Carolyn Twietmeyer, a suburban mother of 13 children – including six from Africa – has a message she wants to say on World AIDS Day: adopt HIV-positive kids.

The Twietmeyers of the Chicago suburb Joliet have adopted two sets of three siblings from Ethiopia, each set having an HIV-positive child. Unlike popular public opinion, Twietmeyer says children with HIV and AIDS can have normal and healthy lives with anti-retroviral drugs and do not pose a danger in transmitting the virus to other family members.

HIV cannot be transmitted in a normal family, school, or church environment, she explains. The virus can only be transmitted in a few ways: intravenous drug use, sexual contact, through birth and breast feeding. Although she did not mention it, HIV can also be transmitted through blood transfusion. It is not transmitted, she emphasizes, through hugs and kisses, sharing drinks, or even if siblings share baths. more >>

As part of observing World AIDS Day on December 1, World Vision India organized a campaign to raise awareness about the rights of people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

The campaign involved a float carrying awareness messages and stories of people living positive lives in spite of HIV.

"The stories were of their lives, their struggles and their dreams for their future. Through these stories, the message that there is life beyond HIV was conveyed," World Vision, an international Christian relief and development agency, stated. more >>

WASHINGTON – President Obama rolled out on Tuesday a new HIV/AIDS strategy to tackle the high infection rate and the stigma still associated with the disease on home ground.

Of the 33 million people living with HIV around the world, more than 1.1 million of them are in the United States. And every year approximately 56,000 people become infected. Yet the public's sense of urgency in combating the epidemic has stemmed, the White House National HIV/AIDS Strategy states.

While HIV transmission rates are not as high as they once were in the U.S., "every new case is one case too many," Obama said at a reception at the White House Tuesday. more >>

To mark the 100-day countdown until a historic world evangelization summit, organizers launched a global chat room in eight languages.

Cape Town 2010: The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, which is a follow-up of Lausanne II in 1989, now offers The Lausanne Global Conversation in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

The online conversation invites mission-minded Christians and leaders worldwide to discuss and debate pressing issues facing the global church – such as increasing hostility to Christianity, the threat of terrorism, and HIV/AIDS – in the months leading up to the event. more >>

The head of a Kansas City, Mo.-based ministry on Thursday issued a formal apology after discovering that the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill was promoted during his prayer event in Uganda.

"After returning home, I was told that the Bill had been clearly promoted after I left the meeting," said Lou Engle of TheCall. "I apologize that this took place and that my stated purpose of not promoting the Bill was compromised. I take responsibility for what was done on the stage of TheCall, even in my absence."

Just before heading into TheCall's charismatic prayer and fasting gathering in the East African country last month, Engle had released a statement expressing concerns with the pending bill, which would impose a life sentence in prison or the death penalty on those convicted of "aggravated homosexuality" (such as unlawful homosexual rape of a child or handicapped invalid) or who are HIV-positive. more >>

Leaders from various faith groups around the world on Tuesday pledged to prioritize and strengthen their response to HIV and to end the stigma associated with the pandemic.

"As religious leaders we have to be just and honest and address the fact that a vast majority of those among us affected by HIV and AIDS belong to a faith community," said the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches. "We have to provide leadership to uphold the inherent human dignity of all."

Tveit and representatives of some 40 religions just came out of the first-ever religious summit of high level leaders on the HIV response. The March 22-23 event took place in the Netherlands where participants – including Baha'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders – signed a personal commitment to action, vowing to "be clear in my words and actions that stigma and discrimination towards people living with or affected by HIV is unacceptable," according to The Associated Press. more >>