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HIV/AIDS FACTS & BACKGROUND INFORMATION
www.aids2006.org/subpage.aspx?pageId=474
DR. JOHN JEMMOT
The world’s health battle that has rock royalty, the
world’s wealthiest family and its poorest, captivated for
progress - 38 million live with HIV/AIDS, the most
devastating disease humankind has ever faced. When 24,000
health experts gathered in Toronto recently to get help for the crisis,
some research faced a bias. Abstinence, simply stopping having
sex outside of monogamous relationships, was booed as an answer to the
problem.
One of those presenting to the Conference on the case for abstinence
was Dr. John Jemmott – a Harvard trained psychologist, now
working at the University of Pennsylvania. His work with
inner-city children and his program designed to reduce HIV and Sexually
transmitted diseases is part of growing evidence that abstinence is
part of the cure.
Dr. John B. Jemmott III
John B. Jemmott III received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the
Department of Psychology and Social Relations at Harvard
University. From 1981 to 1999, he served as Instructor, Assistant
Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Psychology at
Princeton University.
He is currently the Kenneth B. Clark Professor of Communication in the
Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania,
the Director of the Center for Health Behavior and Communication in the
Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and
Professor of Communication in Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at
the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Jemmott is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and
the Society for Behavioral Medicine. He has served as a regular
member of several National Institutes of Health (NIH) panels, including
the Behavioral Medicine Study Section, the AIDS and Immunology Research
Review Committee, and the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council.
Dr. Jemmott has published numerous articles and has been the
recipient of many grants from the National Institutes of Health to
conduct research designed to develop and test theory-based,
contextually appropriate HIV/STD risk reduction interventions for
inner-city African American and Latino populations. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention have identified as effective and
have disseminated three curricula based on his HIV prevention research
with adolescents: “Be Proud! Be Responsible! Empowering
Adolescents to Reduce their Risk of HIV,” “Making a
Difference! An Abstinence Approach to HIV/STD Risk Reduction,”
and “Making Proud Choices! A Safer Sex Approach to HIV/STD Risk
Reduction.”
Dr. Jemmott is currently conducting research on HIV/STD prevention
strategies for couples where one partner is living with HIV and on
prevention strategies that would be contextually appropriate for use in
sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV pandemic is taking its heaviest human
toll.
A CONVERSATION WITH DR. TIM FOGGIN
www.churchresponse.org
LU: Will a major pandemic really happen? What is a pandemic?
TIM: In order to answer those questions, we must consider the natural
history of the influenza virus. With several centuries of
observations to look back on, we can clearly state that the influenza
virus has a very unstable genetic make up, “drifting” year
to year such that people cannot develop any more than partial immunity
to it, and then having a major genetic “shift” every few
decades such that actually nobody has any immunity to it at all.
This latter major “shift” is felt to occur as human
versions of the virus mix with animal or bird versions of the virus.
Whereas flu epidemics are localized outbreaks of infectious disease
such as occurs year to year, a flu pandemic is a worldwide outbreak of
the disease. These are known to occur every few decades as novel
strains of the flu virus emerge. Because nobody has any immunity
to such new strains, all are susceptible and transmission is much more
widespread than in usual years.
So, will another flu pandemic occur? Well, just as we know the
natural history of hurricanes (and nobody doubts more hurricanes will
hit the coast again this year, though we may not know the precise force
or impact), so too we know the natural history of the flu virus.
Another flu pandemic will occur. History suggests that this will
probably occur in the next 5-7 years.
The last three flu pandemics have been in 1918 (H1N1), 1957 (H2N2), and
1968 (H3N2). It appears likely that more people died of the 1918
flu pandemic than died of the Great War. That was a particularly
virulent strain, causing approximately 40 million deaths, and affecting
mostly the young and healthy (they actually often drowned
“inside” because their immune response was too
strong). The 1957 and 1968 pandemics were comparatively mild,
with from 2 to 5 million deaths worldwide each.
