"Binding Up the Broken-Hearted Children," Focus Paper 16, January 1992. This Paper focuses on children and grieving in relation to the AIDS epidemic. The basic content is still good, although the resources list is five years old. This paper is available on the World Wide Web at: http://gbgm-umc.org/resources/hivfocus/focus016.html or may be ordered (single copy, free) from HIV/AIDS Ministries Network, Health and Welfare Ministries, Room 330, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115.
Brown, Patricia D. and Adele K. Wilcox. Worship Resource for HIV & AIDS. 42 pages. Order from the Service Center, #1683, English or #1828, Spanish, $2.50 plus $3.50 postage and handling for orders $25 and less- Call toll-free 1-800-305-9857.
Carter, Nancy A. Created and Loved by God: An HIV/AIDS Ministry Covenant to Care Handbook. New York: Health and Welfare Ministries, 1995. 96 pages. Order from the Service Center, #2149, $4.95 plus $3.50 postage and handling for orders $25 and less- Call toll-free 1-800-305-9857.
Dane, Barbara O. and Carol Levine, ed. AIDS and the New Orphans: Coping with Death. Westport, CN: Auburn House, 1994.
"Recognizing and Responding to the Many Faces of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.A.," Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church (Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1996), pp. 120-124. World Wide Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/mission/resolutions/aidsusa.html
World AIDS Day 1997 Web Page (Health and Welfare Ministries):
http://gbgm-umc.org/programs/hiv/wad.html Lots of WAD resources, including both religious/spiritual resources and all of the World Health Organization's WAD materials. This page will be updated continuously as World AIDS Day approaches.
"World AIDS Day Observance," U.S.A.," Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church (Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1996), pp. 120-124. World Wide Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/mission/resolutions/wad.html
A variety of resources are suggested. Choose those appropriate to your context and add your own resources.
#191, "Jesus Loves Me"; #195, "Send Your Word"; #196, "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus"; #210, "Toda la Tierra" ("All Earth Is Waiting"); #277, "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus"; #330, "Daw-Kee Aim Daw-Tsi-Taw" ("Great Spirit, Now I Pray"); #402, "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian; #428, "For the
Healing of the Nations"; #432, "Jesu, Jesu"; #434, "Cuando El Pobre" ("When the Poor
Ones"); #441, "What Does the Lord Require?" #523, "Saranam, Saranam" ("Refuge");
#534, "Be Still, My Soul"; #707, "Hymn of Promise." Some of these hymns (those not copyrighted) and their music in midi format may be found at HymnSite.comHymns (from The United Methodist Hymnal):
These hymns were chosen because they fit under at least one of the following categories:
Genesis 9:12-17; 1 Kings 17:8-24; Psalm 146; Zechariah 7:8-10; Matthew 18:1-5; Romans 8:31-39
As we confront the crisis of AIDS in our society, the rainbow that symbolizes God's covenantal love is an appropriate beginning place. In the symbol of the rainbow I believe we find two affirmations.... First, the rainbow comes in the midst of clouds.... Life threatening disease connotes hardship and pain like the flood that swept away humankind in the days of Noah. We often feel AIDS as a power and a force to big to be contained by human hands: we are tempted to despair. But in the midst of the temptation to despair... we have the rainbow... a sign of hope, a symbol of God's love in the midst of a broken world.
Our first affirmation in response to AIDS must be an affirmation of the love of God that remains steadfast in the face of tragedy. But the covenant that God gives us is not one-sided. There is a second message that comes with the giving of the rainbow.... the message that we will be held accountable for each others' life blood. We are accountable for the lives of our neighbors. The covenant implies mutual responsibility and its calls for our response, in care, in truth, and in seeking justice.
(Karen Lebacq, excerpt from her presentation, "AIDS: Images, Feelings and Fears, " National Consultation on AIDS Ministries, November 12-15, 1987, Millbrae, CA)
Ideas
1. Use the theme of promise and commitment with the image of the rainbow. Make a banner or quilt panel with the rainbow and children to be part of the focus for worship. Order and distribute the free flyers, "A Covenant to Care" (English, #5072, Spanish #5074) from the Service Center. Call toll-free 1-800-305-9857. Extend the theme from the scripture passage in Genesis to the story of Christ, the birth of a child of promise. Through children, we come face-to-face with Jesus, the Christ. The passage in Romans emphasizes the constancy of Jesus, despite adversity.
2. Use the story of the widow and the oil in the book of Kings, perhaps also the story of Jesus raising the widow's son. These stories bring in the theme not only of precious children becoming sick and dying but also economics. Particularly in the story in Kings, we see the poverty of the widow. AIDS has disproportionately affected persons who are poor, as is documented in the World AIDS Day materials from UNAIDS (World Health Organization) and elsewhere. See also Psalm 146 as a resource.
3. Take an offering for the United Methodist Advance Special #982215-6: Enabling AIDS Ministries, which provides grants to congregations, annual conferences, and organizations in support of AIDS ministries. Order and distribute the free flyers, "Enabling AIDS Ministries" (English, #5088, Spanish #5092) from the Service Center. Call toll-free 1-800-305-9857. Send your gifts through your usual United Methodist church giving channels. Gifts are forwarded to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, New York 10087-9068.
4. If you have World Wide Web access, visit Health and Welfare Ministries' World AIDS Day web site at http://gbgm-umc.org/programs/hiv/wad.html. New resources will be added on at least a weekly basis before December 1, 1997. Bookmark this page, for it will become a permanent World AIDS Day home page that will be updated throughout the years. When materials for the 1998 emphasis on the concerns of young people (ages 15-24 years) become available, it will offer information and links to these resources.
HIV/AIDS Ministries Network Focus Papers are a publication of the Health and Welfare Ministries , General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church, Room 330, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115. Phone: 212-870-3909. FAX: 212-749-2641. E-MAIL: aidsmin@gbgm-umc.org. WEB: http://gbgm-umc.org/programs/hiv/covenant.stm. Focus Papers, unless otherwise noted, may be quoted, reproduced and distributed with credit being given to Health and Welfare Ministries and the authors.
Focus Paper #32 Main | Facts and Figures | Datos y cifras | World AIDS Day