 Bearing Each Other's Burdens: HIV/AIDS Training for Church Leaders in China |
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by Diane J. Allen |
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As churches in the People’s Republic of China seek to live Christ’s gospel in Chinese society, one area of growing involvement is the church’s mission amidst the HIV/AIDS crisis. For Christians in China this presents new and challenging opportunities to walk in the footsteps of Jesus who stood alongside the stigmatized and the outcast. In June 2004, Christian leaders from Yunnan province, a province with a high percentage of HIV/AIDS cases, participated in “The HIV and AIDS Training for Church Leaders in China” in Yunnan’s capital, Kunming. This three-day workshop was sponsored by the Amity Foundation, the Christian Conference of Asia (Asia-Mekong Ecumenical Partnership Program), and the Church of Christ in Thailand AIDS Ministry. The conference also utilized resources from China and its Hongkong Special Administrative Region. The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), and the Amity Foundation are two of GBGM’s main ecumenical partners in Asia. Overview Dr. Wang Yushen from Yunnan’s Working Committee for HIV/AIDS comprehensively briefed the group that included both clergy and laity, and highlighted that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in China has been increasing rapidly. By official count there are 800,000 persons living with HIV. Contracting the virus, he reviewed, can be done in a number of ways: by sharing and using contaminated needles that haven’t been sterilized (as is often the case with intravenous drug users); receiving a blood transfusion from contaminated products; the exchange of body fluids during sex with an infected partner; and from an infected mother to her unborn child. Dr. Wang cautioned that as China’s economy improves in urban coastal areas, there are over a hundred million persons on the move throughout the country. This large scale migration, in China called the ‘floating population’, carries a risk of contributing to the development of a full-blown HIV epidemic. Dr. Wang affirmed that in China many organizations, including religious ones, were actively running prevention campaigns with posters, pamphlets, brochures, and handbooks. Some counselling facilities have been established, but on the whole, there is not enough basic information about HIV and AIDS available for the general public — 1.3 billion people — especially in rural areas where approximately 65 percent of China’s population reside. The Gospel’s Challenge Participants also grappled to put the HIV/AIDS epidemic into a pastoral and theological framework. HIV and AIDS issues are clearly in the mainstream of the church’s ministry and mandate, said the Rev. Somnuk Jaripen from the Church of Christ in Thailand AIDS Ministry. He stressed that HIV and AIDS has become a theological and ethical challenge to churches. The transmission of HIV and AIDS are rooted in lifestyle, social perspective, social attitude, and individual practice. Jesus is very much a model for pastoral care and counselling within the context of HIV/AIDS. Citing Luke 24: 13-35, participants were encouraged to be sensitive, caring, concerned, to listen carefully and non-judgementally, to understand strengths and weakness of the client and to enable them find their own answers to difficult situations. Dr. Prawate Khid-arn from CCA challenged participants to “follow in the footsteps of the Lord who healed not only physical ailments but understood and healed the deep scars and wounds inflicted by society; who wept and empathized with human suffering.” An opening meditation by Mr. Jiang Zhulin, vice-chair of the Yunnan Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Committee, emphasised that the church is the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13), that working with issues of HIV and AIDS is very much ‘being the church’ in contemporary Chinese society. Local Initiatives Out of this three-day workshop came many commitments to local action from the 45 participants who came from six counties. These included surveying HIV/AIDS situations in local churches and communities, sharing knowledge with congregations, organizing bible studies to reflect on HIV and AIDS, setting up pastoral visiting teams and volunteers, establishing HIV/AIDS funds, strengthening intra-church networks, and better liaising with health officials, hospitals and government offices. Regional Response In response to the seriousness of the issues and the needs of churches in combating HIV and AIDS infection, the joint organizing partner came out with these practical recommendations: organizing an intensive ‘training for trainers’; a bi-lateral exchange between six HIV/AIDS coordinators in Yunnan churches with AIDS projects in Thailand, and vice versa, and the formation of a three-year joint training program for church leaders in towns and villages. GBGM Partners: The Amity Foundation and the Christian Conference of Asia. The Amity Foundation is a Chinese non-governmental social service organization that was initiated by Christians in China as a way to put faith into action. Amity works in a number of creative ways with health, education, blindness prevention, rural development, medical, relief, and rehabilitation work. The Amity Printing Press in Nanjing gives priority to the printing of Bibles and Christian literature. Dozens of United Methodists have served as teachers of English in China through the Amity Teacher’s Program. The Christian Conference of Asia is a forum of ecumenical cooperation among member churches and national Christian bodies in Asia. It explores opportunities for God’s mission with Asia and the wider world, and facilitates dialogue and action on issues of common concern, especially those that separate and cause divisions. CCA is committed to the equal participation of women, men, youth, clergy and laity in church and social issues. The contents and accompanying photographs came from “Executive Report: HIV/AIDS Training Workshop for Church Leaders in China” by Dr. Prawate Khid-arn. Used with permission. Diane Allen is China Program Associate with The United Methodist China Program. Advanced Special Projects The Amity Foundation Social Service and Education Projects, Advance Special #11151A Missionary Support for Diane J. Allen, Advanced, #10163Z
Date posted: Jul 06, 2004 |
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