AIDS in Africa: The Church Can Do So Much More
“AIDS is the biggest public health problem the world has ever faced.” In her book, The Skeptic’s Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis, author Dale Hanson Bourke goes on to say that, “An estimated three million people die each year from AIDS, a death toll that has been compared to 20 fully loaded 747s crashing every single day for a year.”
In a recent byFaithonline.com poll, nearly 88 percent of the respondents believed that Christians in the U.S.—and the Church, institutionally—have not responded to the AIDS crisis well.
According to the survey, many believe the Church’s initial reaction was fear. “There was a prevalent view that people had contracted AIDS because of their own sin,” one respondent said. “I see more of a move now toward compassion and a recognition that AIDS is often caused by the sins of others: a husband's infidelity, a government's refusal to acknowledge the crisis. [But] we still have a long way to go.”
Many survey takers talked about the lingering stigma of HIV/AIDS, and the Church’s refusal to help mitigate the disgrace that comes with the disease, or to push for “justice and reform.” Several pointed out that Jesus socialized with the lepers of his day, and that those afflicted with AIDS are the outcasts of ours. Therefore, this is an “an amazing opportunity … to serve God,” said one respondent.
Many also criticized the Church’s shortsightedness. “We tend to only see what is in front of us,” one respondent told the magazine. “If we don't see the suffering, we forget.” And forgetting, many respondents agreed, means we fail to pray, to love without judgment, and to pursue those in the AIDS community.
The majority of participants wanted to do more personally. And many hoped to see local churches get involved. One respondent told byFaith, “There is so much more that the church can be doing: collecting offerings for vaccines, sending money to care for people in hospitals, providing clean water, and sending people to work in the orphanages.”
Some respondents did see reasons to be encouraged. “I think Debbie Dortzbach of MTW is a bright spot,” one participant told byFaith, “but I don't believe her approach would be universally approved.”
More than 70 percent of the survey’s respondents believe U.S. Christians do not have a biblical attitude toward AIDS sufferers. Many of them see a lingering association of AIDS to homosexuality and God’s judgment.
“AIDS is a difficult issue for the church,” the magazine was told. “Humanly speaking, we would like to distance ourselves from the people who have this disease because we’re sickened by the way most of them contracted it. Spiritually speaking, we know we are called to minister to ‘even the least of these.’”
A number of survey takers were particularly concerned for sick children and orphans. “Perhaps we can make a difference in [the children’s] lives,” a respondent said, “and therefore … in the next generation.”
Survey Results:
Do you think U.S. Christians have responded to the African AIDS crisis properly?
Yes 22.1%
No 77.9%
Do Christians in the U.S. have a biblical attitude toward AIDS sufferers?
Yes 28.7%
No 71.3%
Should the reason for a disease affect our response to the suffering?
Yes 18.6%
No 81.4%
What first step should the Church take in response to the AIDS crisis?
Send money to organizations 45.1%
Send church members to care for the sick 4.4%
Send church members to teach the Bible 0.5%
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Danielle Krull
Holland, MI