In an HIV/AIDS seminar for Thai church leaders, Good taught about condom use and the fact that they are only 85 percent effective. To illustrate this, she put M&Ms in a bowl and offered them to Wiang (right) and Pensii (left); just before the women reached for the candy, Good said casually, “Several of the candies are poisoned. I’m not sure which ones. But the rest are fine.” Pensii is an AIDS patient who is a believer. She assists with the local hospital’s support group and is also a part of the Thai church’s HIV/AIDS visitation team. Photo credit: Sandy Achenbach.

DET UDOM, Thailand – Beth Good loves nothing better than challenging church leaders around the world to “step up to the plate” and face the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

An EMM catalyst for HIV/AIDS initiatives, Good traveled to the Philippines and Thailand, September 5-15, to lead workshops for church leaders and visit AIDS ministries.

“I want to convey to mission and church leaders not only the importance, but the absolute necessity, of the church being involved in the global fight against HIV/AIDS,” Good said.

At the Holy Spirit in Mission Conference in the Philippines, in a workshop for church leaders, Good introduced Ministering to Those Affected by HIV/AIDS: a training manual for church workers, which she wrote. When one leader asked, “But what does this have to do with us?” Good couldn’t help but respond, “Everything!”

“In order to address a rapidly growing pandemic, there must be a distribution network growing faster than the pandemic,” Good explained. “And the only force on earth that is as far-reaching as the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the church. In the world there are 2.1 billion people who claim to follow Christ. That is the largest ‘organization’ on the planet – bigger than McDonalds or the World Health Organization.

“Each day nearly 14,000 people are newly infected with HIV. But the church is growing daily at the rate of 60,000 – four times faster than the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It’s the only ‘organization’ on the planet that is fitted for this momentous task.

“I believe that God is calling the church, with its combination of the compassion of Christ, the truth of God’s Word, and the strength of the Holy Spirit, to face AIDS and the issues surrounding it head-on. This is not only my passion, but a prophetic mandate for the church today.”

By way of example, Good said that Kenya has recorded approximately 1.4 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Kenya also claims to have 80,000 Christian churches. Doing the math shows that if each church in Kenya would “adopt” 17 AIDS orphans, their needs could be met through the churches in their home communities.

In Mathari North, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya, the Mathari Mennonite Church began Menno Kids Academy – an outreach to the many orphaned and vulnerable children in its neighborhood. This has grown from just a handful of children to over 28 students who get a free education and two meals a day.

“This church is doing more than its ‘fair share,’” Good said.

In Thailand, Good met with the AIDS visitation team from the Life Enrichment Churches, a circle of churches begun by EMM workers.

Good said, “I was struck by the truly holistic ministry of this body of believers. When I asked why they started the ministry, Pastor Joi pondered a moment, then answered, ‘Well, when the hospital asked us to become involved, we felt compassion for those who were sick and dying because of AIDS. We also knew that everyone needs to know the salvation of Jesus Christ, so we felt compelled to share Jesus with them as well. I guess it’s difficult to separate the two.’”

Good reported, “When we made home visits with the church’s team, we saw them not only minister to the AIDS patients, but to whole households. We watched in fascination as the team leader answered questions about the differences between Christianity and Buddhism and briefly gave a creation-to-cross history lesson. We witnessed a ministry that enveloped the total health of an individual, a family, and a community. It’s what I like to call ‘complete evangelism.’”

On one of the team’s visits, Good said she watched in awe as a dim light began to flicker in the eyes of an emaciated form lying on a raised platform that served as a bed. The fact that a group of people from the hospital and the church would come to visit and encourage him in his diseased state seemed unbelievable to him.

“I witnessed a transformation in both his body and his spirit as he found a tiny bit of renewed energy from this show of support,” Good said. “Where there had been an expressionless, immobile body, I saw the unmistakable light of life begin to enter. It almost seemed like the embodiment of Ezekiel’s vision: bones, sinew, flesh -- transformed into humanity longing for the connection and comfort of others.”

The Thai church’s visitation team still wrestles with the stigma of HIV/AIDS. One member of the team knows stigma firsthand, since he is also HIV positive. Another member said that at first his wife did not want him to be involved lest he, too, would “catch” HIV.

But the church has forged ahead and now faces questions about what to do with the many HIV positive believers and their believing family members and friends. Should they be incorporated into existing cell churches or be in cells of their own? They don’t want to segregate those who are HIV positive from the greater church, but these new groups also have special needs.

Good said, “I enjoyed listening to the Thai church leaders wrestle with these issues. What a ‘problem’ to have: what to do with all the new believers!”

Ministering to Those Affected by HIV/AIDS: a training manual for church workers, written by Good, has been translated into Swahili and Thai. Translations into Amharic, Oromo, Hindi, Spanish, and French are in process. Contact EMM (717 898-2251, info@emm.org) for ordering information.

-Jewel Showalter

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