August 11, 2006

Sarah Adams, MCC AIDS Coordinator

Here we are at day two of the Ecumenical Pre-Conference. With so many people around, it’s hard to imagine who we’ll run into next. Late yesterday, I looked up from my seat to see the project director from our AIDS partner in Nepal standing in front of me. What a delight it is to think about meeting an old friend around every corner. Hundreds of us here, connecting. Many meeting old friends. Many making new friends. All here because we’re passionate about the same cause.

Ginwell Yooma and I had the pleasure of presenting our workshop a second time today. Again, participants from around the world shared their stories and worked together to develop strategies to deal with the struggles we all face as we try to do HIV/AIDS work in the church. Read more details about the workshop. Today’s workshop discussions highlighted many barriers that we face as a church here in North America. Because my work is largely with the international church, I rarely focus on the lack of response from the North American church. While we are open to talking about the problem of AIDS in countries far away, I wonder how open we are to talking about the problem of AIDS in our own communities and in our churches here.

Participants from Latin America also shared their struggles about getting their churches to acknowledge the HIV/AIDS crisis in their midst and respond to it. What a lesson the global church has to learn from the African churches! These are churches that have struggled with the issue. These are churches that have watched their members die. These are pastors that have been forced to learn to talk about the issue in their churches. Sure, there was resistance at the beginning. Sure, it was difficult. But it happened. And it’s working. The church is now one of the leaders in the fight against AIDS in Africa.

What about us? Is this an issue we can continue to set aside, simply because we haven’t been forced to talk about it? What about me? Can I say it’s not a problem just because I don’t know anyone at my church with AIDS? And since I’ve never asked my neighbors in the pew, is that an assumption I can even make?

As I was reminded in yesterday’s opening, we have a promise to keep as a church. Can we pick and choose to whom it is we make our promise? Or is our promise to everyone? Can we make a promise to the friends and neighbors in our own communities who are silently struggling with the affects of AIDS?