4 Minute Devotions: Elizabeti

Lamentations 5:7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.

Last summer, my youngest daughter Lauren went on a mission trip to Tabora, Tanzania. She wanted to work with children who were orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

For three months, Lauren taught, looked after, and played with these unfortunate children – unfortunate, not just because their parents had died of AIDS, but because the ‘sin’ of their fathers was visited upon the children, most of whom had AIDS themselves. In some of the communities where they live, these children are treated as outcasts. They face harsh realties with no one to protect or provide for them. Their childhood is blighted by illness, prejudice, and hopelessness.

The workers at the organization where Lauren was stationed try to do as much as they can to make the lives of these AIDS kids as pleasant as they can. They give of their time, skills, and resources to ease the suffering, insecurity, and sicknesses of the children. They do something beautiful and worthwhile, which is largely ignored and forgotten by the rest of the world.

When Lauren came back from Tabora, she decided to help one little girl called Elizabeti. She sponsored her so that Elizabeti could go to a private school and be given a good education. Lauren proudly possesses a photograph of Elizabeti in her school uniform. The wee lassie’s eyes gleam with pride and happiness in the photograph. She has been given an opportunity that was beyond any of her dreams.

Sadly, we received news this morning that Elizabeti died. Her sickness was too much to bear for her wee body and the dreaded disease that claimed her parents has taken another victim. Lauren’s heart is broken and she is angry with God.

This war against AIDS in Africa has been going on for over thirty years. How can we keep this going on? The war against terrorism has preoccupied our western nations. Thousand of civilians and soldiers have died fighting terrorism, and yet millions upon millions of people have died in Africa from the scourge of AIDS. With all of our resources, when will we truly begin to wage the war against a real foe?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, why are children dying in Africa from AIDS? Why are we so preoccupied with international criminals instead of dreaded diseases? What are You calling and expecting us to do to wage this war against an evil illness that is destroying people all over this planet? When will the ‘sins’ of the fathers stop becoming the punishment inflicted upon their children? How long, O Lord, will this continue? Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Daily Devotions: Troubling Ourselves

I’m going to an African-American church this Sunday afternoon to preach at a special service. Black prayer week begins on Sunday and this year the African American community is focusing on AIDS and its impact on their people. I’ve been invited as one of the preachers to give a message about how poorly the Church responded to AIDS sufferers in the 1980s & 1990s, and how that negatively impacted the credibility of the Church across the world.
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Too many pastors and churches were too quick to pass judgment on HIV sufferers and AIDS victims. Instead of acting with compassion to those who were dying, we showed hostility and hatred which sadly is still evident in some congregations. We were too quick to say that God was punishing the gay community instead of using it as an opportunity to show the love and grace of Christ. We were too willing to create outcasts and lepers among those who were already on the margins of society.

Bible Verse of the Day

Joshua 7:25 Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today."

The trouble that we created with our self-righteousness is hard to overcome. Instead of asking AIDS sufferers and victims to seek the Lord’s forgiveness, we have to seek their pardon of our foolishness. If the Church wants to regain credibility in the world, it will have to act humbly and show contrition to those we hurt and damaged. If we cast aside this opportunity to seek the grace of God in those we treated ungraciously, then the Church will never be healed of the brokenness that we caused. One day the AIDS virus may be effectively cured, but will the Church still be the last victim of this disease?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive our arrogant and foolish ways when we become self-righteous and hypocritical. Enable us to see the trouble that we have caused to other people, other groups, and other communities across the world. Help us to seek their forgiveness and teach us lessons of humility, contrition, and grace. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Religious news: Egypt Torturing HIV Sufferers

HIV-positive Egyptian men are tortured and chained to hospital beds while awaiting unfair homosexuality trials, a human rights group has claimed.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) decried the "ignorance and injustice" of a case in which a group of arrested men were given HIV tests without their consent.
They were also subjected to anal tests to "prove" their homosexual conduct.

Two of the men tested HIV-positive and are now handcuffed to hospital beds for 23 hours a day, HRW said.
"These men have been subjected to anal examination without their consent which amounts to torture," Gasser Abdel-Razek, HRW's acting director of regional relations in the Middle East, told the BBC on Wednesday.

"Egypt should release the men unconditionally and put a system in place that does not deal with HIV-positive individuals as criminals but as patients who require medical care and attention."

Egypt's Interior Ministry had no immediate comment on the case.

Read the rest of the story here