USING GOD S WORD IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS

Transcription

1 FALL 2014 BIBLICA TM Celebrating 10 years of Reach4Life USING GOD S WORD IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS

2 Biblica Fall 2014 A Decade of Fighting AIDS With God s Word It goes by many names the razor blade; the snake; standing on a nail; the sickness of this generation but no matter what you call it, the outcome is death. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. From psalm 119 8How Reach4Life Works 10 Read for Life 12 Reach4Life The next 10 years No one is certain exactly where the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, came from. It is believed to have been present in certain monkeys before somehow making the jump to chimps, then to humans. This probably took place somewhere in Central Africa during the mid-20th century. As HIV attacks the body, it compromises the immune system, making people more vulnerable to infections. Because the symptoms are non-specific, HIV is often misdiagnosed and winds up going untreated. With the advent of international air travel, the virus quickly spread to all continents. There are now more than 35 million people around the world living with HIV. Approximately 69% of them reside in sub-saharan Africa. Swaziland has the highest rate of infection of any nation. More than a quarter of the population has HIV. Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe round out the top five nations in terms of HIV prevalence all of them clustered in the southern part of Africa. Thankfully, this devastated region of the continent is also where God raised up an answer to the AIDS pandemic: Reach4Life. The Reach4Life (R4L) program was developed by Biblica staff in South Africa. They were all too familiar with the alarming spread of HIV. And they were tired of seeing kids die and of seeing kids become orphans. read the Bible well. live the Bible well. Biblica 1820 Jet Stream Drive Colorado Springs, CO Biblica.com Around 15.1 million, or 85 percent, of the world s orphans live in sub-saharan Africa and have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS. 4 Reaching for Life in South Africa Motivated by their love for God and for children, they produced an HIV-prevention tool that uses the Bible as an effective resource in the fight against the disease. The goal of R4L is not simply to encourage sexual purity, but to bring about spiritual transformation. Since its beginning in 2004, Reach4Life has been launched in 22 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. More than 1.5 million teens and young adults around the world have attended Reach4Life and received Reach4Life New Testaments more than half a million in South Africa alone. This year, we re celebrating the tenth anniversary of Reach4Life. Please join us in giving thanks to God for the young people, families, and communities that have been transformed by this Bible-based ministry a ministry that offers a lifeline of healing in the midst of disease and death. As you read the articles in this 10-year Reach4Life anniversary issue, please pray for the millions of young people who have participated in this program and the millions more who, with your support, will experience new life in the future because of Reach4Life photography: cover Anton_Ivanov / Shutterstock.com p.2 atm2003 / Shutterstock.com p.14 Anton_Ivanov / Shutterstock.com p.16 Ian MacLellan / Shutterstock.com BIBLICA.COM 3

3 usi and the many other children of South Africa are at high risk for HIV infection. The nation of 51 million people has one of the greatest infection rates in the world. An estimated 1,000 people die every day from AIDS-related causes here. By the time they reach their late twenties, one in every three women are HIV positive. Life expectancy among men is just 56 years. How has Busi avoided infection? She says God s Word saved her life. This small orange Bible, she explains, referring to the Reach4Life New Testament, tells a big story of a big God. It was her first Bible. As she took part in Reach4Life, Busi learned that God loves her and cares about her. In response, she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. I am now a born again township girl, she says. My mom and sister are now coming with me [to church]. I now know the truth about sex. No boy is getting my body. Only my husband when I am married. Trust me when I say my life has changed. 4 BIBLICA FALL 2014 BIBLICA.COM 5