In the case of hurricanes, earthquakes, or tsunamis, severe though
these may be recovery can begin almost immediately. Things differ
considerably with flu pandemics in that here we have an emergency that
happens and continues happening and happening some more! And when
finally it subsides after a couple months, another wave hits. And
then perhaps a third wave too. Twelve to eighteen months in
crisis mode. This is the natural history that has been
observed. How about the response and recovery phases of
pandemics? Where can help come from when everybody is dealing
with it at the same time? No outside help to count
on… What about responders and volunteers? What
about the anxiety caused by possibly bringing an illness home?
Clearly the impact of flu pandemics goes beyond the death toll,
significant though it may be. The vast majority of people will
survive. The real impact is better understood if one considers
how our current economic system (which includes healthcare) is both
reactive and “just-in-time”. We do not have much
buffer or reserve built into it. If one part falters, many other
can grind to a halt. Think of any industry; then imagine 25% of
the workforce affected; then consider the other 75% either caring for
the sick or worried about becoming sick at the same time. If the
impact will be economic, it will also be social. Much social
upheaval (given the economic impact) and much social angst…
LU :Talk to us about the H5N1 strain of influenza... why is it so severe? What are the consequences?
TIM: First we must recognize that influenza is very different from a
“cold” or “stomach flu.” We must also
distinguish human influenza from avian flu, and again distinguish avian
flu from pandemic flu.
The H5N1 name itself refers to subtypes 5 and 1 of two proteins (H:
hemaglutinin and N: neuraminidase) found on the surface of the some
influenza viruses. The H5N1 strain of avian flu appears to have
been present in SE Asia since around 1997; the reason it is now so well
known is that suddenly in 2005 it began spreading around the
world—among birds—such that it is now present across Asia,
Europe and Africa. There has been some transmission to humans,
and occasional very limited human to human spread, but not in a
sustained manner. Thus, the H5N1 avian flu is still just that,
avian, i.e. bird, flu. We do not at this time have a human flu
pandemic.
Yet because it can be transmitted in certain circumstances (especially
when there is close proximity of humans and birds, such as is seen in
many countries worldwide), H5N1 is currently the most likely candidate
for leading to a human flu pandemic. If somebody with regular
human flu happens to get bird flu, and the two viruses mix their
genetic material, then we have the potential for a highly lethal (H5N1
part of it) and very transmissible (human part of it) strain.
Has this clearly happened yet? No. Does that mean it
won’t happen? No. Does it matter if the H5N1 bird flu
fizzles out? No. Would that decrease the risk of an
eventual pandemic? No.
What is particularly worrisome about the H5N1 strain is the immune
response that many of those infected appear to have called a cytokine
storm in which the lungs fill with fluid, essentially drowning
them. This leads to a relatively high mortality rate (still over
50%). Also of concern is the epidemiology of the disease (high
proportion of young people contracting the H5N1 avian flu) which is
reminiscent of the 1918 H1N1 strain which was so severe. But
still no flu pandemic…
LU: How do we and the church get prepared to deal with a pandemic and emergencies?
TIM: Estimates as to health impact of the next flu pandemic are based
on the last two mild pandemics. This is learning from history,
centuries of history, not a hypothetical Y2K virus. The economic
impact of the SARS virus in 2003 should give us much to consider.
If less than fifty deaths, tragic though they were, could impact a city
such as Toronto to such a degree, what would be the socioeconomic
repercussions of an infection that causes 4 to 10 million Canadians to
become clinically ill, with 2 to 5 million needing medical attention,
and leading to 10 to 60 thousand deaths?
This very real possibility is fortunately being taken very seriously by
all levels of government in Canada. Larger corporations are also
recognizing the fact that, literally, none are immune and all should
have contingency plans.
So what are we, as a church, to do?
Pray.
Pray and consider what God is speaking to us at this time.
