| Here in Cameroon, the AIDS infection
rate is now nearly 12 percent, a jump from several years ago. Though
the church is speaking more about it, it is clear that few people
are willing to admit they have AIDS. They frequently call it a "long
illness" or "slow poison." The culture here is quick
to cast blame, so there is little motivation for families to be
honest about what is going on. They’ll be accused—children,
especially if orphans, and widows alike. And so they are often left
behind with nothing. Pastors say that people hide the truth from
them because they feel ashamed and are afraid of being seen as sinners.
They feel that God is simply judging them and punishing them for
something in their past. The church is really struggling with how
to approach these people as part of the bigger picture of how to
be Christ in the midst of an AIDS crisis. There are programs being
started, teaching going on, especially in terms of prevention. In
fact there is now a three-credit-hour course on AIDS at the Presbyterian
seminary. The problem is that the leap from the classroom to practice
is a big one, just as it is from seminar—or prayer meeting—to
everyday life with HIV/AIDS. One dynamic that seems to be pushing
the issue here is the question: How to care for pastors who have
AIDS? Should that be any different than how they care for anyone
in the congregation?
I am not here to answer those and other questions for them, but
rather to help them ask these tough questions and struggle together
to find the answers. I hope too that I can be a resource to them,
to help them connect to each other, and to connect them to many
of you. To that end, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be
holding a seminar with our UN office specifically focusing on
AIDS in Africa and how we as American Christians can engage in
the work with our partner churches here. I’ll be representing
Central and West Africa. Many of you have heard about it. But
for those who haven’t and are interested in it, please feel
free to write to me, or Dorothy Hanson, Coordinator for International
HIV/AIDS work in the PC(USA) offices: dahanson@ctr.pcusa.org.
(It will be October 24-27 in New York City.) Really, you are welcome.
I’d love to see any of you I can!
I leave for Congo early tomorrow morning. Please pray for me
as I go, that all the flights and connections happen as planned.
I’ll be there three weeks trying to get to know the two churches
and their AIDS and orphan work. If I have e-mail access while
there I’ll write an update in about 2 or 2½ weeks.
If you don’t hear from me, let me know! I’ll send a
photo or two if possible.
Thanks for all your care and support—especially the prayers
that make all the difference in what I am able to do.
Blessings to each of you.
In Christ,
Caryl
The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 31
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