Li Na (right) with Hui Guo. The pair are trainers on an HIV/AIDS education program [WR410/31 PRC06DJ-1084]

Bible a ‘great help’ in HIV/AIDS education

“We believe that demonstrating Christian love and concern is the best way that we can help people with HIV/ AIDS,” says Li Na, 27, a doctor who works on an HIV/AIDS education program run by the churches in Kunming. The program started three years ago and offers medical advice to people with the virus, as well as practical and spiritual support for patients and their friends and families.

“We have had very positive results from this work,” says the doctor, who finds the Bible a very useful tool in her work. “The Bible is a great help because it contains passages that talk about God’s love for everyone, as well as passages that demonstrate what our attitude towards other people should be. This helps us to teach people to have compassion and concern for those with HIV/AIDS, and not ostracise them. We also use the Bible to teach people how to avoid contracting the virus, using passages from Scripture that demonstrate the way in which God wants us to live. But we need more Bible resources for our work here.” One of the projects in which she is engaged is the training of church leaders. “We are currently working towards teaching leaders from 1,600 parishes, and we hope that they will embrace what they are learning and use it in very practical ways back in their towns and villages,” says Li Na. “Members of their very own congregations may have HIV/AIDS or they may know people with the virus, so this program will really be relevant to them. There is a great need, and it will not decrease in the years to come. Working with the government, we will be further developing this kind of HIV/AIDS education program.” UBS is helping churches in Yunnan develop Scripture-based HIV/AIDS training materials. There is no doubt that China is facing an escalating HIV/AIDS problem. While there are currently about 650,000 people with HIV, the infection rate is increasing, with 70,000 new infections in 2005 alone. And although it is difficult to estimate the rate of future infections, UNAIDS and other organisations are predicting that, by 2010, between 10 and 20 million Chinese people could have HIV. These are staggering figures but they only show part of the problem – while the virus causes severe health problems for those who contract it, it also brings a plethora of social and economic problems that affect families, communities and society as a whole. Those involved in HIV/AIDS education are working to help tackle some of these problems, too. “We are trying to expand our work to offer particular help to the children of parents who are HIV-positive. We are planning to provide a basic education for these children as well as helping to give them a firm foundation for their lives. We want to help support them as they grow up in very difficult circumstances. We are also wanting to help drug addicts, who are at very high risk of contracting the virus.”

(WR410/31-04.07) [1 photo] See Li Na’s testimony