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Churches gearing up for annual Black Church week
AFRO TIMES
BROOKLYN, NY
10/06/2001
Churches across the country are gearing up for the 13th annual Black Church
Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS March 3-9, 2002. The week, organized by
The Balm In Gilead, is a national campaign, which mobilizes Black churches to
become centers for AIDS education and compassion. Since its inception in 1989,
The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS has become the nation's
largest AIDS awareness campaign targeting the Black community.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1999 more African
Americans were reported with AIDS than any other racial/ethnic group. The rate
is more than 2 times greater than that for whites. "Just as all of us have
been affected by the recent attacks on the U.S., we have all been affected and
under seized by HIV/AIDS for more than twenty years," says Pernessa Seele,
CEO and Founder of The Balm In Gilead. " The AIDS epidemic has reached a
national health state of emergency among Black people living in the United States,
Africa and the Caribbean."
In the past, churches recognized the Week by hosting AIDS workshops, distributing
information, devoting a sermon or song to those affected and infected by the virus.
This year, during the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, Black
church leaders at both the national and local level will call for a national health
state of emergency regarding AIDS in the Black community.
To help churches participate in the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing
of AIDS, The Balm In Gilead, beginning in January, will distribute Black Church
HIV/AIDS resource kits. Churches are encouraged to call early and register their
church for the Week of Prayer and reserve their free information resource kit.
The Balm In Gilead is the only organization in the United States dedicated
exclusively to empowering churches in the struggle against the devastation of
HIV/AIDS in the Black community. Recently, The Balm in Gilead expanded its work
to engage churches to address HIV in Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,
Kenya and South Africa.
For more information about the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing
of AIDS or to receive your church's information resource kit, call The Balm In
Gilead at (888) 225-6243.
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