Seek to prepare our hearts for ministry. Who established
hospitals in the past? Who cared for the sick and the poor when
others refused. Who visited those who were ill and
contagious? What example do we have in Jesus? We have many
“witnesses” who have gone before us. Let us not grow
weary of doing good. Let us fully love our neighbours.
Read up.
What are health authorities recommending? What are civic leaders
suggesting? And what are church leaders thinking. Regarding
the latter, numerous articles by church thinkers and leaders have been
posted at www.churchresponse.org.
Educate yourself
about general emergency preparedness. Canada has much training
material available with regards to general emergency preparedness (see www.safecanada.ca).
From a church perspective, consider learning with other church leaders
about Critical Incident Pastoral and Congregational Response (see www.aoi.edu/tear_home.htm) or more specifically Congregational Preparation for a Pandemic (see www.aoi.edu/tear_wsmd.htm).
Consider forming a church emergency preparedness team. This is
useful for many reasons other than a flu pandemic as well. Visit www.christianemergencynetwork.com and www.ministrycontinuitysolutions.com for many excellent articles and training material on the topic.
Connect with your municipal leaders. They have emergency
preparedness personnel. They are usually quite pleased to have
community groups such as churches approach them. There are many
ways we can serve our communities—be present at the planning
stages. In due course, churches may be called upon to help with
training and ministry in areas of emotional and spiritual care.
Many volunteer “chaplains” will be needed.
Finally, during the course of the next pandemic, churches will have to
adapt their way of doing ministry. Very few will be keen to meet
with dozens let alone hundreds of other people! Telephone and
internet ministries will be very important. Yet the biggest
potential impact will be in the community where neighbours can look out
for neighbours. Mutual assistance groups. Some potential
responses are suggested at www.elca.org/disaster/pandemic/congregations.asp.
Simply put, encourage and equip your church’s families to connect
with their neighbours, two to their left, and two on the right.
When schools are closed, take turns with childcare. If one family
is sick, have the other drop off food on the doorstep. These are
all both old and new ideas at the same time. It is time for
church members to reconnect with their neighbours.
LU: Why should we get involved?
TIM: Because we are called to pray. Because we are called to love
our neighbours. Because we are called to be light and salt in the
world. Because we are called to prepare—think of the
parable of the five virgins who had enough oil in their lamps as
compared to those who lacked oil. Think too of Joseph who
balanced the needs of the present with emergency preparation for the
future. This is what the current faith community is called to do,
what we are called to do, as well.
Any preparations we make for a pandemic are useful, even if the next
pandemic doesn’t come fore some years. Bridges built with
our neighbours, links between churches and municipal governments, all
can bring glory to God. When smaller emergencies occur (big for
the individual who is suffering, though!), we will be more ready to
share in the lives of our neighbours. This is the kind of
“preaching” that we are commanded to do—love you
neighbour as yourself. This is an opportunity to focus on
bringing Christ’s love to people.
The principles learned through the process of becoming a loving and
compassionate people will be our testimony to set ourselves apart for
the Lord, and the world will step back in wonder.
Q & A WITH DR. BRAD BURKE
www.bradburke.com
Dr. Burke
unofficially began his writing career in medical school when he started
writing full-length screenplays. Following his residency training at
UCLA, Brad took a five year sabbatical from medicine to write the
series, An M.D. Examines. Currently, Brad lives with his wife, Erin, in
the Windsor/Detroit area where he practices as a physical medicine and
rehabilitation specialist (physiatrist).
"Does God still do miracles of physical healing?"
Yes, like most Christian medical doctors
I believe God is still performing miracles of physical healing today
– healings that cannot be explained by natural forces. But
are these miracles common in our day and age? Does God promise to
heal us of our cancer, our diabetes, and our debilitating spinal cord
injuries every time if we just have enough faith? The answer is
no. Genuine miracles, like the spectacular miracles Christ and
the apostles performed 2000 years ago are very rare today. These
are the conclusions I reached in my book after closely examining
God’s Word, attending different faith healing services, and
examining a plethora of investigative research carried out around the
world.
