You may be thinking, What can the Church do? The answer is, a lot more than you think! I believe the local church is the only organization that can eradicate this disease. The six ways congregations can attack AIDS are expressed in the acrostic C.H.U.R.C.H.
Care for and comfort the sick
Churches are commanded to care. It is their calling. Love leaves no choice! Local congregations are the only caring organization found in every community around the world. Members can offer physical and emotional care in homes and in the community.
Help test and counsel
Churches are the most trusted organizations in villages and towns, so people are more willing to be tested and counseled there. Just being tested has proven to promote healthier behavior. Members can be trained to give medical, emotional, vocational, and family counsel to those receiving results from their testing. They can also offer pre-treatment preparation and treatment education to the entire family.
Unleash an army of volunteers
Churches have the largest volunteer labor force on the planet -- 2.1 billion members. What if just half of those could be mobilized? There arent enough professionals in the world to teach prevention, administer treatment, and offer care to those who need it. There is an enormous pool of untapped talent, energy, and relationships sitting unused in churches.
Remove the stigma
Churches are best positioned to remove any shame and stigma. Churches
offer faith, hope, love, forgiveness, and grace spiritual support which neither business nor government can offer. In many parts of the world, if the church says youre OK, youre OK!
Champion healthy behavior
HIV/AIDS is a behavior-based disease, making it 100% preventable. Churches have the moral credibility to challenge high-risk lifestyles, and teach the moral motivation for abstinence and faithfulness. To resist peer pressure and relapse, faithfulness requires faith.
Hand out meds and nutrition
The church has the largest distribution network on the planet. It is universal, and it is already in place! Millions of villages have a church, but nothing else. The only way for treatment to become universal is to develop a church-based treatment model. NGOs come and go, but churches are permanent community fixtures. Members can be trained to distribute ARVs and other meds, vitamins, and food.
Do you see how your church can now make a difference?
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