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Black Church & AIDS
Group work to recruit help in war vs. disease
New York Daily News (www)
03.04.2002
Nearly 21 years ago, doctors identified a disease that was claiming gay men
at an alarming rate - acquired immune deficiency syndrome, it came to be called.
How time have changed.
Once at epidemic levels in the gay community, AIDS has since become a major
cause of death among heterosexual African-Americans and in Africa itself.
Over the last five years, more African-Americans have been infected with the
disease annually than gay white males.
Statistics from the national Center for Disease Control and Prevention show
that blacks now account for more that half the 40,000 annual HIV infections in
this country. HIV, the precursor to AIDS, is spread through sexual contact, intravenous
drug abuse and blood transfusions.
AIDS is the No. 1 cause of death of African-Americans ages 25 to 44 - ahead
of heart disease, cancer and homicide. One in 50 black men is HIV-positive, as
is one in 160 black women.
Founded in Harlem and now based in midtown, the nonprofit Balm In Gilead organization
has spent its 13-year existence trying to recruit black churches nationwide for
the war against HIV/AIDS. It is name for a biblical place of healing.
This week is the group's annual Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing
of AIDS. Thousands of churches across the country have planned HIV/AIDS education
events as part of the program.
This is welcome news. Balm in Gilead founder Pernessa Seele says black churches
had, until recently, been relatively silent about HIV/AIDS is the African-American
community.
"First we were told it was a disease affecting gay white men, so we didn't
have to worry about it," Seele said. "Then it deals with sex and homosexuality,
both of which were taboo. . . .And you can't talk about AIDS and not deal with
sexuality."
She thinks the about-face is due in part to the sheer size of the problem.
"Everybody knows someone who has HIV or died from AIDS, or has a friend or
family member with HIV/AIDS," Seele said. "Ministers can't ignore that
half of the choir died from AIDS."
The week of prayer has a lasting effect, Seele said.
"Once you get a minister to mention AIDS from the pulpit, it's out in
the open. People start coming to him to ask for prayer for their friends and family
members with the disease," she said. "Then the minister knows he has
to do more, because ministers want to take care of their flock."
Many churches now offer HIV/AIDS ministries in their building and in prisons,
Seele said. Some even have clinics where AIDS drugs are dispensed.
With financial help from several agencies, Balm in Gilead will expand its educational
programs later this year to churches in the African country of Ivory Coast, Kenya,
Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, all of which have been hard hit
by AIDS.
"I had no idea when I came up with Balm in Gilead 13 years ago that it
would grow to become the largest AIDS program in the country specifically targeting
African-Americans," Seele said. "You can see through the process how
prayer really does change things."
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