Focus on names, not numbers, on World AIDS Day

The Rev. Donald Messer preaches during a worship service for world AIDS awareness at the Upper Room Chapel in Nashville, Tenn. Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.

By Deborah White*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - On World AIDS Day, people should focus on names and faces rather than numbers and facts, the Rev. Donald Messer told worshippers during a special service at the Upper Room Chapel of The United Methodist Church.

Holding up a list of 1,220 names of children affected by HIV/AIDS, Messer declared "these are names, not numbers. To me they are faces, not facts."

The Upper Room worship service was held Nov. 28 in anticipation of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, an annual international observance that aims to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Messer, a United Methodist theologian and former seminary president, is widely known for his work in combating HIV/AIDS and world hunger. He is the author of Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence-Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis and is executive director of the Center for Church and Global AIDS, an ecumenical faith-based organization.

Citing a recent report showing a decline in HIV/AIDS cases worldwide, Messer said it would be great if fewer people are affected by HIV/AIDS. However, he said, "It's easier to estimate the number of fish in the sea than to determine how many are infected or affected by AIDS. We are still estimating."

The United Nations and World Health Organization reported on Nov. 20 that 33.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, down from the 2006 estimate of 39.5 million. The report attributes the decrease primarily to revised estimates in India and five African countries.

"But it doesn't make any difference to the average American or average church goers because frankly we don't care," Messer said. "The church doesn't give much concern to this issue."

According to a new survey by World Vision, one-third of people in seven wealthy nations say they know little or nothing about the global HIV and AIDS epidemic, and one-fourth believe the problem is "greatly exaggerated." The survey was released Nov. 29 by the international humanitarian organization.

Call to action
Messer urged people to "join God in bringing the healing touch to those living with HIV/AIDS." He said individuals can make a difference by offering prayers, supporting educational work and exerting influence with churches.

"We are called to be a friend to those who are lost," he said. "Sometimes we are too late getting to the lost. Six-thousand people will die today, and 7,000 more will get infected because we are not getting the message of prevention and treatment out to the people."

Messer told the story of a tourist who returned to England after a vacation in Zambia. During his devotional time, the man felt God asking him, "What did you do for the people of Zambia?"
His feeble response was, "Nothing." So the man returned to Zambia and gave £10,000 (U.S. $20,688) to a woman who started a ministry for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

"We have to ask ourselves that kind of question: What are we doing? What does God call me to do? Our calling is to think of those who are lost. Is it us? Until I respond like the Englishman, I too am lost. Let us ask, 'What can I do?'"

Prayers of Encouragement
Participants in The Upper Room's worship service received copies of the devotional book Prayers for Encouragement and Hope for Persons Suffering with HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Diseases. The 32-page book contains meditations, Scriptures and prayers written by people who have HIV and people who minister to people with HIV/AIDS.

"Pray through the prayers and pass it on," urged the Rev. Tom Albin, dean of the Upper Room Chapel.

Upper Room Ministries published the devotional guide in 2006 after Messer noticed two 10-year-old copies of The Upper Room daily devotional guide in the waiting room of Maua Methodist Hospital in Kenya.

Approximately 375,000 copies of Prayers for Encouragement have been distributed in English, Kiswahili, Portuguese, French and Xhosa, according to Dale Waymack, Africa region coordinator for Upper Room Ministries. In production are 50,000 copies in Spanish and 50,000 copies in Korean. And the devotional books are being translated into Zulu, Setswana and Sotho.

For more information about the book, contact Dale Waymack at (877) 899-2780, ext. 7236 or e-mail dwaymack@upperroom.org.

*White is associate editor of Interpreter magazine and Interpreter OnLine.