Praise the Source of Faith and Learning: HIV/AIDS and Faith

This content delves into the intersection of HIV/AIDS and faith, emphasizing love, compassion, and kindness towards those affected. It includes statistical data, recent medical developments, and a covenant statement affirming the dignity of all individuals. Professor Thomas H. Troeger's reflections on faith and learning are also featured, highlighting wonder, wisdom, and the profundity of life's purpose.

• HIV/AIDS
• Faith
• Compassion
• Covenant
• Thomas H. Troeger

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1. MCC HIV/AIDS Advisory Council WORLD AIDS DAY 2015 HIV/AIDS & Faith

2. Content Covenant Praise the Source of Faith and Learning by Professor Thomas H. Troeger Statistical Data The Numbers of People Living with HIV/AIDS The Top Ten Countries with HIV Recent Medical Developments HIV and Faith HIV and Human Rights HIV+ Faith Response Case Study Stigma What Would Jesus Do Good News Works Cited Page 3 Pages 4-11 Pages 12-13 Pages 14-18 Pages 19-21 Pages 22-30 Pages 31-33 Pages 34-35 Pages 36-39 Page 40

3. Covenant Statement We believe that God created all human beings in God s likeness, and therefore all of God s children should be entitled to love, compassion, kindness and forgiveness. We believe that all persons are deserving of the love and kindness God so richly provides to us all. We are the agents of God s love and compassion and are committed to providing ministry, spiritual and medical, to those with HIV/AIDS. Clergy Advisory Board HIV/AIDS Ministry Toolkit Hyacinth AIDS Foundation

4. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning Thomas H. Troeger Praise the source of faith and learning that has sparked and stoked the mind With a passion for discerning how the world has been designed.

5. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning Let the sense of wonder flowing from the wonders we survey Keep our faith forever growing and renew our need to pray:

6. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning God of wisdom, we acknowledge that our science and our art And the breadth of human knowledge only partial truth impart.

7. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning Far beyond our calculation lies a depth we cannot sound Where Your purpose for creation and the pulse of life are found.

8. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning May our faith redeem the blunder of believing that our thought Has displaced the grounds for wonder which the ancient prophets taught.

9. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning May our learning curb the error which unthinking faith can breed Lest we justify some terror with an antiquated creed.

10. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning As two currents in a river fight each other's undertow Till converging they deliver one coherent steady flow,

11. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning Blend, O God, our faith and learning till they carve a single course, Till they join as one, returning praise and thanks to You, their Source.

12. The Numbers

13. Top 10 countries: People living with HIV Source: UNAIDS Global Report 2014 1 South Africa 18% 2 Nigeria 9% 3 India 6% 4 Kenya 5% 5 Mozambique 4% 6 Uganda 4% 7 Tanzania 4% 8 Zimbabwe 4% 9 USA 4% 10 Malawi 3% Remaining countries 39%

14. Recent Developments PrEP (Pre- Exposure Prophylaxis) PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis) Significant reduction in transmission in serodiscordant partners Thailand Is Trailing a New Anti-HIV Sex Gel for LGBTIs

15. Recent Developments New proof that passing on HIV while undetectable is very unlikely in both heterosexuals and gay men IAS 2015A major study examining how anti-retrovirals (ARVs) reduce the risk of HIV transmission among heterosexuals has found that no participant with a fully suppressed viral load infected his or her long-term HIV-negative partner.

16. Recent Developments These final results from the HPTN 052 study of 1,763 mixed- HIV-status heterosexual couples were presented at the Eighth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Vancouver, British Columbia.

17. Recent Developments An ongoing study of gay mixed-HIV status couples has seen no transmissions within the couples at its interim two-year analysis, according to aidsmap. In May 2012, researchers from the Opposites Attract study began recruiting gay male couples in which one partner is HIV positive and the other HIV negative. There were no restrictions as to whether the HIV-positive men had an undetectable viral load or whether the men used condoms. The investigators presented their findings at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle.

18. Recent Developments Depression and Risky Sex Strongly Linked in UK Gay Men There is a strong connection between depression and having sex without a condom among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom, aidsmap reports. Researchers analyzed recent survey data from 1,173 HIV-negative or untested MSM attending sexual health clinics in the UK.

19. HIV/AIDS and Faith Pew Research estimates 84% of the world s population identifies with a faith community WHO estimates 40% of Sub Sahara Africa s HIV/AIDS treatment and care provided by Christian hospitals and health centers 60% of HIV/AIDS services delivered by FBOs in some areas of the world (UNAIDS) ELIMINATE STIGMATIZATION!

20. HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Poverty: 30 million with HIV/AIDS in low/middle income countries Food security: Nutrition is vital in the fight against HIV/AIDS and treatment Gender inequality: Violence against women and lack of protection Incarceration: 30 million people entering/exiting prison worldwide a year Discrimination: Race, LGBT, sex workers, IDUs

21. What is and HIV+ faith response? Inclusive and affirming ministry! Let's talk about SEX, baby! Preach Prevention from the Pulpit to the Pew! Reduce stigmatization, don't produce it!

22. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS In 1994, Pastor Jeff became pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Philadelphia. One of the first ministries he started at the church was an HIV support group called Prayer and Praise HIV Support Group . Approximately 10 members of the congregation started to hold group meetings twice a month. Monthly, on the second Tuesday the members of the groups would get together to read the Bible, share stories (good and bad) with one another and pray for each other s healing.

23. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS Later in the month, the group would find a seminar or workshop to attend together. These brothers were determined to grow strong together and learn as much as was available about the disease which they had in common. They taught each other and the church about only drinking filtered water, herbal remedies to treat the side effects of their medicine, the power of touch, and much more. Although Pastor Jeff never attended the group meetings, he supported the group 100% and encouraged the congregation to do the same.

24. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS In 1998 after experiencing a bad cold for over two weeks, Pastor Jeff went to the emergency room with a temperature of 105 degrees. It was then that the doctors diagnosed Pastor Jeff with Pneumocystis pneumonia. Immediately, the brothers of Prayer and Praise went into action, Many congregants came to visit Pastor Jeff but it was the brothers who made sure that their pastor was getting the best treatment, never left Pastor Jeff alone in the hospital, and cooked and cared for Pastor Jeff s partner.

25. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS People infected with HIV are often treated like the woman with the issue of blood (unclean). They often face being outcast and stigmatized. Because HIV is usually transmitted through intercourse or the injection of illegal drugs, often churches brand HIV positive individuals as reprobates not worthy of God s love. As Christians however, we must strive to be representatives of Christ. The Christian New Testaments scriptures are full of examples of Jesus showing love to and embracing, (both physically and spiritually) people whom society labeled as unclean.

26. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS It is God s calling to today s church to embrace those infected with HIV and to be educators of those whom we encounter in order to prevent the spread of this life threating illness.

27. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS Finally, let s look at one more scripture which illustrates what God expects of us. When the Son of Humanity comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the Christ will say to those at his right hand, Come, you that are blessed by the Creator, inherit the dominion prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

28. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.

29. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS Then the righteous will answer him, When was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the Christ will answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew 25:31-40

30. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDS The care for Pastor Jeff did not end at the hospital. The members of the Prayer and Praise HIV Support Group nursed their pastor back to health.

31. Stigma An overview

32. Stigma In the Bible we meet lepers, who were isolated outside the towns and villages, and they had bells attached to their clothes to warn others about their presence.

33. Stigma Today we stigmatize in a more subtle way more psychological: we avoid, reject, blame, shame, judge, insult, condemn etc.

34. What Would Jesus Do? The question every pastor, church leader, or member should be afraid of today is not whether a member of their church is HIV positive. Instead, the most dreaded question is: when I was hungry, why didn t you feed me; when I was thirsty, why didn t you give me drink; when I was homeless, why didn t you help house me; when I was HIV positive, why didn t you minister to me? (paraphrase of Matthew 25:35).

35. The Answer God has not given us the spirit of fear, but a spirit to be more than conquerors, to weep with those that weep, help the fallen, the downtrodden, helpless, hopeless, the Samaritans, the unchurched, the lepers, the prisoners, the orphaned, the widowed, and those with HIV.

36. The Good News Providing Ministry for People Living With HIV/AIDS IS NOT AN OPTION! Education and awareness are empowering. You can engage at a different level, no matter whom, no matter what the disease. Why should we feel a certain way when we are next to someone with HIV?

37. The Good News Globally, we must examine the intersections between poverty, immigration, class, race, sexism and other isms that contribute to new diagnoses. We must also understand the intersections between drug use, specifically Crystal Meth use and new diagnoses.

38. The Good News We must understand the religious connections between a sex- negative approach to HIV status and human sexuality, which still exists in our churches. We must not be afraid to confront these issues and their intersectionality.

39. The Good News Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover- up for evil, but living as servants of God. 1 Peter 2:16

40. Works Cited HIV Vaccine Trials Network One Conversation Community Forums on HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS Ministry Tool Kit Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, Available online P.I. Perspective Project Inform s Treatment Journal March 2014 Project inform, Available online MCC HIV/AIDS Advisory Council Recommendations February, 2014