the whole spectrum of care, support and prevention. Love and compassion should be the heartbeat that motivates the church to act.’
Positive numbers
And if only every church were to act. Africa has a million churches. Kenya alone has 80,000 congregations. If each cared for 20 orphans, all the country’s 1.6 million orphans would be supported. We can all do the maths. It’s the compassion, the commitment, and above all the intent, that sees God’s love in action.
The Bishop of Nyahururu, Charles Gaikia Gaita, speaks of the Kenyan church as a well. ‘All who are thirsty come to draw water,’ he says. ‘No one should be turned away.’
Words: Jonathan Spencer