HIV/AIDS Ministry—Tough But Needed
Churches are the ideal place for an HIV/AIDS ministry, says a pastor who helped found the support group at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church.
An HIV/AIDS ministry is a tough one to lead, according to a pastor who helped found the support group at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church.
But some say churches are the ideal place for it.
Churches have only recently begun to wake up to the widespread epidemic affecting around 38 million people today, and Saddleback Church, one of the largest megachurches in America, has become a forefront player in the battle, waking up pastors to what they have been asleep to for so long. The Lake Forest, Calif.-based church is now encouraging a ministry that embraces the affected.
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"The goal is to find help, hope, and healing for your pain," said Tommy Hilliker, a pastor in pastoral care at Saddleback, in a released statement.
Hilliker started an HIV/AIDS support group last year, training group leaders to hold regular meetings for people affected by the epidemic directly or indirectly. The ministry comes in the same year Saddleback's lead pastor, Rick Warren, launched a landmark Purpose Driven conference on the pandemic issue, initiating the mobilization of local churches to care for the sick.
Every person infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS needs a Christ-centered place to share his or her story and be accepted, said Kathi Winter, a successful businesswoman who has been HIV positive for 11 years, according to Purpose Driven ministry.
Also recognizing the power of the churches to help prevent the spread of the disease, churches in Africa urged a fortifying effort among faith-based organizations at a consultative meeting Friday. Churches United Against HIV/AIDS in Southern and Eastern Africa (CUAHA) is developing projects to strengthen the capacity of churches, faith groups and promote the social inclusion of people living with the disease.
More than one million people have HIV/AIDS in the United States. In sub-Saharan Africa, children alone number 12.3 million.
While the United States represents only a fraction of the total population of the HIV-infected, Hilliker believes every church should have a support group ministry that includes an HIV/AIDS support group.
"It's fairly safe to say that in an average size community, there are people who have been infected or affected with HIV that would allow this ministry to be a tremendous outreach to your community," he said.
For more information on starting an HIV ministry in church, visit www.purposedriven.com