4 Six out of 10 children in KwaZulu Natal have lost their parents to AIDS. More than one in 10 teens between the ages of 15 and 19 and more than a fourth of the 20 to 24-year-olds are HIV-positive. The adult population was dwindling. So was hope. We felt helpless, says Nomecebo. Our community leaders have tried everything. Most young people are without parents and therefore just live as they please; most girls are looking after their siblings and use their bodies to feed them by sleeping with older men in exchange for money. But then Reach4Life came to KwaZulu Natal. An acronym for South African Townships, Soweto was originally a product of segregationalist planning during apartheid. Now rampant with poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, and violence, the Reach4Life program brings much-needed hope to Soweto. God s Word has brought back hope, says Nomecebo. Ever since the Reach4Life New Testaments were given out in school assemblies, we are in high demand by all schools. We are teaching Christ as the solution. Our parents might have died of AIDS, but we refuse to let Satan steal this generation of young ones. I am glad to be part of such a ministry that is changing people s lives through the gospel. Busi is lucky to be alive. Actually, she knows that much more than luck was involved in enabling her to grow up and thrive in the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic. With a thankful smile, the teenager enthusiastically attributes her survival to God. Phillip faced some of the same challenges as Busi. Living in Soweto, a collection of townships southwest of Johannesburg, he watched as AIDS killed much of the adult population, leaving a sea of orphans in its wake. Beyond the threat of HIV, Phillip also had a precarious home life to deal with. Life has always been difficult for me and my mother, Phillip explains. My father is a very abusive man. He beats me up every chance he gets. This cycle of violence led quite naturally to depression. Phillip eventually became suicidal. On the very morning that Phillip was considering taking his own life, a Reach4Life team came to his school. They gave us books, he says. When I saw the Bible, I was so angry and refused to read it because I have always struggled to understand how can God allow my dad to abuse us like this. But as Phillip listened to the team describing the Reach4Life New Testament, he grew interested. When he got home that day, he began to read it. Something in me said, Maybe this God is not as bad as I thought. Three months after he started attending Reach4Life lessons, Phillip gave his life to Christ. The transformation in Phillip s life since then has been remarkable. I love God and I know who He is now. I am no more suicidal and angry. My mother has started coming to church with me. We pray together every evening. I am stronger and I am a better young man now. I have three friends I sit with during break time every day, and we encourage each other with God s Word. I plan to live a holy life and keep my body till I am married to a God-fearing lady. I live to tell of the goodness of God. I am a changed, happy young man. KwaZulu Natal is known as the garden province and is famous for its beautiful beaches. It also has the highest incidence of HIV in South Africa. How bad is the pandemic in KwaZulu Natal? I have seen [so many] people die, to a point where we have run out of graveyard space in our community, says Nomecebo, a local Reach4Life team member. Please pray for Busi, Philip, Nomecebo, and the many other teens in South Africa who have participated in Reach4Life. Ask God to move in the hearts of the young people in this nation and region, transforming their lives through his Word. 6 BIBLICA FALL 2014 BIBLICA.COM 7

5 When Reach4Life is introduced to a new country or community, the first step is training. Volunteers indigenous young people called Peer Educators spend two days learning about the Reach4Life New Testament and the basics of the program itself: 40 lessons introducing teens to Christ and giving them the power they need to abstain from premarital sex. Reach4Life is then launched in schools, in close partnership with local churches and ministries. The program is usually held in a club-like setting during or after school, and lasts for one school year. TAKING THE BIBLE INTO SCHOOLS Unlike in some western nations, many schools in Africa are open to programs that will help curb the AIDS pandemic even programs that are centered on the Bible. Schools, communities, and governments all over the continent have seen how effective Reach4Life is, and they re asking for it to be held in their cities and countries. Mrs. Modise has been a teacher for 14 years. She is now the head of the Life Orientation Department at Kgatelopele High School, in South Africa. During her career as a teacher, she had never been approached by a ministry about using the Bible in school. Then Reach4Life came along. I was not sure how a Bible would help us, she says. We had a high rate of pregnancy at our school, learners dropping out after child birth, parents who don t care about their children dumping them off with us All of this can be a frustration. I thought, Why not let these Reach4Life people come? Never did I think that this one-year program was going to turn our school around. But it did. Brian S / Shutterstock.com HOW REACH4LIFE WORKS I think this program should be introduced to every school in our country, Mrs. Modise says. Our school will never be the same. Our girls are priding themselves with their bodies, and our boys are making the right choices. It was the best program we ever had. Another teacher writes, It is not only the students that have changed, but my own life has equally changed. This program has had a positive effect on my life and has helped me to make a better decision concerning the relationship I was keeping. The principal of a secondary school says disciplinary cases have dropped since Reach4Life was introduced. He s also amazed to see Muslim parents bringing their children to the school specifically because of Reach4Life. PEER EDUCATORS Finetown is a squatter camp near Lenasia, south of Soweto in South Africa. It has been described by locals as dismal a place without a future. But when a Reach4Life Peer Educator started a weekly Reach4Life club in Finetown, more than 70 young people began attending. One of them was Prisha. I have learned so much, Prisha says. I am inspired by Reach4Life. It has really changed my attitude towards life. Learning about God was so joyful! Young lives in this poverty-stricken region are being transformed all because a Peer Educator decided to share God s Word. Peer Educators are one of the keys to the success of the Reach4Life program. They are local volunteers trained to share Reach4Life with their peers. Students naturally identify with these young leaders. They quickly become role models, and teens respond positively to their teaching. Mojalefa-Jakes-Mokoena is a Reach4Life Peer Educator in South Africa. He has mentored both primary and high school kids. When I first started, he says, I was amazed how messed up school kids are in their behavior. I wondered how a small book could do anything. But I soon realized something was happening in the lives of the kids. The [Reach4Life New Testament] speaks young people s language. It tackles real life issues that our parents and pastors don t want to talk about. It has brought me such joy to be able to teach Reach4Life and to help place kids in local churches. My own life has been impacted. I am a better Bible teacher, and I want other young people to know God. He is a good God. Being a Peer Educator not only helps young people avoid HIV by presenting them with the gospel message, it encourages the Peer Educators themselves to grow closer to God. It is a privilege to take the gospel to the ends of the villages and townships in South Africa, says Thandekau, another Peer Educator. No matter where we launch the Reach4Life program, people are hungry and desperate for salvation. A teacher in South Africa had this to say about the Reach4Life volunteers: Your Peer Educators are so confident in God s Word, punctual, and very professional. Our kids lack role models, and the presence of Peer Educators has changed that. They look up to them and love the fact that they are peers so they can freely talk about issues that I myself struggle to talk about. But these young Peer Educators are fearless. Reach4Life has been launched in Thailand, Romania, and Haiti (the Caribbean region has the highest rate of HIV infection after Africa). The program has also been used effectively in Rwanda in partnership with Saddleback Church. I started Reach4Life at my school in June 2012 after being inspired by a Reach4Life New Testament I got in The book reached my life and did great things for my family. [It] helped my mum get saved before she died last year. I thought it wise that I should also share it with my friends at school. I started the Reach4Life group with only one book. Then I managed to get another book from a friend. One member got another book. It has been a challenge, but we managed to do something out of those few books. God was with us. The first day we met, [there were only] five people. I explained what this group was all about. We agreed to be meeting on Fridays each week. Every time during our meeting, we were starting with an opening prayer. Thereafter, we were going in the theme of that day. Everybody was able to contribute. Then we were reading what the book was saying about it. By and by, the group grew. The aim was and is still to help each other to grow in knowing God. One day during our meeting, I asked the members if there was one or some who have not yet been born again in Christ. I praise God that some members got saved that day! It has been a great experience of my life and I am so thankful to God for this book. I don t know what I would be like if it wasn t for this book. All praises, I give to God. -Harry N., Malawi Pray for Reach4Life Peer Educators to be good examples and mentors, and to faithfully and consistently share Christ with teens. 8 BIBLICA FALL 2014 BIBLICA.COM 9