As a rehabilitation specialist, I care for patients many of whom are
disabled—some with very debilitating injuries such as complete
spinal cord paralysis. In this age of twenty-four-hour news
channels, in an era when teenagers and adults all over the world have
instant access to digital still or video cameras in cell
phones—why has no camera captured on tape a person completely
paralyzed for years with muscle atrophy, contractures, and deformities
suddenly being restored to full health? Christ and the apostles
performed these types of miracles. If genuine miracles are
everywhere and promised by God to those who have enough faith, why are
we not seeing hundreds or thousands of such miracles like those
performed in the New Testament? I have never personally
witnessed a true medical miracle in my lifetime; nor have I met any
doctor who has personally related one to me—including the famous
missionary and surgeon, Dr. Paul Brand who spent many years working in
India. Despite this, I firmly believe God is still doing miracles
of healing today—miracles that cannot be explained by natural
forces. Oprah showcased such a miracle on her show one day and I
described it in detail in my book, Does God Still Do Miracles?
Some Christians believe they are living in “perfect health”
because they have so much faith. From a medical doctor’s
perspective, though, there is no such thing as “perfect
health.” We all get sick, age, and die
physically because of the curses God pronounced on mankind in the
Garden of Eden. Every cell in our body is pre-programmed for
death. Some experts in aging believe that the destructive aging
process starts as early as in the womb. All this fits perfectly
with what the apostle Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:16, “Outwardly we are
wasting away… “ and Romans 8:22, “the whole creation
has been groaning.” It is because of these curses, a
revelation of God’s justice that we age, suffer, and die. A
person once said, “Health is merely the slowest possible rate at
which one can die.” It is so true.
Can you help
us with our understanding of the “No miracle” cures?
Are there cures that aren't really miracles?
Fortunately for us, most of our aliments and symptoms are cyclical or
self-limiting and disappear on their own. God has
ingeniously hard-wired our bodies to heal themselves. Could this
be one reason why tens of thousands of people every year claim to be
healed at healing services all over the world? Or are these
healings really genuine miracles—healings that cannot be
explained by natural forces? These are just some of the tough
questions I set out to answer in my book. And here is what I
found: The most famous faith healer on the planet today has been
asked by investigation teams from HBO, Canada’s Fifth Estate, the
Christian Research Institute and other organizations for undeniable
medical evidence for just one genuine miracle of healing in one of his
services. And this faith healer has not produced even one
case. And I’m really surprised. Because, like I said,
I firmly believe that God is still doing miracles of healing today that
defy natural explanation—albeit they are rare. God can do
any miracle he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants, in any
manner he wants. But we cannot expect God to work miracles on
demand.
So how are the sick at healing services getting better?
In my book I explain from the world of medicine how many are
getting better through natural forces. Some leave these healing
services without any more symptoms. For some, though, their
symptoms return the next day. Some have been told by faith
healers that they are completely healed, only to die weeks or months
later from the same disease. When I attended these faith healing
services I observed something that Dr. William Nolen observed when he
attended the healing services of the famous faith healer Kathryn
Kuhlman just before she died of heart disease. Almost all
of the diseases supposedly cured are diseases and ailments that no one
in the audience can readily see. For example, diabetes, bursitis,
cervical cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, fibromyalgia. But when we
examine the miracles of Christ and the apostles, they mainly healed
diseases which were readily seen: They raised the dead back to
life, gave perfect sight to those who had been born blind, and
instantaneously and completely healed those who were paralyzed from
birth. That is one major difference. The miracles of
physical healing that we read about in the New Testament had a very
specific purpose as we read in 12th chapter of 2 Corinthians, the
second chapter of Ephesians, and the fifth chapter of John:
to authenticate the ministries of Christ and the apostles, prove that
their message came from God, and therein build the foundation for the
church. This purpose does not exist today, which probably
explains why genuine miracles are rare.
What about People who think they are better but are still sick?
