Carter herself has made some personal connections through CAM. Debbi Hood Johnson, who joined in 1993 after her husband, B.J., died of AIDS, became a CAM leader and spent hours exchanging electronic messages with Carter.

Johnson herself was diagnosed with HIV in 1995. But what stunned CAM members was her unexpected death in a car accident in 1996, about a month after her 42nd birthday. Carter was invited to preach at a memorial service that another CAM member helped plan. It was apparent at that service, Carter said, that Johnson "had touched so many people, rom different colors and different classes."

More information about CAM, including how to join the electronic discussion list, can be found at http://gbgm-umc.org/cam/

United Methodists Offer Electronic Support Group for HIV/AIDS

For seven years, an electronic service sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries has allowed people with HIV/AIDS and their families to share feelings, offer support and exchange information.

"We were about the only show in town when we opened," said the Rev. Nancy Carter, a consultant with the Board of Global Ministries. "I am impressed that people are still finding a need for what we offer, even though there are so many electronic choices now."

Carter has been the system operator of Computerized AIDS Ministries (CAM) since it was established by the board's Health and Welfare Ministries Department in June 1993. Paul Busby provides assistance. Last spring, the format was changed from an old-style electronic bulletin board to a private electronic discussion list.

The reorganized CAM group has about 70 members, predominantly from the United States, but also from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Europe. New members learn about the service from friends or through church networks or the Board of Global Ministries Web site.

One enthusiastic new member is Linda Brown, a health educator for the Ryan White Title IV program in Columbia, S.C. She said she routinely checks out different listservs that might be used as resources and considers CAM "a wonderful service" that fills an information gap for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Brown also is impressed with the wide spectrum of people involved with CAM. Participants include men and women who are HIV positive; parents and foster parents of children with AIDS; spouses of persons with AIDS; health professionals and concerned church members.

"Some of the folk who have come to us have been newly diagnosed and thus in crisis," Carter said. "Other persons on the list, such as long-term survivors, have been able to assist them."

The spiritual aspect of the service is a drawing card, and members regularly ask each other for prayers and other kinds of support, she added. Although CAM does not focus on technical medical information, it does include the daily prevention news update from the Centers for Disease Control, news from religious groups about HIV/AIDS ministries and other AIDS-related news.

Brown lauded the fact that CAM offers a spiritual context while remaining neutral and nonjudgmental toward participants. Many people touched by HIV/AIDS do not have access to support "that is spiritually motivating for them," she said. "In other words, they don't have fellowship."

The fellowship at CAM has led to both online and offline friendships, as well as long-term participation. Richard Cory of Virginia, whose wife and teen-age son are longtime survivors of HIV/ AIDS, has said that CAM "is still one of my best sources of emotional and spiritual support."