This Blog is dedicated to a church-to-church, people-in-the-pews response to the AIDS crisis in Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular.
Our vision is to facilitate this response through coordinating and blending locally-based national and international initiatives. We purpose to achieve sustainable answers to the problems of Africans infected, affected and at risk by HIV/AIDS.
We invite you to listen to what we shared with the Covenant Church family in Doylestwon, Pennsylvania recently. We were given opportunity to speak to the dynamics that are compelling us to return to Zimbabwe in response to the challenge of coordinating a national HIV/AIDS response that will work to facilitate the good work the household of faith in that nation is carrying out in the name of Christ.
This is something for our little friends ... you may remember this story ... told on this occasion to a terrific group of children in Doyleston, Pennsylvania.
Here's a brief up-date, with many thanks to our ministry partners for their faithful participation with us in this exciting endeavour.
Next month (May) will see us visiting partnering churches in the Eastern United States and being introduced to a new church family who have shown interest in the Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS vision. They've invited us to share the vision with them ... and possibly other interested church congregations in the region.
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and look for the remaining partners God has in mind to make up the rest of our team.
April 24th is going to be a great day, as a group of representatives from a number of churches gather with the Zimbabwe Alliance Task Force in Wheaton, Illinois, to celebrate the leading of the Lord thus far and prayerfully consider strategic next steps.
An Alliance is a collaborative relationship among churches, groups and individuals who commit to resourcing the realization of a shared vision.
Alliances represent a broad collaboration among the North American evangelical community working in concert with TEAM and her partners to multiply the effectiveness of ministry projects. An effective alliance provides long-term sustainability to a ministry project by providing a wide range of resources and skills.
Alliances proactively serve as advocates for TEAM's worldwide ministry projects by communicating and resourcing the vision and strategy of the project. They communicate and coordinate with the on-site field leaders.
What happens at a summit to launch an alliance?
Members and representatives of the ministry project, including the steering committee, will present to the summit attendees updated reports on the status of the work. Everyone present will participate in a time of prayer to thank the Lord for the blessings reported and to align their hearts with His is regards to the needs of the project.
In the world of global compassionate response, there's a very fine line between "Helping" and "Hurting."
Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert's recent book, When Helping Hurts, is a must read for caring compassionate people who feel compelled to respond to profound human crises around the world.
In his editorial review, Joel Belz (founder of World Magazine) writes, "(Corbett and Fikkert) suggest that a comprehensively biblical worldview is essential to set things straight - a worldview that includes both individuals and systems.
In both cases - individual and systemic - the Fikkert-Corbett approach insists on dividing the process into three stages: (1) Relief, or the urgent and temporary provision of aid; (2) Rehabilitation, or the restoration of people and communities, after the 'bleeding' has stopped; and (3) Development, or the promotion of an empowering process alongside the people being helped.
'One of the biggest mistakes North American churches make - by far,' say the authors, "- is applying relief in situations where rehabilitation or development is the appropriate intervention'."
For an excellent three-part review of When Helping Hurts, see what Kevin DeYoung (a pastor from East Lansing MI) has to say at http://chalmers.org/when-helping-hurts/reviews.php
We are committed to these response principles in our facilitative relationship with local national churches in Zimbabwe and within our network of global partnerships.
Read about the amazing properties of the "Moringa Tree," and watch Youtube videos (see links below) that speak of the way the various parts of the Moringa tree are being used with great success in meeting the needs of malnourished and vulnerable people.
As you have opportunity, please consider the excellent response to the issue of "When the task is too big."
Moses' comments and God's responses are so very pertinent to the lives of those of us who are engaged in HIV/AIDS response ... especially to workers on the front-lines. As you read and reflect personally, please take a moment to pray for people you know who are standing in the gap. Sometimes a combination of a sense of the enormity of the challenge and frustration over the degree to which "big bang" secular approaches seem to dull the cutting edges to the issue, can be very discouraging.
There is no way that statistics can tell the whole story ... especially in parts of the world where people not only live in isolated regions but are further isolated by a deeply ingrained disinclination to talk to anyone about things that are traditional taboo. In Africa, that disinclination is very real when it comes to HIV infection and speaking to the ravages of AIDS.
In spite of this, statistics still point .. at least ... in the direction of general trends. This seems to be the case when it comes to the numbers recently reported by the UNAids assessment of the global condition with regard to HIV/AIDS.
One very fascinating trend seems to suggest that HIV infection is no longer the death sentence it once was. Well-nourished people who are able to take ARV drugs every day can contemplate a happy and productive future. Documented cases prove that it is even possible to bring a CD4 count low enough to be able to produce HIV-free families.
That is all the more reason why we need to continue to work hard to destroy stigma and contribute to sustainable improvement of human nutrition and availability of affordable anti-retroviral drugs.
There is a lot to read and take in with regard to this UNAids report. You will notice, though, that while more people are living positively with HIV than ever before, the number of new infections is on the decline. We see that as good news.
