As you may know, today is World AIDS Day and by the end of today at least 6000 will have died from the complications related to it. Approximately 40 million people around the world have it, 25 million are in Africa, majority are women and children.This year’s theme is No Child Born With Aids by 2015.
A few years ago while we were getting ready for our mission trip to serve at an AIDS camp in Nassau, Bahamas, I shared some of these statistics at a coffee shop and one person said, “40 million isn’t that bad considering the world has 6 billion people.” And had I not cut him off, I fear he would have continued by saying something like “And we all die of something”. Yep, but let us not die from stupidity or apathy or preventable diseases. I did manage to explain that the number would be higher but almost 3 million die from it a year but I think he stopped listening.
Some of you know me and you hear me talking about supporting clean water campaigns, fighting human trafficking, and among other things, sharing the good news of Jesus and I know some people get tired of that. Our world has problems and I worship a God that is loving and read a Bible who among its major themes is the idea of redemption. I know that sounds so self-righteousness and while I seek forgivness and humility, may we be united in sharing hope and goodness to others.
Because of my faith, these problems and crises are heartbreaking to me and this brings some motivation and frankly, I need more and I pray that I can be found in my community. Further because of Jesus, we as Christians must be among those who lead the way to help those in need, those in pain, and those that are dying.
I used to think these types of days required me to donate a lot of money or that in order to truly support these types of causes, one must leave their profession and get directly involved. And that may be your calling, I don’t know, but I do believe that even if you are not conducting clinics on the prevention of AIDS in places like Kenya or working on a vaccination, you can still be involved. Here’s where you can begin:
Seek a heart that truly loves people and allow it to be broken by the pain of others. The compassion of Jesus is so obvious in the gospels and we as believers must reflect that.
Destroy the Excuses – “What can I really do?” and “It’s not going to make a difference” and my favorite one, “Didn’t they already try to solve that?”. At the minimum, everyone has a part to play.
Educate and create awareness. There are so many sites, books, and resources. Here are a few:
Blood: Water Mission particularly this page.
World Aids Campaign
One – You can check out Bono’s special message here.
AIDS.gov
The Red Campaign
Watch Documentaries like Pandemic: Facing AIDS. (Available on Netflix).
Even Do Some of Your Christmas Shopping Through the Red Campaign
Give What You Should. For my family, it’s a prayerful question that begins with, “What is our part in this?”
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