An emergency room doctor once shared with me two stories. He was
working one night in the ER and a girl came in with seizures. He asked
the mother why she had stopped giving her daughter the seizure
medications. The mother replied, “She has been healed of
seizures, these are convulsions.” The mother earnestly believed
that God had miraculously healed her daughter of seizures so the
medications were no longer needed.
Another case involved a woman with rectal cancer. Just after it bled
the first time God supposedly healed her of her bleeding. And she
let things go. The next time it bled, the cancer was metastatic,
having spread to other parts of her body.
Just because the symptoms disappear or seem to change does not
necessarily mean that God has cured the underlying illness or disease.
As a medical doctor I know that just because someone can stand up out
of a wheelchair and perform deep knee bends or say he or she is
pain-free does not necessarily mean the disease is gone. Numerous
reports tell of people who stopped taking their medications or stopped
seeing their doctors because they were pronounced healed in faith
healing services. Tragically, as seen above, the results are sometimes
fatal but rarely does the public see this side of the story.
Or no cure at all?
My grandmother who I was very close to
believed that God promised her perfect health if she had enough
faith. When she was seventy-two years old, though I watched her
battle breast cancer. One day she confided to my mother,
“When I finally beat this cancer I’m going to write an
article to Reader’s Digest and tell everyone what my Jesus did
for me!” She never got a chance to write that article. My
grandmother had more faith in God’s power to heal than anyone I
know—yet she still succumbed to the cancer. Even though she
didn’t say very much at the time, I knew that her belief in
“God’s absolute promise to heal” was tearing her
apart on the inside as her physical body wasted away on the outside. If
someone believes that all sickness and suffering is caused from a lack
of faith, then that person will never understand God on the issue of
suffering. And he or she will likely find themselves at some
point in life deeply depressed, bitter, and distraught as they come
face to face with relentless suffering and death.
One study showed that hospitalized patients over fifty-five who were
pleading with God for a miracle, and those who thought the Devil was
behind their illness had significant declines in physical
function. Dr. Kenneth Pargament and his colleagues
showed that patients over fifty-five who “felt alienated from or
unloved by God and attributed their illness to the Devil had a 19% to
28% increase in risk of dying during a 2-year follow-up period.”
By creating the illusion that miracles are commonplace and expected, we
are discouraging millions of sick Christians to the point of physical
death. The harmful emotions suffered by already-wounded saints
can easily lead to downward spiraling effects on their health. When
someone who is desperate for a miracle is told to expect a miracle of
physical healing, and then that genuine miracle never comes, the
individual may very likely get sicker. It is matter of life and death
and it is a serious problem in the church today.
What is the balance between prayer and modern medicine?
It’s a balance between trusting
God that his sovereign will is perfect, and using the wisdom he has
given us to make wise choices. When our car breaks down we
usually seek out the help of a mechanic. When our house needs a
new roof we seek out a contractor. So when our body breaks down,
and we’re suffering from unrelenting disease, it only makes sense
that we seek out the professionals most knowledgeable and skilled in
treating our physical sickness. Showing up at a doctor’s
office is not an embarrassment to our faith; it’s affirmation of
our God-given wisdom.
Despite the fact that miracles of physical healing are rare, I still
encourage my readers and patients to pray! Unexpected healings are
always wonderful, whether they can be explained by natural forces or
only by a miracle from the hand of God. God might decide
not to cure our disease, but the Great Physician can give the surgeons
wisdom and clarity of intellect to choose the best postprocedure
medications and treatment options. God can maximize the serum
levels of a drug, or maximize the body’s immune system to fight
off deadly organisms. God can lesson the side effects of medications,
and lesson the pain. Most of all, he can give us an
indescribable inner peace. Prayer is undeniably
powerful! This is all evidence of God’s daily
providence—his mind-boggling attention to “millions of
details and circumstances” to bring about his perfect sovereign
plan for our lives. God’s providence displays His genius,
power, dominion, wisdom, and love much more than “comparatively
uncomplicated miracles.” Just because genuine miracles of healing
are rare does not mean that God is not working supernaturally all
around us. Praise the Lord, he is!
