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Is the Church equal to challenge presented by AIDS-related suffering
By Kevin Tomson-Hooper
In 1998, I was invited by The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters to visit Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. I joined a larger group that included Salvationists from Australia, India and the United Kingdom. Our purpose was to
learn how other cultures deal with HIV/AIDS in their communities and how these communities develop teams that extend physical, emotional and spiritual care to people living with HIV/AIDS.
We visited roughly 60 different villages, meeting tribal leaders, local Salvation Army officers and lay people and village residents. All wanted to provide care and compassion to people living with the virus. So they had established community care teams composed of a community leader or chief, a Salvationist responsible for the pastoral care needs
of people affected by HIV/AIDS, those responsible for providing food and physical comfort and another
person responsible for managing an incomegenerating activity (IGA).
IGAs provided funding for the work of the community care teams, and they sponsored and encouraged an entrepreneurial spirit within the community – allowing communities to successfully mobilize their assets to provide support, care and
comfort to their neighbors who were living with HIV/AIDS. Business activities included selling clothing made by local residents who had started a seamstress business, selling coal or wood for heating and running a small hotel for travelers.
The setting is determined by what they do on a given evening together. They use the chapel if they are having a prayer meeting or a Bible study. Or they might find a place “just to hang out” or go on an outing.
If they play video games or have snacks on a given night, then they meet in their fellowship room – a "clubhouse" of sorts that doubles as a Sunday school classroom. On one wall is a camouflaged mural that the teens painted themselves.
We were often welcomed into the dwellings of people living with HIV/AIDS. These visits often were powerful spiritual experiences. We visited with a woman named Mary, who lived in a village in Uganda. I could tell that, at one time, Mary had had a beautiful face – but now her face was worn with care and suffering. When I looked into her dark eyes, it was like looking in a mirror – I could see my own face in hers.
As we talked, Mary led us behind her hut, showing us a row of seven graves, one grave still fairly fresh. They were the graves of her daughters – all seven had died of AIDS. She said, “I don’t know why you would care about me. I have HIV as well, and I will probably die of AIDS soon.”
Right then, I felt the spirit of God’s presence moving into that place. My Ugandan Salvationist friend’s response to Mary was, “We’re here to support you from your physical life into your spiritual life. We will provide you with the comfort and care so that you will not be alone. There are people in this village who will care for you and pray with you.” Then
my Ugandan colleagues started singing hymns and embracing Mary.
It was a very powerful experience – the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, the grace expressed through singing and the emotions we felt together within her home. I felt the unconditional receptiveness of Mary and those of us who had gathered. We experienced a willingness to open ourselves to a personal relationship that would provide spiritual support and care. Mary would not be alone on her journey.
This experience made me realize that all people should be welcomed into the community of faith to receive care, compassion, support and comfort. I believe that we have a wonderful opportunity in the Southern Territory to use community care as a strategy for caring for and welcoming into the community of faith those who are affected by HIV/AIDS.
By confronting this epidemic, we also have an opportunity to facilitate a conversation within our communities that will engage and empower people to experience the ministry of presence. Our challenge is this: Can the Church reach out and mobilize itself to create this environment of care, compassion and comfort alongside our neighbors who are living with
HIV/AIDS? If we believe in compassionate justice for all, the Church can and will respond.
Kevin Tomson-Hooper is the territorial social services secretary.
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