Mission Research Group Reports on Effectiveness of Church Response to HIV/AIDS
A mission research and development group released its fall 2005 newsletter with a summary of its report on how churches are fighting the battle with HIV/AIDS.
A mission research and development group released its fall 2005 newsletter with a summary of its report on how churches are fighting the battle with HIV/AIDS. The newsletter was released one week before the first-ever church-sponsored conference on HIV/AIDS at Saddleback Valley Community Church.
“HIV/AIDS is the toll road to humanity’s future. Since we cannot afford the devastating toll it takes, let us find the nearest exist and get off this road,” concluded the 75-page Global Mapping International (GMI) research report edited by staff missiologist, Dr. Stan Nussbaum.
The report titled, “The Contribution of Christian Congregations to the Battle with HIV/AIDS at the Community Level,” was commissioned by the Oxford Center for Mission Studies and was originally presented at the Center’s Summer Mission Briefing in early June. The report coordinated the studies of researchers in Honduras, Peru, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and India – countries that are all affected with HIV/AIDS to varying degrees.
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The research document examines what local churches are doing in the fight against HIV/AIDS in their communities and what changes can be made for a more effective response. The report used broad and in-depth research of small sample groups at the local level and examines the activities, prospects, and mood of Christian HIV/AIDS workers.
The report showed that the church is “clearly making substantial contributions in all three aspects of the battle against HIV/AIDS” – prevention, care and treatment, and mitigation (with the work of prevention seems to be the weakest of the three) – but “worse than they could be doing were their members more sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit of Christ and more willing to sacrifice,” according to the GMI World newsletter.
In addition, the report finds that “Christian congregations must more effectively provide what they are specifically or even uniquely positioned to contribute, and they must also cultivate better connections with groups Christian and secular that work at national or international levels.”
The report is written primarily for church leaders and faith-based organizations that are not HIV/AIDS specialists. But the report can also be relevant to HIV/AIDS specialists, including international and government agencies, for considering how to relate to faith-based groups. Also, the report does not provide answers to solving the pandemic, but rather serves as a stimulus for strategic discussion, action, and further research in hopes to encourage Christians to help those infected or at risk overcome HIV/AIDS.
Global Mapping International began in 1984 with the focus of serving church and mission efforts around the world by putting “the right information in the right form in the right hands” to enable more effective mission. The organization is dedicated to furthering the cause of world evangelization, specifically seeking to enable more appropriate and effective cross-cultural mission.
The complete report is available at : www.gmi.org.
