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HIV/AIDS has continued to escalate globally at a rate that astounds researchers. In recent years, some sub-Saharan African nations have recognized the dire need for change, but countries such as China and India must now face the fact that they have some of the highest rates of new infections in the world.
EMM has long-term partnerships with churches and communities that have built a foundation of mutual understanding and trust. A Christ-centered organization also has moral authority to influence behavioral changes and provide a more holistic approach to this crisis than a secular approach can.
Vision and program
We seek to share with our mission partners in the suffering that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has caused. As believers in Christ’s salvation, we are called to show his love and compassion to those who suffer.
Initially, this program will assess the needs and activities already existing within EMM’s current geographic regions of partnership.
We will then facilitate strategic partnerships to connect existing services and resources with those in need.
Lastly, we will develop training and capacity building activities for churches, schools, and community groups.
HIV/AIDS: 'We’re at the beginning of a 100-year war'
SALUNGA, Pa. Beth Good first began seeing HIV/AIDS patients when she ran a small clinic in Olepolos, Kenya, 1998-2001.
“I knew that’s what they had,” Good said. “But even though there was free testing, no one ever took the test except me after an accidental needle prick.
Then last year on a trip to East Africa with her husband Clair, representative to Africa for Eastern Mennonite Missions, Good met with pastors and leaders who were all wrestling with the issue and wanting to address it but feeling overwhelmed. All of them were already caring for additional AIDS-related dependents and ministering to scores of AIDS sufferers and their families.
Good said, “I kept asking myself, ‘How can we be standing with our sister churches in the challenge of HIV/AIDS they are facing?’”
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Beth Good, HIV/AIDS Initiative coordinator for EMM, has written a significant manual to assist in the fight against AIDS. Download HIV/AIDS Manual (pdf)
Download Spanish version of HIV/AIDS Manual (pdf)
(Adobe Reader required)
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