Faith-Based Hero: Dr. Peter Okaleet
TIME magazine will honor Dr. Peter Okaleet at the TIME Global Health Summit in New York, N.Y., Nov. 1-3 as one of two faith-based heroes battling AIDS and other preventative diseases through churches. But he says he was not always convinced of the ne
NEW YORK – TIME magazine will honor Dr. Peter Okaleet at the TIME Global Health Summit in New York, N.Y., Nov. 1-3 as one of two faith-based heroes battling AIDS and other preventative diseases through churches. But he says he was not always convinced of the necessity of working from a faith aspect.
As a young doctor, Okaleet watched his friend die of HIV/AIDS while in his arms. His friend frail and thin from the wasting disease could barely speak. But he whispered, "What more could you do to save my life?"
Okaleet obliged him and told him the promises God makes in the Bible and eternal life through Jesus Christ. After his friend died, he says, he came to the conclusion that only faith could have comforted him in his last day.
"Lacking a faith in a higher power – my friend could not see beyond his own existence. He was afraid."
Medical Assistance Program International (MAP) was the visionary bridge between the two worlds. The Brunswick, Ga.-based Christian relief and development organization wanted to join theology and medicine in a holistic ministry – a ministry that takes stock of the spiritual and the physical. The group wishes to help a person grow spiritually, while tending to their physical needs.
The bridge was clearly needed in the 1990s in Africa when 97 percent of clergy knew AIDS was a problem, yet over 60 percent did not understand the disease. Lack of knowledge led most African churches to condemn those with the disease.
"I witnessed clergy standing at the door of the AIDS ward of a hospital and waving to the patients and the caregivers at their bedside. ‘God bless you,’ they would say. Then they would walk away. And this was considered progress," says Okaleet.
Okaalet and MAP International then developed a curriculum for 14 theological colleges in six African countries – Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Over 1,300 students are receiving instruction. 230 already graduated with HIV/AIDS counseling certificates.
MAP also developed educational readings for churches, which then preached to whole congregations about AIDS.
Now thousands of clergy bring people living with HIV spiritual healing and hope alongside the medical treatment.
Other than educating people, MAP programs also handed out free medicine and cleaned the water supplies through faith-based organizations and local churches.
On the resilience of churches, Okaleet who now directs MAP International in Africa says, "Churches will always be there. Governments can go in and go out, but the congregations are always there with the people. The church will run a hospital even when there is war."
As for proselytizing, Okaleet says they don't do it. They work with all denominations and faith traditions.
Okaleet is one of twelve heroes TIME will honor during the three-day summit. He is one of two heroes representing the faith sector. The other is Dr. Ngoma Miezi Kintaudi, director of the Medical Office of the Protestant Church of Congo. He helped give 90 million people primary healthcare.
