December 1st = Happy World AIDS Day! Over 35 million people worldwide have this disease and 24.5 million of those live in Sub-Sarahan Africa. How amazing that we are in Kenya on this special awareness day! This morning we got to listen to a presentation on the status of AIDS here in Africa, specifically in Kenya and at Tenwek, and how they are working to reduce transmission from infected mothers to their unborn babies. It was a great presentation by one of the MO interns and it’s wonderful to see how this country and this hospital are working so hard to bring that transmission risk down to 0.
Later this morning, we were invited to attend the World AIDS Day Celebration here at the hospital in the church. They had a fantastic guest speaker who is a pastor and gave a great speech on how we should not discriminate against those who have AIDS, especially as a church. “People can be hurt by the church,” he stated. He told a story about a group of women who had been prostitutes and all of them had AIDS. For so long, they believed they would not be accepted by a church congregation because of their former lifestyle and their disease status. The church where this speaker was pastor decided to be the kind of church that all churches should be, a church that would reach out to these ladies, show them love and acceptance, and not judge them for past mistakes or the disease. He said it best when he said “The church is suppose to be a place of hope and restoration….of healing.”
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. – 1 John 4:18-21
Emily and I have had many discussions whilst here about how sad it is these days that the church and Christians have a bad connotation associated with them, especially among people our age. We are seen as people who lay judgment on others rather than people who love others, especially those outside the church. We are also ridiculed for being “close-minded” when we stand up for our beliefs. It shouldn’t be this way! Being a Christian is a GREAT thing! Standing up for what God stands for is a GREAT thing! We must remember to be intolerable of things which God calls us to be intolerable of in a society that tries to sway us in different directions, but we must also always remember to love the person who does the intolerable thing. ‘Love the sinner, hate the sin’ has always been a favorite saying of mine. I may not agree with the choices of another, but I will never judge them for it. I will continually love them, pray for them, and try to teach them about why my beliefs are different from theirs. People will also say ‘Well, you’re not perfect and you do wrong things too so who are you to preach to me?! ’ and they think we’re hypocrites. The best answer: I am a sinner saved by grace! My sin is the same as your sin. I still say the wrong things and do the wrong things sometimes because I am only human. Jesus is the only perfect person to walk this Earth completely sinless. God knows I am going to continue to mess up, but because of my relationship with him He knows I will ask for forgiveness and mean it and learn from my mistakes. It is our responsibility as brothers and sisters to keep each other accountable, to try and live in the way of Christ, but keep the judgment away when we fall short.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. – Romans 12:14
During the story that pastor told today and in thinking back over our conversations, I was reminded of how blessed I was to attend a church in Lexington that focused on breaking those bad connotations. They have several community outreach programs to help those in need, but one of the more amazing ministries they have is working to rescue women who work in men’s clubs or on the streets as prostitutes around the city, bring them to a safe haven and teach them about the Lord. Their motto is ‘Love God. Love People.’ and they live to let people know that it doesn’t matter how you come or what your life has been like, they just want you to come to church and learn what a relationship with God is all about. Over the past year and especially during my time here, I have decided that it is one of my biggest goals to demonstrate this same kind of love to people. It’s not always easy. People will hurt me and I will get discouraged, but one thing I know is that with God all things are possible.
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. – Romans 12:16
God Bless everyone!
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