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HIV/AIDS Facts for Youth Leaders and Students
Overview:
HIV is tearing apart families and communities all over the world, yet God sent the Church to be the hope of the world. The world has never seen a crisis this big, yet the world has also never seen a generation of teenagers like the generation of teenagers that we have today. From education to activation – there are many ways students can get involved in helping to end the AIDS pandemic.
What Do the Initials HIV and AIDS Stand For?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Human tells us who is affected, and includes men, women and children. Immunodeficiency tells us that there is a decline in the body’s immune system affecting its ability to fight infection. Virus tells us the type of organism causing the disease.
AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Acquired tells us that it is not genetic, a person must be infected. Immunodeficiency, as with HIV, tells us that the virus creates a deficiency, or a failure to work properly, within the body’s immune system. Syndrome tells us that there are a group of symptoms that together characterize the disease.
What is the difference between being HIV positive and having AIDS?
Although they are often confused, HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. A person is HIV positive if they have been infected with HIV. A person who is HIV positive may not be sick at all. A person is said to have AIDS if they have been infected with HIV and also has certain symptoms of the disease. Basically, HIV is the virus and AIDS is the disease that it causes.
Transmission:
How can you become infected with HIV?
Having sexual intercourse (including vaginal sex, oral sex, and anal sex) with an infected partner.
Injecting drugs using a needle or syringe that has been used by someone who is infected.
From mother to baby during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding.
Blood transfusions where the blood is infected with HIV.
How Do You Start an HIV Ministry in Your Youth Group:
- Get educated: Read a book, check out websites, watch video’s on HIV/AIDS, and get tested.
- Get your senior pastor on board
- Create a Vision
- Get a volunteer team together
Idea's to Launch
- Do a weekend series about safe sex & HIV/AIDS
- Promote World AIDS Day
- Have free testing available - there are different state laws for parental consent and confidentiality. Call your local AIDS Service Foundation for specific state details.
- Offer free counseling to those who are infected
- Create HIV/AIDS support groups
- Have someone who is HIV+ give their testimony at church
- Memorize a Bible verse on God’s view for the poor/sick.
- Go through the book of Matthew; write down how many times Jesus showed compassion to sick people.
Verses That May Help
- John 10:10 - The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
- Jeremiah 33:3 - Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
- Romans 8:1-2 - Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
- I Corinthians 6:18 - Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
- John 10:10 - The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
Myth Buster's:
Myth: Busted!
Only homosexual’s can get infected.
Wrong! 50% of people who are infected are woman.
You can get HIV through hugging.
Wrong! You can only contract the disease if you exchange bodily fluids. If you hug, shake hands, or work with someone who is infected – you won’t get it! You can’t get it through bug bites, animals, drinking water, etc.
You can tell if someone is infected.
Wrong! Infected people don’t always by looking at them! Look sick. Some people may not even look sick for 10 years!
There are drugs to cure this disease.
Wrong! There is no cure for this disease, but there is medication to prolong the process of HIV turning into AIDS. But, medication isn’t available in all areas of the world – especially in rural areas.
AIDS is a punishment from God.
Totally wrong! AIDS is not a punishment from God. We live in a broken, fallen world, and sadly, sickness and death are a part of our lives. If God began handing out sickness for our sins, most of us would be dead by tomorrow. Many people have HIV because something terrible was done to them or by them.
If I use condoms, I can’t get infected.
Wrong! Condoms do not protect 100% from getting infected.
Kids aren’t affected by this disease.
Wrong! 15 million kids have been orphaned because their parents have died of HIV/AIDS. There aren’t enough orphanages for them, so they live on streets and usually result to a life or crime, or die. Also, if a mother is pregnant and infected, more than likely the baby will be born already infected. If they’re not already infected, they may become infected from breast feeding.
Every very minute, one child dies from AIDS.
I don’t have money, I can’t help.
Wrong! There is something every person can do – whether you’re 5 years old or 50 years old. See the end of this packet for more info.
If I get tested, people will think I am having sex.
Wrong! By getting tested, you’re helping others feel better about getting tested themselves.
Did You Know!
Most people who are infected are between the ages of 15 – 24!
Over 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.
Over 250,000 people in the United States don’t even know they are HIV positive!
WORLDWIDE: In 2005, an estimated 38.6 million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2005, 4.1 million became newly infected with HIV, and 2.8 million lost their lives to AIDS.
AFRICA: A little more than one-tenth of the world’s population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, however, almost 64% of all people living with HIV live in this area. Two million of them are children younger than 15 years old.
ASIA: At the end of 2005, an estimated 8.3 million people were living with HIV in Asia. More than two-thirds of them were in India.
EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA: The rates in these areas continue to expand. About 220,000 people were newly infected with HIV in 2005, making the total number of people living with HIV about 1.5 million. Between 2003 and 2005, the number of adults and children living with HIV in this region increased by more than one-third!
LATIN AMERICA: An estimated 140,000 people were newly infected with HIV in 2005 and a total of 1.6 million people are now HIV positive.
UNITED STATES: At the end of 2003, an estimated 1 million people in the U.S. were living with HIV/AIDS. Of these people, 24-27% were undiagnosed and unaware of their infection.
*All statistics are from UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic.
Resources:
Ministry Tools
HIV/AIDS Toolkit: What Your Church Can Do
Books:
And The Band Played On – Randy Shilts
Good News About Injustice – Gary Haugen
The aWAKE Project
The Skeptics Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis
Too Small to Ignore – Wess Stafford
Sex Series Teaching Tools:
Love, Sex, & Dating Scripts
www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-drama-love--sex---dating-scripts.html
Sex Series Teaching Bundle
www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-sermons-sex-series-teaching-bundle.html
The Best Sex Ever Series
www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-sermons-best-sex-ever.html
DVD:
A Closer Walk: www.acloserwalk.org
Beat the Drum: www.beatthedrummovie.com
Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story
Dear Francis: www.dearfrancis.org
Glue Boys: www.glueboys.com
Hope +:www.hopepositive.com
Pandemic: Facing AIDS www.amazon.com
Sometimes in April: www.amazon.com
Yesterday: www.yesterdaythemovie.co.za
Websites:
www.aids.gov
www.cdc.gov
www.exodus-international.org
www.hivtest.org
www.ijm.org
www.kff.org/hivaids
www.purposedriven.com/hiv
www.unfpa.org
www.unicef.org
www.usaid.gov
www.XXXchurch.com
www.youthaids.org
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/dearfrancis
www.myspace.com/JoinRed
www.myspace.com/TheOneCampaign |