HIV/AIDS & Faith MCC HIV/AIDS Advisory Council - PowerPoint Presentation

1. HIV/AIDS & FaithMCC HIV/AIDS Advisory CouncilWORLD AIDS DAY 2015

2. ContentCovenantPraise the Source of Faith and Learning by Professor Thomas H. TroegerStatistical Data• The Numbers of People Living with HIV/AIDS• The Top Ten Countries with HIVRecent Medical DevelopmentsHIV and Faith• HIV and Human Rights• HIV+ Faith ResponseCase StudyStigmaWhat Would Jesus DoGood NewsWorks CitedPage 3Pages 4-11Pages 12-13Pages 14-18Pages 19-21Pages 22-30Pages 31-33Pages 34-35Pages 36-39Page 40

3. Covenant StatementWe 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 BoardHIV/AIDS Ministry ToolkitHyacinth AIDS Foundation

4. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning – Thomas H. TroegerPraise the source of faith and learning that has sparked and stoked the mindWith 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 surveyKeep 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 artAnd the breadth of human knowledge only partial truth impart.

7. Praise the Source of Faith and Learning Far beyond our calculationlies a depth we cannot soundWhere 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 thoughtHas 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 breedLest 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 undertowTill 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 HIVSource: UNAIDS Global Report 20141 South Africa 18%2 Nigeria 9%3 India 6%4 Kenya 5%5 Mozambique 4%Remaining countries 39%6 Uganda 4%7 Tanzania 4%8 Zimbabwe 4%9 USA 4%10 Malawi 3%

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

15. Recent DevelopmentsNew proof that passing on HIV while undetectable is very unlikely in both heterosexuals and gay menIAS 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 DevelopmentsThese 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 DevelopmentsAn 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 DevelopmentsDepression and Risky Sex Strongly Linked in UK Gay MenThere 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. Pew Research estimates 84% of the world’s population identifies with a faith communityWHO estimates 40% of Sub Sahara Africa’s HIV/AIDS treatment and care provided by Christian hospitals and health centers60% of HIV/AIDS services delivered by FBOs in some areas of the world (UNAIDS)ELIMINATE STIGMATIZATION!HIV/AIDS and Faith

20. Poverty: 30 million with HIV/AIDS in low/middle income countriesFood security: Nutrition is vital in the fight against HIV/AIDS and treatmentGender inequality: Violence against women and lack of protectionIncarceration: 30 million people entering/exiting prison worldwide a yearDiscrimination: Race, LGBT, sex workers, IDUsHIV/AIDS and Human Rights

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

22. A Case Study: Pastor Jeff has AIDSIn 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 AIDSLater 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 AIDSIn 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 AIDSPeople 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 AIDSIt 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 AIDSFinally, 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 AIDSfor 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 AIDSThen 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 AIDSThe 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. StigmaAn overview

32. StigmaIn 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. StigmaToday 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 AnswerGod 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 NewsProviding 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 NewsGlobally, 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 NewsWe 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 NewsLive 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 CitedHIV Vaccine Trials NetworkOne Conversation –Community Forums on HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS Ministry Tool Kit” Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, Available onlineP.I. Perspective –Project Inform’s Treatment Journal – March 2014 Project inform, Available onlineMCC HIV/AIDS Advisory Council Recommendations – February, 2014