God may not grant us an instant miracle on the spot. But that
doesn’t mean our heavenly Father isn’t right beside us,
holding our hands, hugging us close to his chest, crying with us,
grieving with us, every step of the way. If someone is sick
I would encourage that person to pray for healing while seeking out
competent medical help. But I would also encourage him or her to
rest contentedly in God’s grace, goodness, and perfect sovereign
will, confidently trusting him to do what is best.
What is your book “Does God Still Do Miracles” about?
“Does God still do Miracles” takes seriously Paul’s
mandate to “examine everything carefully.” Some of the most
fascinating and up-to-date medical and investigative research is
examined in an attempt to uncover the truth about what is going on in
faith healing services and healing shrines around the world. A new
generation of believers wants answers—no matter how controversial
the truth may be.
What is the greatest miracle in our time?
The spiritual transformation of a soul from death to life is truly the greatest miracle of all.
Only by understanding this can we fully appreciate God’s personal and intimate working in our lives.
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LORNA’S WRAP
Today we looked at a variety of approaches to
finding hope for the most daunting health fears we face. I’ll close
with a reminder from author Paul Beckingham, the accident survivor, who
said if you choose to pray – that confidence will be enough and more to
restore your hope. He suggested writing down a “journey of faith
travelogue” of what we asked God for, and to record what happens in
that prayer conversation. Evidence he said, that God is central to
your story.
PAUL BECKINGHAM’S STORY – WALKING TOWARDS HOPE
www.afcanada.com or www.castlequaybooks.com
Talk to us about that dreadful/horrible day. What happened?
Together
with my wife (Mary), and our youngest son (Aaron, aged 10 at that
time), I was taking Daniel, a young Kenyan boy, back to his slum
village, just before dark.
A Kenyan army tank-transporter (a
tractor-trailer unit) came around a series of blind bends towards us on
the Limuru Road. This was a road designated “not for military traffic.”
The large transporter in the middle of the road left only two or three
feet of roadway either side of it. It hit us head on and as our car was
struck it spun out of control repeatedly being struck by the trailer.
All of the passengers in our car were injured and I sustained the most
serious of the injuries. I was trapped in the car for an
hour-and-a-half before being taken to the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.
What was your diagnosis?
Thirteen
bones broken or displaced, two fractures of the skull, a severe
traumatic brain injury, heart stopped three times in the first six
hours, massive blood loss, right foot hanging off and needed to be
reattached by microsurgery.
What were your thoughts then?
At
first I was in a coma and had no thoughts that I can remember, then I
was in a peculiar kind of “waking coma” in which I was communicative
with my visitors and often sounded OK until I said something that
showed that I was in a different reality.
At first I simply could
not believe that I was injured. I thought that a joke was being played
on me. When the pain killers wore off I knew that I was badly hurt.
“Hope in time
of pain, grace in a time of brokenness, has become you and your
family's companion theme” – Explain.
In any catastrophic there is usually more than one “victim.” It affects the whole family.
Teenagers have enough to cope with simply by facing the challenges of those teen years.
An
event like this causes us all to question everything that we have been
taught or have assumed to be true. As we have struggled to piece our
lives back together one question has haunted some of us: Can there be
any hope for me? In addition to my own PTSD (Post-traumatic stress
disorders), three of my children have been diagnosed with PTSD.
A
classic feature of PTSD is the loss of hope and a sense of a future.
God is restoring that to each of us in different ways. Sometimes
“recovery” is a long and bumpy road – yet I do believe that God walks
with us on that path.
Talk to us about the loss of hope...and then your re-emerging hope throughout this story and even today.
I
believed that when I left hospital in Vancouver after almost eight
weeks, that I was being sent home to die. I was terrified to move lest
I break another bon.
