AIDS Ministry Serves As a Means of Reconciliation
“We looked around and didn’t see anybody doing anything about it.”
So said Mission to the World (MTW) missionary Andy Warren about caring for HIV/AIDS patients living in the slums of Ethiopia.
“We saw a lot of people talking about the problem, but no one addressing the needs of the poorest of the poor.”
Andy and Bev Warren, who serve as both MTW and Serving in Mission (SIM) missionaries, moved to Addis Ababa 12 years ago and began ministering to HIV/AIDS patients in 2002. Their AIDS Care and Treatment (ACT) project focuses on caring for HIV-positive patients and their families.
“We started small—just going into homes in the slums, making sure people got fed, their rent was paid, household tasks were done,” said Warren. Now ACT is the lead agency for HIV care in the country, employing 75 Ethiopian staff in 14 health centers and hospitals, and counseling some 10,000 patients each year.
“Our care has had so much success that the government has asked us to take over,” said Warren. “There’s no limit on what we’ll do for our patients. We tell them, ‘If there’s a legitimate need you have, we’ll meet it.’”
So said Mission to the World (MTW) missionary Andy Warren about caring for HIV/AIDS patients living in the slums of Ethiopia.
“We saw a lot of people talking about the problem, but no one addressing the needs of the poorest of the poor.”
Andy and Bev Warren, who serve as both MTW and Serving in Mission (SIM) missionaries, moved to Addis Ababa 12 years ago and began ministering to HIV/AIDS patients in 2002. Their AIDS Care and Treatment (ACT) project focuses on caring for HIV-positive patients and their families.
“We started small—just going into homes in the slums, making sure people got fed, their rent was paid, household tasks were done,” said Warren. Now ACT is the lead agency for HIV care in the country, employing 75 Ethiopian staff in 14 health centers and hospitals, and counseling some 10,000 patients each year.
“Our care has had so much success that the government has asked us to take over,” said Warren. “There’s no limit on what we’ll do for our patients. We tell them, ‘If there’s a legitimate need you have, we’ll meet it.’”
The Warrens’ work through ACT includes everything from making sure the sick see a doctor to providing watches and pillboxes to remind patients to take their medications to helping provide money for patients’ children to attend school. They also organize the sick into support groups so that they can learn from and help one another.
“Our counselors coach patients with medical information, positive living teaching, and spiritual guidance,” said Warren. “And we train ‘expert patients,’ who are also HIV-positive, to reach out to those who have just been diagnosed.”
Warren sees ACT’s HIV/AIDS ministry as a means of reconciliation. “We tell our staff all the time that the Fall has affected everything, and that we’re here to bring reconciliation through the gospel—reconciliation with God, with others, and with creation, by fighting disease.”
He cites ministries of compassion as the way early Christianity spread. “Everyone else fled the cities when disasters occurred—fires, earthquakes, plagues. But the Christians stayed and cared for people and buried the dead. They became famous for it, and that’s the reason Christianity grew the way it did.”
Warren’s MTW church-planting team has recently added new members, including a doctor, and has future plans to expand their ministry.
“We’re hoping to help those with tuberculosis and terminal illness, and we’d like to try to reduce infant mortality,” he said. “We’re really like to reach the whole community—not just those with AIDS.”
“Our counselors coach patients with medical information, positive living teaching, and spiritual guidance,” said Warren. “And we train ‘expert patients,’ who are also HIV-positive, to reach out to those who have just been diagnosed.”
Warren sees ACT’s HIV/AIDS ministry as a means of reconciliation. “We tell our staff all the time that the Fall has affected everything, and that we’re here to bring reconciliation through the gospel—reconciliation with God, with others, and with creation, by fighting disease.”
He cites ministries of compassion as the way early Christianity spread. “Everyone else fled the cities when disasters occurred—fires, earthquakes, plagues. But the Christians stayed and cared for people and buried the dead. They became famous for it, and that’s the reason Christianity grew the way it did.”
Warren’s MTW church-planting team has recently added new members, including a doctor, and has future plans to expand their ministry.
“We’re hoping to help those with tuberculosis and terminal illness, and we’d like to try to reduce infant mortality,” he said. “We’re really like to reach the whole community—not just those with AIDS.”
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