North American Consultation Urges Church to Fight AIDS, Promote Abstinence

The North American Consultation concluded last week with a call to churches to fight AIDS together and to continue promoting abstinence in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

By Michelle A. Vu, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 18, 2005

The North American Consultation concluded last week with a call to churches to fight AIDS together and to continue promoting abstinence in the battle against what is now considered one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the history of the world.

The one-day event, hosted by Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, gathered about 600 church leaders, mission agency representatives, field workers, aid agency personnel and others interested in learning about the Role of the Church in the HIV/AIDS Pandemic. The conference at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., discussed the effectiveness of the ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, or use a Condom) model and the role of the church in encouraging this plan.

Among the speakers was Dr. Edward C. Green, the senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, who spoke about the effectiveness of the ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, or use a Condom) model used in places such as Uganda, Rwanda and other African nations to combat AIDS.

Green commended faith-based organizations for their increased involvement during the past year in fighting AIDS and encouraged church leaders to continue to promote abstinence and faithfulness as a proven way to prevent HIV/AIDS infection.

“You in the church have a comparative advantage,” he said, referring to religious organizations’ influence on behavior changes, but also noted, “You have a great responsibility and challenge.”

Green, who is a self-described liberal, asserted that the ABC model must be judged regardless of ideology and on its positive results.

The Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the World Evangelical Alliance – the global network that includes some 200 million evangelical Christians in 123 countries – also spoke about the importance of the Church’s role and recommended pooling resources and relief efforts, especially in response to AIDS – a problem no organization can alone solve.

“We have to understand what our role is and come together in collaborative effort,” said Tunnicliffe.

The Lausanne Consultation was cosponsored by Food for the Hungry; World Vision, United States; the National Association of Evangelicals; Southeast Christian Church, and the Stewardship Foundation.