Unlucky number 14

Today is World AIDS Day.

It's sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Between the day we eat too much in celebration of all that we've been given and the day we spend too much in celebration of One who came to give His life away. Maybe it's a good time- people often think more during the holidays about ways to help the less fortunate. But most of us shop for shoeboxes or angel tree kids or collect canned goods for a local food pantry. How many of us are stopping, today, to think about, pray for, and give to help those affected with HIV/AIDS.

I'll admit, I don't spend enough time talking about the AIDS epidemic. But it is an issue close to my heart, because AIDS and poverty go hand in hand. Our compassion child, Emmanuel, lives in what Compassion deems an "AIDS affected area," in Tanzania. In fact, 67% of the people living with HIV worldwide live in Sub-Saharan Africa. 91% of new children infected reside there. And according to the UNAIDS report by the World Health Organization, more than 14 million children in that region have been orphaned by AIDS.

14 million.

That is the same number we keep hearing in reference to poor children in America. And I am concerned about poor children in America. But imagine if every single one of those impoverished children in America lost their parents. And imagine that all of those parents were taken by one killer- not a mass murderer, not a natural disaster, not a terrorist attack, but a disease. One disease that can be prevented or at least maintained with drug therapy.

I think we'd be talking about it more, don't you?

Now, I've heard other statistics about AIDS lately that are fairly positive. There are countries doing more to provide anti-retroviral drugs to their people. There are education initiatives and organizations like Compassion and Keep A Child Alive that are doing great things for those living with AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. In many instances, numbers of new cases are slowly going down. But not far enough. Not nearly far enough.

Too many people are still dying.

In fact, every 14 seconds another child is orphaned by AIDS.

Do the math. That's roughly 6,000 kids left with no parents every day.

No, you know what? Forget roughly. There are 86,400 seconds in one day. That figures out to be 6,171 new orphans every day. Not a huge difference there, between 6,000 and 6,171. But it is a huge difference to those extra 171 kids.

What can we do? LOTS.

First, pray. Ask your church family to join you in praying for the millions of people dying of and living with AIDS. Pray for children already living in extreme poverty who face losing a parent. Pray for parents who fight to stay alive, knowing there will soon be nothing they can do to protect or provide for their children. Pray for governments to see this as an important issue- one that affects all of us because extreme poverty (and the death it causes) and peace cannot coexist.

Second, don't take my word for it. Read up on the UN's research about the epidemic. Check out these AIDS in Africa FAQs from AVERT. Read this World Aids Day reflection by Leigh Blake, the founder of Keep A Child Alive. Find your own sources, if you must. Just be educated!

Third, give. Sponsor a Compassion child from an AIDS affected area. You'll get the opportunity to contribute a little extra each month ($7) to provide education and treatment for children and parents through the Compassion project. Or simply make a contribution to the Compassion Aids Initative. Or give to Keep a Child Alive to further their similar work for education and drug therapy. You can even give them your frequent flier miles!

Fourth, talk about it. Since 14 seems to be significant number, I'll challenge each of you to share this information with at least 14 people today. Send an e-mail. (This AIDS Orphan timer by Compassion won't load as a widget on my blog, but you can send it as an e-mail.) Put a statistic as your Facebook status. Blog about it yourself. Let your representatives in government know that this is an important issue. Keep this issue fresh on people's minds and agendas- not just today, on World AIDS day, but all year.

Because we might only set aside one day to pause & remember. But tomorrow, 6,171 more children will become orphans. And the next day. And the next day. And the day after that.

But maybe not.

It's up to us.