Church invites HIV pastor for World AIDS Day
-11/10/06
The Church of Scotland is to br
Church invites HIV pastor for World AIDS Day
-11/10/06
The Church of Scotland is to bring an HIV positive African pastor to Edinburgh for World AIDS Day.
The move comes as churches are being encouraged to work to overcome ignorance and prejudice surrounding HIV/ AIDS and help raise awareness by selling the symbolic red ribbons.
The theme of the 2006 campaign, YOU, ME, US, is aimed at encouraging both individual and collective action to make a difference.
The Church of Scotlandís HIV/AIDS Project has joined with Scotlandís leading HIV charity, Waverley Care, to organise a programme of activities to raise awareness of the realities of HIV and to provide encouragement to Africans in Scotland who are living with HIV.
At the invitation of the two organisations, Patricia Sawo, a Kenyan pastor who is herself living with HIV, will be spending two weeks in Scotland speaking at events in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Through a series of prayer breakfasts, services and meetings, Patricia will be getting alongside African faith communities to discuss issues of stigma and discrimination and the need for voluntary testing.
Patriciaís visit culminates in a major African Faith Conference which will be chaired by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and attended by the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and a senior representative from the Roman Catholic Church. The conference will provide an opportunity for those who are providing pastoral support to Africans in Scotland and Africans living with HIV to discuss the realities of living with HIV, and will include sessions and workshops on testing and treatments, prevention and awareness and stigma and discrimination.
The Moderator, the Right Rev Alan McDonald, said: “At the General Assembly this year, the Kirk recognised that HIV stigma and discrimination continue to act as barriers to effective HIV prevention and care. We called on all Christians in Scotland to work to overcome ignorance and prejudice about people living with HIV wherever they may be. So weíre looking forward to Patriciaís visit to help us in this task.”
1 December 2006 will be the nineteenth World AIDS Day, the international day of action aimed at raising awareness and halting the spread of HIV.
40 million people worldwide and 60,000 in the UK are living with HIV. 7000 people are newly infected every year and the National AIDS Trust is this year calling on people to break the silence on HIV to stop its spread and end prejudice.
“Working with churches is an important part of the National AIDS Trust’s work in mobilising communities around World AIDS Day. We believe that Church communities have a crucial role in reaching out to a wide range of people and keeping HIV and AIDS firmly at the centre of the UK agenda” Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, told Ekklesia.
How you can help
If you would like to order a Red Ribbon collection box you can:
ï Visit the World AIDS Day website and fill out an online order form OR
ï Request a collection box by sending an email to [email protected]
Church invites HIV pastor for World AIDS Day
-11/10/06
The Church of Scotland is to bring an HIV positive African pastor to Edinburgh for World AIDS Day.
The move comes as churches are being encouraged to work to overcome ignorance and prejudice surrounding HIV/ AIDS and help raise awareness by selling the symbolic red ribbons.
The theme of the 2006 campaign, YOU, ME, US, is aimed at encouraging both individual and collective action to make a difference.
The Church of Scotlandís HIV/AIDS Project has joined with Scotlandís leading HIV charity, Waverley Care, to organise a programme of activities to raise awareness of the realities of HIV and to provide encouragement to Africans in Scotland who are living with HIV.
At the invitation of the two organisations, Patricia Sawo, a Kenyan pastor who is herself living with HIV, will be spending two weeks in Scotland speaking at events in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Through a series of prayer breakfasts, services and meetings, Patricia will be getting alongside African faith communities to discuss issues of stigma and discrimination and the need for voluntary testing.
Patriciaís visit culminates in a major African Faith Conference which will be chaired by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and attended by the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and a senior representative from the Roman Catholic Church. The conference will provide an opportunity for those who are providing pastoral support to Africans in Scotland and Africans living with HIV to discuss the realities of living with HIV, and will include sessions and workshops on testing and treatments, prevention and awareness and stigma and discrimination.
The Moderator, the Right Rev Alan McDonald, said: “At the General Assembly this year, the Kirk recognised that HIV stigma and discrimination continue to act as barriers to effective HIV prevention and care. We called on all Christians in Scotland to work to overcome ignorance and prejudice about people living with HIV wherever they may be. So weíre looking forward to Patriciaís visit to help us in this task.”
1 December 2006 will be the nineteenth World AIDS Day, the international day of action aimed at raising awareness and halting the spread of HIV.
40 million people worldwide and 60,000 in the UK are living with HIV. 7000 people are newly infected every year and the National AIDS Trust is this year calling on people to break the silence on HIV to stop its spread and end prejudice.
“Working with churches is an important part of the National AIDS Trust’s work in mobilising communities around World AIDS Day. We believe that Church communities have a crucial role in reaching out to a wide range of people and keeping HIV and AIDS firmly at the centre of the UK agenda” Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, told Ekklesia.
How you can help
If you would like to order a Red Ribbon collection box you can:
ï Visit the World AIDS Day website and fill out an online order form OR
ï Request a collection box by sending an email to [email protected]