Prepare
. . .
Sunday
Now
all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one
of you is a separate and necessary part of it. --1
Corinthians 12:27
by
Lynne Faris
During the Bethany vision trip to Kenya
last summer, members of the World Vision Kenya staff were
amazingly generous with their time. After a full day of
orientation in their offices, they spent much of the rest
of the week taking our group to projects around Nairobi
to help us understand the effects of HIV/AIDS on individuals
and communities.
One
morning we went to the Soweto ADP (Area Development Project)
office to meet with the staff there. They not only answered
our many questions about how they minister to the children
we are sponsoring in Soweto, but also brought in a group
of eight pastors from the community to talk about their
strategies for working through the churches.
As
a pastor, I was particularly struck by the time we spent
with these church leaders. They came from many different
traditions – Baptist, Christian Free, Catholic, Pentecostal,
Presbyterian, Africa Inland Church, Redeemed Gospel Charismatic
– but they had one thing in common, a strong determination
to battle the disease that is devastating their congregations.
They emphasized the dire importance of working together
on this common cause – to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.
There’s no time for worrying about theological differences.
There’s no room for competition.
By
speaking, teaching, preaching and acting
on HIV/AIDS, many of the pastors are dealing with varying
degrees of criticism. Because there is such a strong stigma
attached to AIDS, people have left the churches and accused
the pastors of bringing evil into the church by speaking
of it. But the pastors realize that they must educate the
people about how HIV spreads and about how to organize themselves
to provide home-based care for those who are suffering.
I
was humbled to think of the “problems” that
the US churches so often spend too much time worrying about
– parking issues, carpet colors, and especially territorial/power
struggles… And I was inspired by these courageous
men and women who are coming together to reflect God’s
light in the dark places. May we all learn from their example.
Lord
Jesus Christ, we ask that you give church leaders in Kenya
the courage, strength and wisdom they need to keep fighting
the good fight, to keep speaking life into places of death.
Guide them as they prepare the way for the Church to offer
their communities a future filled with hope. This we pray
in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
An Advent Journey