6 Read for Life By: Glenn Paauw Executive Director Biblica Institute for Bible Reading Reach4Life (R4L) could just as easily stand for the crucial truth that we Read the Bible for Life. When we read the Bible well slowly, deliberately, at length and in depth then the sacred words have the chance to do their transforming work. Reading the Bible well is what leads to living the Bible well. When Biblica s R4L program was released in 2004, the goal, as in all of Biblica s work, was to make a difference in the lives of real people. As HIV/AIDS was ravaging the lives of people around the globe, we knew that the heart of the problem could be addressed by the spread of God s Word. God is the great Creator of life. His story of redemption as told in the Bible reveals the way for human life to flourish. But for the news of this redemptive story to spread, the Bible must be widely shared and introduced to people in a way that helps them understand it and begin to live it. The R4L ministry does exactly that. In school settings, in personal one-on-one interactions, and through peer counseling sessions, the R4L program and New Testaments significantly engage young people with biblical truth. God the Creator intends for his creation to thrive. He is distressed when wrongdoing wreaks havoc in the lives of his creatures. Failure to know and follow the path God has laid out leads us into destruction and chaos. The pain and death that follows in the wake of HIV/AIDS is not a theoretical threat. Brokenness and devastation is not God s intention for us. But this is the sad reality of far too many young people in countries throughout the world. Thankfully, there is another way. The revelation of God s story in the Bible has been given to lead us into lives that honor God and honor his gifts to us, including sexuality. God s revelation invites us to live our lives the way He intends us to. It is by reading and entering into this story that we discover what it means to be truly human. It is by knowing and diving deeply into God s drama that we find out who we are meant to be. This story of the Bible comes to its clearest expression in the life and ministry of Jesus. He is the clearest expression of what it means to be fully and authentically human. The powerful story of Jesus is shared through R4L with thousands of young people. It is the life transforming work of Jesus as Israel s king and the world s true Lord that brings the positive changes we ve seen because of R4L. This is why Bongani, an ex-juvenile offender, has turned his life around and is now reaching out to other young men in prison with the message of life. This is why 7 th grader Senamile now testifies, I choose Christ, for in him I will live forever more. This is why 13-year-old Caroline can say, I know that the Holy Spirit lives in me, and that is why I need to cherish my body as the temple of God. These lives have been transformed by the power of God s Word shared and nurtured within a community of teaching and love. What each of these young people can now say is that they ve discovered the life that is truly life. They ve begun to learn how to engage with the Bible in such a way that it s not merely an exercise in learning, but in listening to God. They ve begun the lifetime journey of taking in the wisdom and direction that the Bible provides. At Biblica, we are thrilled that God s Word is playing the role God intended for it to in these lives. After a R4L team reached out to Joseph, an 18-year-old student, he made the transition to what he calls a completely new perspective. Now he says, I realize I am in this world for a reason. We want more and more people to make the same discovery. Inviting people to read and live the Bible well. This is Biblica s goal. Through R4L and other Biblica programs millions of people have the chance to engage the Bible in depth. In this way the sacred Scriptures we have from God himself can reach out and bring new life all around God s big world. The Bible is part of God s mission to reclaim His creation. This is why God gave us His word. He wants us to read it well, yes. But what He really wants is to see the Bible lived well. The Creator loves to see His creation thrive. This is the vision He has had from the beginning. This is the reality of Reach4Life. Ask God to help us read and live his Word well. 10 BIBLICA FALL 2014 BIBLICA.COM 11

