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Churches Gearing Up for 13th Annual Black Church Week of Prayer for the
Healing
PR NEWSWIRE (WWW)
10/02/2001
Source Website: http://www.prnewswire.com
NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 the rate for Hispanics and 8 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.
Copyright (C) 1996-2001 PR Newswire Association Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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