All week I’ve been sharing with you about our visit on Monday to Watoto Child Care Ministries in Uganda. It was such a powerful day for our team, and one of the things that has really gripped my heart is the reality of AIDS in our world. In 20 years, AIDS has gone from being virtually unknown to a common household word. Because we may hear so much about it these days, there’s a danger that we could tune it out or take for granted something that God actually wants us to be extremely concerned about.
Marilyn Skinner painted a picture to help us comprehend the numbers and statistics about AIDS. She pointed out that the worst medical crisis on the planet is AIDS. It has literally hit the planet like a nuclear bomb. It is threatening the stability of nations and continents, and it’s leaving a social disorder of catastrophic proportions. The UN Security Council has labeled AIDS as a global security threat. Colin Powell said: “The most serious problem facing the earth today is not terrorism - it’s AIDS.” Here are some numbers:
In 2005, 40 million people were living with AIDS.
14,000 new people are infected every day.
Last year, 3 million people died of AIDS.
Every minute, 6 people die of AIDS.
Every hour, 355 people die of AIDS.
Every day, 8,500 people die of AIDS.
Do you know what that’s equivalent to?
18 tsunamis every year.
4 9/11’s every single day.
20 jumbo jets full of mostly adults crashing every single day, of every
single week, of every single month, of every single year.
Right now there are 15 million orphans in Africa.
By 2010, there will be 50 million AIDS orphans.
Every day there are 6,000 new orphans in Africa.
I don’t know how this affects you, but it breaks my heart, and stirs me up to do whatever we can to be relevant to this need in our world today. Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren (Saddleback Church, The Purpose Driven Life) wrote a powerful editorial on CNN.com - check it out. It represents an encouraging and fresh voice coming from the church about AIDS. For too long the church has either been afraid to step up, or unwilling to step up because of a judgmental attitude that doesn’t represent the Jesus we serve.
Imagine if every Christian and every church did what they could. We could change the course of history. And I believe we will.
wow! i guess that i never realized how wide-spread aids had become around the world. i will be honest and say that the word “aids” has become so familiar to me that i usually do not think twice about it. sometimes it seems like it is such an overwhelming issue that i tend to think “well, what can i do? i am just one person”. however, i realize that today i can at least start praying for these peoples. thank you for sharing and opening my eyes to this issue.
Dear Pastor John,
Your blogs managed to touch on three of my passions at the same time-Kenya (my home country), HIV (my current nursing specialty)and NLC (my old home church when you and Ms. Leslie were there). Thanks for bringing a piece of home to Dallas.
“….We could change the course of history. And I believe we will.”
i’m so with you on this one. mother teresa was “just one person.” the apostle paul was “just one person.” dietrich bonhoffer was “just one person.” david livingstone was “just one person.” you get the idea.
but think of it: we aren’t “just one person” - we’re a bunch of people. we’re a body. we’re a team. we’re called of God to pull together and really, truly change the course of history.
great post. glad you’re back in the USA. glad you’re back to blogging. yours is a voice that NEEDS to be heard in the ’sphere.