ELCA News Blog
July 9, 2006
ELCA Youth Gathering features Kristine Gebbie on HIV/AIDS
by Annie Lynsen*, ELCA Washington Office
Each morning during the 2006 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), more than 15,000 high-school- age youth gather at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, for speakers, music, and a Bible study. Dr. Kristine Gebbie, a former member of the Presidential Commission on AIDS, spoke July 8. Gebbie is a board member and past president of the Lutheran AIDS Network.
"In this size of an audience in the 21st century, whether you know it or not, there's at least one person who's already infected with HIV," Gebbie told gathering participants. "There are more than a few of us in this room who have lost a family member or a dear friend to this terrible virus. And every one of us has been affected by the presence of this virus in the world. It's been here since before you all were born."
Gebbie spoke about the global nature of the epidemic, and the need for a global effort to stop it. "It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, it doesn't matter if you're male or female, it doesn't matter what color your skin is, it doesn't matter what you're drawn to sexually, you deserve a life free from HIV," Gebbie said. "You are the ones who will stand up, hold hands, look at that huge river of ignorance, of fear of difference, of fear of change, and say to one another, holding hands, 'We can cross that river, we can stop this epidemic, we can help everyone live in a world free of AIDS.'"
The morning gathering also featured the band Lost and Found and the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) choir. Some 800 people participated in MYLE which took place July 2-5. About 40,000 high-school-age and adult Lutherans from the United States and around the world are attending the ELCA Youth Gathering.
*Annie Lynsen is the director for grassroots advocacy and education, ELCA Washington (D.C.) Office
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog