Nov. 30, 2007, Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Christian Reformed Church is committed to working with churches around the world to minister to people who are suffering from the deadly disease of HIV/AIDS, says Rev. Jerry Dykstra, the denomination's executive director.
In comments coinciding with the 19th World AIDS Day, which is Dec. 1, Dykstra pointed to practical and prayerful ways in which the CRC is addressing and trying to ease the impact of AIDS on individuals, families and communities.
On the practical side, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (www.crwrc.org) on Friday announced a wide-ranging, two-year "Embrace AIDS" Campaign with a goal of raising $3 million to help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS and ease the suffering.
The Embrace AIDS Campaign was launched among Christian Reformed congregations on July 1 and will run through June 30, 2009.
"The church has to reach out in the name of Christ to those who are affected by AIDS - especially children who have lost their parents to the disease," Dykstra says. "Too often, those with AIDS are forgotten, ignored, ostracized."
CRWRC works with more than 125 national Christian partner groups in 30 countries around the world and has a 45-year history in international development, education, and disaster response. It has been active with churches and Christian partner groups in AIDS response since the mid-1980s.
The agency's community development programs include AIDS prevention, care, and education projects in areas of greatest need, such as Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa.
"AIDS is a Goliath that confronts the world today," says CRWRC-Canada director Ida Mutoigo. "The horrendous impact of AIDS, especially on women and children in the developing world, is the single greatest opportunity for the global community to show the size of its heart and demonstrate how deep and how wide God's love is."
The CRWRC-funded Chamsari Orphan Project provides AIDS orphans in East Africa with vocational education as well as counseling and guidance. "I thank God that now I have an opportunity to one day own a carpentry business and earn money so that I can take care of my younger brother at our home," says David, one of the youth to benefit from the program.
CRC agencies such as Christian Reformed World Missions and Home Missions also have people who are involved in AIDS ministries of one kind or another.
Congregations are active as well. Madison Square CRC in Paterson, N.J, will hold a special "Service of Prayer and Healing: HIV/AIDS" on Dec. 5. "We will pray for caregivers, people living with HIV/AIDS, service providers, grandparents raising AIDS orphans, and the orphans themselves," says Pastor John Algera.
Dykstra called on CRC congregations to set aside time for prayer and reflection on this issue and to commit themselves to working in various ways to help persons victimized by AIDS, noting that, "We need to address this together if we are going to impact our government and bring relief, help and healing to those with AIDS."
CRWRC participates with the Micah Challenge (www.micahchallenge.org) and supports the ONE Campaign (www.one.org) to address the causes of global poverty and unite against the spread of AIDS worldwide. It is also a member of the Association of Evangelical Relief and Development Organizations (www.aerdo.net), which has taken a clear stance as an HIV/AIDS Alliance to increase funding of the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (www.pepfar.gov) in 2008.
For more information about CRWRC's AIDS programs, call Will Story, CRWRC Child Survival and Health Technical Advisor, at 1-800-55-CRWRC, ext. 4148. For information about CRWRC-US relief and development programs worldwide, call Beth DeGraff at 616-648-7821.
To donate to CRWRC's Embrace AIDS Campaign, go to www.crwrc.org and click on Donate, or call 1-800-55-CRWRC. Checks designated "Embrace AIDS Campaign" can be mailed to CRWRC, 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, Mich., 49560-0600 or 3475 Mainway, PO Box 5070 Stn LCD 1, Burlington, ON L7R 3Y8.
For information and resources about CRWRC's AIDS response and what you can do to address poverty and AIDS as an individual, group or church congregation, go to www.embraceaids.org or see www.faithaliveresources.org to order resources online. For travel and service opportunities, see www.crwrc.org <http://www.crwrc.org/> .
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Henry Hess
Director of Communication
Christian Reformed Church
To learn more about the Christian Reformed Church visit us at www.crcna.org <http://www.crcna.org
"It is a serious waste to let a day go by without allowing God to change us."-Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love