I had never been given the results of an AIDS
test (there was a possibility that I may have been given bad blood in
Kenya) and I therefore assumed the worst.
Hope began to re-emerge
when a local physiotherapist called at my house and revealed that she
knew about me – her church had been praying for me every Sunday for the
past several weeks. Many recovery set-backs happened along the way but
God spoke directly to me to assure me that “I love you because I love
you, because I love you.”
What was your greatest lesson through all of this?
Real pain really hurts real people – but God in Christ enters our pain and redeems it… if we will let him.
Broken Bodies, Shattered Lives
Paul
Beckingham describes his family's rocky road to physical, emotional,
and spiritual recovery from a near-fatal accident in Kenya.
by Paul Beckingham from Christianity.ca
I
don't remember the split seconds before the impact. Not the angry skid
of tires, nor the fearful skrieks from my wife Mary, our son Aaron, and
his young Kenyan friend Daniel. Not even the smashing of glass and the
ripping of metal as the car crumpled in on top of me.
With her good
arm, she coaxed Aaron along, whispering gentle, comfort-words of love.
He was traumatized to the point of collapse.
But Mary remembers it
all. Clearly. It is burned into her consciousness. The memory of our
spinning car, smashing against the side of the military semi-trailer
that struck us, spins in her mind like a nightmare smashing against the
pattern of our lives. And for Aaron, too—even more than one year later.
The
car came to an abrupt halt at the edge of a sudden drop. And so did
normal family life for us in that awful moment. The predictable rhythms
of our lives were put on hold. So were Mary's feelings. She froze them
out in a deliberate and conscious act of her will.
She knew in that
instant that she could attend to the mammoth needs of her family or
start to process her own deep grief—but not both at the same time. She
did not have the energy for two huge tasks. So, just like a million
other mothers, she chose to put the demands of family above her own
needs. She went into automatic pilot—into rescue mode—busying herself
with arranging for family life to continue as best it might without a
husband and a father.
In those earliest hours she thought I must be
dead—if not at the roadside, surely before emergency medical help could
save me. She arrived at the hospital numbed, cut, and in deep shock,
guarding her badly broken collar bone. With her good arm, she coaxed
Aaron along, whispering gentle, comfort-words of love. He was
traumatized to the point of collapse. He screamed and wept, "I just
want to go home, Mommy!"
But none of us realized that home as we
knew it would never be the same. The accident had changed all our
lives. Irreversibly. We had looked into the face of death. In one
afternoon four of our children had come horribly close to losing both
parents and their youngest sibling. Old securities disappeared. New
anxieties emerged.
For five days my family waited for me to die in
the Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi. I had broken or displaced fourteen
bones, fractured my skull, suffered a brain injury, and had to have my
foot saved by the skill of microsurgeons. I frequently mistook Mary for
my daughter Hannah. I kept telling her, "You know, I have been in a
very serious car accident."
Each time she would reply softly, "So
have I." Just as frequently I would look around my mosquito-filled
private room and say with great satisfaction, "Isn't this a beautiful
hotel room." Mary would hold my hand and try to speak above the roar of
construction outside the window.
Then Mary told me she had made an
important decision. We would go back to Canada for the advanced medical
care critical to my survival. I had experienced many lucid moments in
those first few days. But as I listened to her I came back into reality
for the first time since the accident. I realized how badly I was
injured. My heart broke. I cried. I groaned. I felt an utter failure as
a missionary. I hated myself for abandoning the people I had come to
serve and had grown to love.
… just when we think the God whom we worship had better show up or all is lost, He does show up.
Mary
assumed control. Completely. Magnificently. And, like so many wives and
mothers in similar emergency situations, paid the heavy price in
stress, depression, and anxiety. The nurturing and protecting impulses
kick into action—but at the expense of self care and self nurture. And
so it is. When one family member suffers a trauma, all do.
