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Christian Conference of Asia
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Building HIV-competent Churches On-goingCCA and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) held the second seminar on Building HIV Competent Churches in Asia at the Bishop La Verne D. Mercado Ecumenical Center on 14-16 September 2011. The seminar was participated by 28 people from different member churches of NCCP: Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Iglesia Filipina Independiente, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, United Methodist Church, Lutheran Church of the Philippines, Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal, and the Episcopal Church of the Philippines. The Metropolitan Community Church sent two representatives. Other organizations present were: Batis Aware, a service organization of women Migrant Workers, the Youth and the Board of Women’s Work of the United Methodist Church, the Women and Gender Commission of the Association of the Major Religious Superior of the Philippines, and Southern Christian College of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Rev. Fr. Rex R. Reyes, General Secretary of NCC Philippines and a member of the Presidium of the CCA delivered the first Biblico-Theological Reflection during the worship service. He began his reflection with the inspiring story of Pastor Ponsawan Khankaew who gave her testimony in the last worship during the CCA Executive Committee meeting on September 10, 2011. He shared this reflection on the life of Pastor Ponsawan: It was a powerful and moving testimony. Moving because it was a first person story – her life story. She told of her blindness and how one eye eventually gained sight. She talked of her isolation from her friends, from the hospital and above all her isolation from her own pastor and the members of her community. She was dismissed as a hopeless case, a sinner and her community talked about rituals and customs related to her impending death. She also told of how her love for her two sons and the apparent love of her sons for her carried her through the painful ordeal. It was powerful because her testimony is a challenge to the church and Christians about our notions of sin, mission and pastoral responsibility. There she was - well recovered singing of her faith in a Jesus who stood by her and healed her. There she was - opening up a ministry for people suffering the suffering she underwent by putting up the Adonai Church in Pattaya and the Glory Hut Foundation out of nothing but her indomitable spirit to minister to people isolated by others. There she was - receiving, without resentment, referrals from pastors who still think they have nothing to do with people living with HIV and AIDS. May she live much longer than the fifteen years she prayed for. There she was - singing of the victory that was hers in Jesus Christ and the joy of watching her two boys grow up in a hostile world. There is no other profound and genuine witness to the love of Jesus and His command to love than the testimony of our own lives. This story was a fitting start of a seminar to build HIV Competent Church. In a rapid appraisal using the bench mark assessment tool for HIV Competent Church conducted by Dr. Erlinda N. Senturias, only the Metropolitan Community Church, a church of gay people in the Philippines showed elements of HIV Competency. Building HIV Competency among churches is an important step in a society where the HIV epidemic is characterized as low, slow but rising trend of infection by 25% between 2001-2009, as reported by UNAIDS in 2010. More information on HIV and AIDS were given by Ms. Teresita “Bai” Bagasao, UNAIDS Country Coordinator. There are 7 new infections of HIV everyday and to date there are almost 8000 people with HIV. Pinoy Plus, an organization of people living with HIV+ (PLHIV) shared their experience of stigma and discrimination and isolation. They are advocating for greater access to services and making the government keep their promise. The good news of their advocacy is that PhilHealth, a government health insurance scheme has made a commitment to include PLHIV in a package that will pay for their medication and laboratory examinations beginning next year. Two more interactive Biblico-theological Reflections were given by Lizette Tapia- Raquel, Cristy Framer Mella, Revelation Velunta and Glorilyn Ostoy, all professors of Union Theological Seminary, and by Darlene Marquez-Caramanzana, NCCP Program Secretary of Ecumenical Education and Nurture. Dr. Senturias gave an input on Building HIV Competent Churches and the Ecumenical and Interfaith challenges in creating safe spaces for HIV and Human Sexuality. Participants shared that most of their churches do not deal with HIV and AIDS and appreciated the need to build their inner and outer competency and shared some insights on a policy on HIV and AIDS that church leader can act on. They also developed an action plan for the next steps. (with reports from Erlinda Senturias) posted by cbs on 4:53 PM |
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