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World AIDS Day - "We cannot rest on our laurels!"
AIDS Desk coordinator Veikko Munyika looks back on Lutheran contributions to the global fight against AIDS over the past 20 years and identifies growth areas for the Lutheran communion.
1 December 2008 marked the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. From a Lutheran perspective, how far have we come in these 20 years, and what do we need to prioritize in the future in order to "keep the promise"?
We passed through many different stages. At first we were shocked to hear of the disease which has neither cure nor vaccine. We were made to understand and believe that this was a disease that affected “the others,” for example, sex worker communities. So we kept silent. Whenever we spoke, we blamed, shamed, stigmatized and condemned the affected, so much that we developed a theology of retribution.
This stage passed. We gradually learned our lessons, especially that HIV does not discriminate. In fact, many of our own church members—including clergy—are among the affected and the numbers are growing. This means we need to break our silence, fight stigmatization and stop discriminating.
Thus we made statements of commitment, both as a Lutheran communion as well as individual Lutheran expressions or churches. The 2002 launching of the LWF HIV and AIDS Campaign resulted in the strengthening of its member churches’ HIV programs. This accompaniment included theological, financial and technical support from the LWF Secretariat in Geneva to the regions and member churches. We believe that this process has made significant contributions to current developments, whereby the rates of infection and death are starting to decline.
However, we cannot rest on our laurels! Our response needs to be intensified all the more. Our churches are losing members by the day, and families are being robbed of their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and many productive members of the community. So, looking ahead, I wish to emphasize the need for education and training at all levels of the Lutheran communion: regional, sub-regional and among individual member churches.
We need to carefully embark on the process of mainstreaming HIV and AIDS issues in the whole life of the Lutheran churches: in theological education, training, church worship and all other programs such as Sunday school, confirmation classes, youth and women’s groups, etc.
Many church leaders signed the campaign’s statements of commitment and promised to lead their churches as they respond in the respective contexts. Much has been done and achieved, but a lot more remains to be done. Since they hold the key, church leaders need to put their hearts and minds on HIV and AIDS issues. The place of this pandemic in their priority lists is at the top. It is “a campaign”, and therefore an urgent priority.
What do you see as the strengths of the LWF AIDS Campaign?
One of the strengths of the LWF campaign is its approach to the AIDS pandemic response from an ecumenical perspective. It is an acknowledgement that this not an issue where we can be “going it alone”. It is an enemy that can only be defeated through joint response. It corrects an earlier approach whereby churches and their related organizations were responding, but in isolation and without coordination, which resulted in competition and duplication of resources. Affirming an ecumenical approach to the fight against HIV and AIDS is a significant contribution to the process and is bound to result in a reversal the pandemic. Divided we fall, united we stand.
In the context of this campaign, the Lutheran communion produced a handbook: Grace, Care and Justice, which serves as a tool to help churches and theologians move toward a theological paradigm shift. It brings to the struggle the basic understanding of Lutheran theology and how it applies to the issues of the day with regard to HIV and AIDS.
The handbook is intended for people in leadership roles in the churches–pastors, teachers, church group leaders, confirmation class teachers, preachers, etc–so that they are well informed from a technical and theological standpoint to bring about change in attitude and behavior.
The LWF wants this handbook to reach even the most remote villages. The handbook’s translation into the respective local languages of the LWF member churches opens a way for both clergy and laity to access useful information often trapped behind language barriers.
Through the handbook, the LWF has also contributed to the pool of information being shared by different stakeholders in the world.
Rev. Dr Veikko Munyika has been working as coordinator of the LWF HIV and AIDS Desk since October 2008.