So what
does the road to recovery look like? Totally impossible. But just when
we think the God whom we worship had better show up or all is lost, He
does show up. Never in the ways we might predict or arrange if we were
God for a day. Always too late by our busy schedule—but exactly on time
by the schedule of His deep love for us.
"You see, at just the right
time, when we were still powerless," God invaded our reality (see
Romans 5:6). Just the way He does. Without pain? No. Without room for
doubt and questions? Not usually. Then how? Mainly through His people.
They furnished our house, provided winter clothing, met our financial
needs. Strangers who had prayed for us brought hot meals to our door.
These
ways of God gently, firmly remind my children that all things will work
for good even when they scream that they cannot see it. They profoundly
convince me that whether I live or die God loves me, because He loves
me.
They open Mary's tight grasp of control on our family security
and slowly teach her to laugh again, to relax in God's love, and to
rest in His care. Because He can, after all, be trusted in all things.
World Vision’s Response to HIV and AIDS
www.worldvision.ca
World
Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization
dedicated to working with children, families and communities to
overcome poverty and injustice. We serve all people in need regardless
of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.
World Vision has
worked for more than 50 years to help children and their communities
reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. Today,
HIV is threatening many of the achievements of those 50 years. In
response, World Vision has made HIV and AIDS prevention, care and
advocacy programming a top priority in the countries where we work.
Our work includes:
Community-led care for orphans and vulnerable children
In
communities affected by AIDS, World Vision strengthens family and
community care for the most vulnerable children. World Vision
mobilizes faith groups, government, local business and other NGOs into
community care coalitions and provides training and support to build
their capacity. Building on efforts already under way in the
community, these coalitions take responsibility for identifying,
monitoring, assisting and protecting children through volunteer home
visitors.
World Vision has trained 30,825 home visitors, who
are providing care for 356,035 orphans and vulnerable children in
sub-Saharan Africa alone.
HIV prevention for girls and boys
World
Vision works to ensure that children acquire the values, knowledge and
skills they need to protect themselves from HIV. World Vision trains
teachers and community volunteers to deliver age-appropriate,
values-based, participatory life skills training to children. We teach
children to be peer educators to help one another sustain healthy
behaviours. In addition, World Vision helps communities identify and
address the root causes of children’s vulnerability to HIV – including
gender inequity, harmful traditional practices, and extreme poverty.
To
date, 375,300 primary school students have received values-based,
life-skills training supported by World Vision and more than 40,000
children and youth are active peer educators.
Partnering with churches and faith communities
Through
a mobilization plan called Channels of Hope, World Vision engages the
leaders and members of churches and other faith communities in the
response to HIV. Using the enormous influence of faith communities has
led to remarkable success in overcoming the stigma and discrimination
that can undermine any and all efforts to help.
More than 8,000 faith leaders have been empowered to address HIV and AIDS through the Channels of Hope.
In addition to these core programmes, World Vision is also engaged in a range of other responses to HIV and AIDS including:
- Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
- Prevention among most-at-risk populations.
- Home-based care for people living with AIDS.
- Advocacy at local, national and international levels.
ABOUT ZARI GILL
Dr. Zari Gill
Senior Sector Specialist
World Vision Canada
Dr. Zari Gill lends crucial medical expertise to the fight against HIV and AIDS and the closely related threat of tuberculosis.
A
specialist in infectious disease control, Gill worked as a public
health practitioner in her native Pakistan before joining World Vision
in 1993. Under her direction, the organization launched an HIV and AIDS
program in Cambodia, which was one of the first in Asia to implement
community-based health initiatives for people with AIDS and their
families.
After earning a Master’s in public health from John
Hopkins University, Gill transferred to World Vision Canada in 1999 to
oversee its new tuberculosis control and HIV and AIDS program. In this
role, she provides technical support to programs in numerous countries,
including Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Honduras and
Rwanda.
She also represents World Vision Canada in
international forums and contributes to Canada’s overall international
response to HIV and AIDS through inter-agency collaboration and
cooperation.
Gill is married with two sons and lives in Mississauga, Ontario.
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