Learning from Nehemiah to fight HIV/AIDs
As I have been attending the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church this week I have been hearing details about the pandemic I had never heard before, I have been challenged in my faith and perception of compassion, and I have been processing the structure and strategies that have been presented in addressing the AIDs pandemic.Hearing that there are 33 million people in the world with HIV/Aids, that there are 12 Million orphans in Africa because of AIDS, that all it takes is medication that costs $4 to keep a mother with HIV/AIDs from passing the disease onto to her child at birth, and many other facts has prompted my heart to find a way that I can personally make a difference.
Even though I have always believed that the Church was God’s instrument to bring Hope to the world, I have never really thought it through and applied it to the major issues the world needs hope in. I felt this most during the session on “Traits of Real Leadership” by Rick and Kay Warren on the first day of the summit. Kay’s challenge to those at the summit was that you must be aware of what is going on, and then let your heart be stirred to be a advocate for the rejected, suffering, sick and poor who have no voice.It has been encouraging to hear the strategic approach of the “three legged stool”, where the Public sector, the Private sector and the Faith sector all have strengths that are essential to conquer the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Senator Hillary Clinton spoke to this in her address during the session on the need for global leadership and how both a faith and works approach must be taken. She stated that faith without works is dead, referencing James 2:17, but that works with out faith isn’t sustainable - especially for the AIDS pandemic that will require a sustained effort across generations.This morning as I processed all I have heard and seen I realized how all of the teaching and strategies line up with the story of Nehemiah in the Bible. When you start in the first chapter you see Nehemiah being made aware of a catastrophe, the wall around Jerusalem was still in rubble 90 years after it had been destroyed - and all efforts to build it were pretty futile. The implication of this meant there was no protection for the people of Jerusalem, no security, no ability to rebuild the economy, no safety. Hearing this news breaks Nehemiah’s heart - and was cause for him to take action.
Through the rest of Nehemiah’s story he addresses building the wall through his government connections, getting all the resources he needs to build the wall in materials and support. He implores the action of people in Jerusalem to take action and build their piece of the wall at the same he points them back to their faith and Law of God. He even addresses the businessmen, to get them to stop charging people interest and to join in the process. If any one of these “sectors” would have been left out, the wall could not have been finished. All three had to be a part of the plan, but just as importantly it was Nehemiah’s faith and the faith of the people in Jerusalem that stirred them to action. Without their faith leading them, the wall wouldn’t have been finished.
For me this builds even more credibility into the message I hear coming from the Global Summit on AIDs and the Church. Even though it is new for the Church to be getting involved in addressing the AIDs pandemic - the approach being implemented is not new, but it is proven. Nehemiah became aware of a major issue, and let his heart open to how God could use him to lead an effort to address the issue. And through a “three legged stool” approach was able to do in 52 days what hadn’t been able to be accomplished in 90 years.Now it is our turn.
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