"Are there any places where the diocese needs help with AIDS work," I asked Rev. Canon Captain Titus Baraka. I asked because the recent Sunday School class on AIDS in Africa had asked me to have my eyes open for partnering opportunities where I was going - things like orphanages or medical facilities.
Titus' answer surprised me:
"We do not feel we need more AIDS medical help from churches. There is plenty of medication available and wonderful people do that work. What we desperately need is to counsel people dealing with AIDS, their families, and their children. There is much hope if they will only allow themselves to be tested and treated."
Both Titus and his friend in ministry, Rev. Canon Steven Kazimba, have taken in AIDS orphans to their homes and know the devastating impact.
This is Titus' dream: to 1) help young people deal with sexual pressure and other temptations, 2) to educate people in the parish about how AIDS is transmitted and prevented, and 3) to counsel people who need help and courage in the face of AIDS and other problems. Many people don't want to get tested because they'd rather die than face the prospect of humiliation. Yet, if tested and found positive for HIV, there is much hope for a longer life and a healthy child. So, the biggest challenge is helping people deal with depression and denial. Many also do not want to go into a church building for help, but they will gladly go to a building outside of the church and speak more privately to the pastor or lay counselor. To that end he is developing an expanded lay counseling program called "Bethesda Christian Ministries Uganda." (He had no idea there was a Bethesda Counseling ministry in the USA.)
In any event, I couldn't but help think this might be a field of dreams to help with. Why not pray about what the Lord would have us do? I could see a team of our own trained counselors coming and helping to train lay people in Mukono. I could see us helping to fund the building of the center.
God is doing amazing things in the midst of great need. It's a joy to see the resilient faith of the church and unending efforts of Christ's servants.
Say a prayer to tonight for Titus' dream.