7 Young people from a church youth group in the United States signing up to participate in Reach4LIfe. Reach4Life: The next 10 years While the AIDS pandemic is thought to have peaked in 2005, the number of people affected by HIV continues to rise in some parts of the world. In South Africa, the number of people living with HIV went from 10.8% in 2005 to 12.6% in Surveys have found that young people are increasingly engaging in high-risk sexual behavior. In 2005, 19% of girls years old were having sex with older men. In 2012, that number had climbed to 34%. One of the main challenges in the coming years will be AIDS fatigue. The media is not focusing on the pandemic like it used to, which may lead some to wrongly assume it s under control. But that isn t the case. There are still millions of young people at risk for HIV infection. God s Word provides the answers they desperately need to overcome the continuing pandemic. To break the cycle, one needs behavior change. To have this type of change, one needs a new moral and ethical framework to make decisions. This is the needed alternative the Reach4Life program brings. Over the last eight years, Biblica Kenya has partnered with the following organizations, ministries, and churches to share God s Word with young people through Reach4Life: Christ Is the Answer Ministries African Inland Church Nairobi Chapel Deliverance Church Good Shepherd Church Karura Chapel Kenya Assemblies of God Anglican Church of Kenya Baptist Church Presbyterian Church of East Africa Springs of Hope Ministries Mavuno St Peters Purpose Center Glory Christian Church Overcoming Faith Church Nairobi Gospel Center Nairobi Youth Pastors Association Compassion International World Vision World Relief African Evangelistic Enterprise Youth For Christ Kenya Colleges & Schools Fellowship Family Health Options Mathare Youth Sports Association Chosen Children of Promise Children of the Heavenly King Crisis Pregnancy V.C.T. AWANA Kubamba Crew Little Rock Ministry Maana Ministries SWAHIBA Youth Ministries World Revival Evangelistic Ministries Africa Youth Transformers Victory Faith Ministries New Fire Ministries Prison Fellowship of Kenya Ngara Youth Fellowship Pan African Christian University University of Nairobi Outreach Community Center Kingorani Prison Mombasa Word of Life Children are the future of our nation. If their lives are transformed by God s Word, our nation will have hope. When they live their lives by God, impacted by Biblica s programs, it will be a better life, a better country, and a better continent. Lydia Munene, Biblica Africa Reach4LIfe in Thailand Myths about HIV persist: Taking a contraceptive pill is protection from HIV... If someone with HIV coughs on you, you ll get the virus... HIV can be transmitted by mosquitos... Sexual intercourse with a virgin will cure AIDS. Until these misconceptions end, HIV will continue to spread. Reach4LIfe in Romania The focus of the government and other institutions is largely on treatment of the pandemic and not on prevention. Where they did focus on prevention, it was not on changing behavior. Reach4Life team member An updated version of Reach4Life (featuring new graphics and illustrations) will be released in multiple languages in Biblica s vision is to make this new resource available to hundreds of schools, churches, and Biblica ministry partners throughout the world. 12 BIBLICA FALL 2014 BIBLICA.COM 13

8 To exist, all you have to do is breathe. But to live, to really live, you must believe. Plug into the raw power of the Bible. an excerpt from the Reach4Life New Testament 14 BIBLICA FALL 2014 BIBLICA.COM 15 Plug in. Biblica.com

9 1820 Jet Stream Drive Colorado Springs, CO NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID BIBLICA U.S. INC. 16 BIBLICA FALL 2014 Celebrate life. Biblica.com