| New
Hope is in View for HIV / AIDS Ministry in Ukraine:
As
the AIDS crisis continues to unfold, ministries are
uniting together to fight the spread of the disease.
AIMS
News: Posted 10/1/2004
Two
years ago, "Vania" discovered that she had
HIV. Her husband had infected her with the virus and
then deserted her and their newborn baby, leaving them
with no financial support. Her boss fired her on the
spot. Even her doctor refused to treat her. Regardless,
she had no money for treatment anyway. She could barely
afford to feed her baby and herself.
Vania
felt angry and depressed. She was broke, thin, and could
not care for her baby. One day, she decided to attend
an HIV/AIDS support group and found a loving relationship
with Jesus Christ. Although her circumstances have not
changed, she is learning to trust God daily.
Amazingly,
the number of HIV-infected persons in Ukraine rose from
zero to more than 500,000 during the past ten years.
Once revealed, people like Vania are branded. They lose
their jobs, their families, and are often ostracized
from their community like lepers. Many do not know how
to care for themselves or their children who are also
often infected. Furthermore, treatment is scarce. Only
about sixty adults in the country currently have access
to medicines that can treat the virus.
The
AIDS epidemic is now at a true crossroads. If
the world's response to AIDS continues in its
well-meaning but haphazard and ineffectual fashion,
then the global epidemic will continue to outpace
the response. But there is an alternative: to
embark boldly upon the Next Agenda - an agenda
for future action that adopts the essential,
radical, and innovative approaches needed for
countries to reverse the course of the epidemic.
-
2004
Global AIDS Report (UNAIDS)
|
AIDS
Education Touches Lives in Ukraine
In
July 2004, "Deborah," the AIMS HIV/AIDS Coordinator
traveled to Kiev, Ukraine to teach a five-day course
on AIDS at the International Center for Christian Leadership
to 34 students, including Vania. As Deborah listened
to Vania's testimony, she was even more convinced of
the vision God had given her to "raise up a self-sustaining,
self-propagating movement in every AIDS-affected country
for mobilizing churches to fight AIDS."
One
afternoon, Deborah prayed for everyone in the course
who might have been exposed to HIV. That night during
dinner, a young couple told Deborah that they wanted
to marry, but had decided they needed to be tested first.
Deborah administered the test: the woman tested negative;
her fiance', positive.
"It
breaks my heart to realize that these handsome, talented
young people will not be alive in a few years,"
Deborah wrote in a recent report. "But their insights
and passions gave the week an aura of reality and urgency
never before present in any of my trainings."
Nine
participants in the course were confirmed HIV+. However,
many have expressed gratitude for the hard lessons learned
throughout the week and have decided to dedicate their
lives to fighting the disease.
"I
have a new attitude now toward myself and toward others,"
one participate wrote on a course evaluation. "I
will value more the time that is given me to live in
service to other people."
New
Vision and New Hope is in View for Ukraine
Late
one night, Deborah sat down to review the latest 2004
Global AIDS Report (UNAIDS). She began to seek Godís
will for the situation in Ukraine.
"Gradually
it dawned on me that the church in Ukraine needs to
do far more than start a few programs. It needs to lift
up its eyes and make the commitment to do whatís
necessary to stop AIDS in the nation of Ukraine. Nothing
less would fully express His love to the people of Ukraine
or adequately display His glory to the world."
Deborah
visited drug rehabilitation programs, an AIDS hospital,
a womenís prison, church support groups, and
an international secular donor agency. With each visit,
the vision became clearer and a plan began to develop:
form a Ukrainian National Christian AIDS Committee that
will develop a thorough strategy for AIDS ministry in
the country. The network would include church leaders,
care givers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen,
journalists, politicians, researchers, youth workers,
and people living with HIV or AIDS
Almost
immediately, Deborah began to make important contacts
to begin this network. Within a week, she met with the
All-Ukrainian Inter-Church Council in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky,
a hotbed for HIV in Ukraine. Attendees included the
assistant to the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church as
well as representatives from Baptist, Pentecostal, Charismatic
and other denominational churches. One leader proposed
to create a social service organization officially registered
with the government that would combine both Christian
and secular agencies. Deborah also met with three leaders
of the largest churches in Kiev to discuss the initiative.
Deborah
plans to return to Ukraine in late September to participate
in the first organizational meeting of Hope in View.
The network will begin coordinating efforts in six areas:
1.
Development of an AIDS training center for Christians.
2. Expansion of existing Christian-based AIDS
prevention education in public schools.
3. Development of an AIDS prevention project within
the prison system.
4. Development of an AIDS prevention project among
commercial sex workers.
5. Training of workers to do home care and antiretroviral
treatment education for AIDS patients.
6.
Development of a project to care for HIV+ children. |
"Your prayers have been a critical part of this
ministry," said Deborah. "Don't stop now.
We will need the Lord's help in the United States every
bit as much if we are to be effective long term."
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