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Christian Network

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in large parts of Africa continues to be off the radar screen for most American Evangelicals, this despite a staggering loss of life and the attendant creation of literally millions of children who are either orphaned, infected or both. A recent poll on charitable giving among Christians here indicated that only a small percentage would be willing to make donations towards AIDS relief efforts in that part of the world. While some of this can be accounted for by ignorance of the scope of the crises it is likely that a judgmental attitude towards those who have the illness is also a major factor.

It is true that, in Africa, the disease is transmitted primarily by illicit sex. There is the temptation to write off those who have it as having reaped what they have sown. This argument, however, assumes that God only wants us to help those who are less sinful than others. This is a dangerous assumption. It can be argued that every disease and every natural disaster is a result of original sin having caused the fall of all creation. To single out one disease, and its sufferers, as outside of grace’s reach is to quench the Spirit of mercy and provoke the anger of our God

Beyond this is the question of the children. Whether they have AIDS or have lost their parents to it these are truly innocent victims and the compassion of Christ must be aroused by their condition. Is our sense of compassion similarly affected? Judging by the numbers in the aforementioned poll, not for the majority of us.

One of the people working hardest on securing help for the suffering peoples of Africa is the Irish rock star, Bono. It is ironic that a man who is still a professed Christian, but considered apostate by many Evangelicals (due to some of his lifestyle choices), is now the international spokesman for HIV/AIDS relief in the region. Alongside Bono are many secular organizations which are doing far more than the Church in this effort. Such organizations may not be tending to the spiritual needs of Africans but they are meeting their material needs. In the spiritual vacuum left by the absence of an Evangelical witness bodies are being ministered to but not souls. American Evangelicals, by our great wealth, are in a position to meet both needs but, as of yet, only a small percentage of church and para-church ministries are doing so.

The early years of the 21^st Century may see this pandemic become an epidemic that will end the lives of many more tens of millions of human lives in Equatorial Africa and beyond. An entire generation of people in a dozen nations are in danger of being wiped out almost completely. I recently read a story about three boys, age 12 and under, who lost both their parents to AIDS. The 12 year old is now the "head of the family" and is working to provide for his brothers. Outside their hut are two burial mounds where their mother and father were laid to rest. Can you imagine what is must be like to be in their place? Thankfully, there is a redemptive end to this story. These children are now being sponsored through the Christian ministry of Worldvision. This organization provided the three children with needed food, medicine, education and, most importantly, a circuit riding Christian relief worker who has become as a second mother to them.

But these kids are still the exception. Even a large global relief ministry such as Worldvision cannot bring succor to 20,000,000 people. For that to happen Western, particularly American, Christians must make the crises in Africa the primary area of focus for the portion of charitable giving we reserve for humanitarian aid. Today awareness of the ongoing catastrophe in Africa finally seems to be on the rise among Evangelicals. For this we can be thankful because now we have the opportunity to identify with our Saviour in doing His work in a place that arguably needs it most.