Saddleback Church Launches Website to Support AIDS Initiative
The 22,000-member Saddleback mega church in Lake Forest, Calif. launched a website earlier this month as part of an initiative to support church-to-church relief, aid and training.
The 22,000-member Saddleback mega church in Lake Forest, Calif. launched a website earlier this month as part of an initiative to support church-to-church relief, aid and training. The website, www.acts-of-mercy.com, currently includes suggested resources, links, and an invitation to a HIV Awareness Conference at Saddleback Church slated for Nov. 28-30.
Acts of Mercy, founded by Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay, works through their Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan to “care for hurting people the way Jesus did.” The plan is based on a message delivered by the Warrens in November 2003 called “You Can Change Your World.”
According to its coordinators, the P.E.A.C.E. Plan is “Purpose-Driven-Missions” that re-establishes the church as the primary means God uses to fulfill the Great Commission to all people groups in every country of the world. Built on “vision and strategy to initiate both sustainable and reproducible missions at the local church level”, the plan envisions Christians in every country living “on-mission” and attacking the five greatest global evil giants through the following means:
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- Planting churches
- Equipping Servant leaders
- Assisting the poor
- Caring for the sick
- Educating the next generation
Kay Warren, who currently leads the AIDS initiative, recalled when “God grabbed my heart two years ago.”
“I knew nothing about HIV/AIDS and harbored the same fears and misconceptions that are commonly held in our culture,” Kay wrote in a message posted on the Saddleback HIV/AIDS Initiative web page. “As I became aware of the number of children orphaned by AIDS, I began to sob and confess that I did not love and care for the people in this horrific crisis the way our God does. I became convinced that the local church was not responding to this Global giant in a meaningful way.”
“Genuine heart-change and genuine reaching to others in the love of Christ can only be done effectively in and through the church,” Kay added.
With roughly 40 million people infected with HIV/AIDS around the world and more than 14 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, “we can't afford to wait until we know all the perfect solutions before we begin to offer compassionate care and demonstrate God's love,” the Warrens stated in the newly launched Acts of Mercy website.
Currently the P.E.A.C.E. Plan is being tested and developed by Saddleback Church’s small groups with a scheduled launch date for Saddleback Church of October 2005.
For more information on the Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan, visit www.saddlebackfamily.com.
