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Day 3 J.D Wilson and Sagi Mathai (P.A.C.T.) minister to the desperately sick in the poorest communities of Chennai and Hyderabad, India. This morning they testified how God has miraculously extended the lives of countless people in their hospice ministry who were presumably sentenced to die by the AIDS virus. Willing to sacrifice his reputation, Saji befriended a homosexual man and met with him regularly to demonstrate to him that Jesus accepts him and He is willing to cleanse him and forgive him of all of his sins. Through providing care and serving the outcasts in their society, these men have had the opportunity to lead many to salvation in Christ. Reading from Matthew 22:37 - 40, John Bills (Compassion HIV/AIDS Focus DTS School Leader) explained that the command to love our neighbor is inseparable from and just as binding as our duty to love God. He then submitted four areas for us as Youth With A Mission to consider, regardless of whether we were directly involved in HIV/AIDS ministry or not. The first issue was the issue of fear of what people will think when it comes to engaging with HIV because of the stigma surrounding particular lifestyles that are linked in people's minds with the disease. The second issue was the issue of prejudice in our hearts where we are tempted to resist reaching out in love to infected people if we think they are being punished for their sinful choices. The third issue was the issue of unbelief that prevents us from moving forward in obedience to what the Lord has spoken because we don't have enough faith to believe for the release of all that God wants to do. The fourth issue was the issue of indifference because we have lost our passion making it easier for us to have a business as usual attitude that grieves the Father's heart. According to John, as the Spirit of God enables us to conquer these four areas in our lives, the outcome will be that our global YWAM family will in turn be released from these strongholds. When John Bills concluded we had time to chew on what the Lord was speaking to us individually and corporately. John Dawson then made a point to honor the "costly obedience" of numerous missionaries present who are walking on the Calvary road with Christ in Frontier Missions. Speaking to the missionaries involved in fulltime HIV/AIDS ministry in the developing world, Steve Goode apologized on behalf of leadership for not adequately supporting and caring for these workers and their families in the remote outposts where they are giving their lives. And then John Dawson closed by reminding us that we are not to be driven by an "ideology of humanitarianism" but rather it should be the heart of Jesus that motivates us to get involved in the crises affecting our world. Lastly, we had the privilege of being taught by Dr. Mattias Cavassini who gave us non-experts a basic understanding of the AIDS virus. |
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| Report by Jonathan Stoner, HIV/AIDS Conference Communications Team |
HIV/AIDS Global Gathering, Uganda, from 27 May