Jesus is HIV Positive

“Jesus is HIV Positive!” Those were the words proclaimed this past Sunday by Bishop Buthelezi of ELCSA’s South Eastern Diocese. In front of a crowd of 10,000 at the University of Zululand he made his message clear. It was the bi-annual South Eastern Diocesan Rally and from the post service response, one that may forever change the role of area Lutheran churches in regards to service-based faith. I knew this fire storm was coming, I had been working with the Bishop on the idea for nearly a month. Our first discussion came just prior to hosting the regional HIV/AIDS workshop at the Diocesan Center (September 30-October 03). Bishop Buthelezi came into my office and said, “I hear you want to get involved in the HIV/AIDS struggle while you are here in South Africa. Are you ready for a battle? Are your ready to dig in and help steer our church in a new direction?” The look on his face was that of determination and poise, he looked like a man on a serious mission, he knew what was on the horizon.

We spent time discussing the fragile relationship between the church and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For years now many churches in Africa, including ELCSA congregations, have walked a tightrope on the issue, rarely embracing it for what it is…a huge challenge with life and death implications. Of course the church didn’t turn its back on the issue, but one might say it did tend to turn sideways at times.

It is hard to fully understand the many levels of complexity bound to this issue, especially here in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). I am just beginning to peel back the surface myself, and I am starting to realize why the process of embracement has taken so long. Self admittedly, the Zulu people of South Africa are a proud people, a people who connect to their traditions in ways we, as westerners, may find difficult to grasp. For example, it has been common practice for hundreds of years for Zulu men (especially chiefs) to take up multiple wives. This custom, though less common today, is still in practice. South Africa’s newly elected president, Jacob Zuma, for example, is Zulu and has four wives. These polygamous marriage groups are what, for many generations, sustained a productive and peaceful way of life. Men were expected to care and provide for all their wives and not doing so would bring shame upon them. As in many similar cultures the wives played various nurturing roles to ensure a balance within the homestead. We may be quick to judge, to see these lifestyles as irresponsible or even wrong, but we need to be careful. For thousands of years, similar family structures were the norm all over the world. The Bible, for instance, is filled with examples of polygamy. The idea of monogamous relationships is somewhat of a more recent norm in relation to human history. I’m neither condemning nor condoning the practice, for that’s not what’s at the root of this issue.

Here in KwaZulu-Natal is not about discussing whether polygamy is right or wrong, it is trying to forge a new culture of respect and support within all relationships. For years Zulu men and women have played certain roles within the family. Westerners might consider these roles “traditional” with men earning a living and providing for their family while women would take care of the household and tend to the children (usually a lot of children). I’ve had the privilege of getting to witness some of the Zulu culture first hand. Their beautiful traditions are filled with symbolism and heartfelt gratitude for men’s and women’s roles in each others’ lives. These roles can be virtuous paths to lead, yet at times have created a challenge in dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Because of these gender-based roles men have felt the need to always be strong, bold, and protect their families, sometimes masking their feelings in order to better control situations. Women, on the other hand have felt the need to serve their family and remain the caretakers of their husband and children, sometimes finding it difficult to communicate with their husbands.

The challenge lies in realizing that sometimes traditions must be altered to deal with something as dangerous as HIV/AIDS. The most crucial being the practice of having multiple sex partners during the same period of one’s life. We discussed this issue at length during the workshop. The message was that sometimes, in response to difficult times, we must take responsibility and make changes in our habits to protect the ones we love. It will be a challenge to alter some of these practices and focus on a new ways of expressing old traditions. Education will be the cornerstone in developing a new understanding of each others’ roles. Through education and vigilance I do believe that the rate of infection can be diminished in KZN over time. The South African government and other organizations are currently forging a multi-prong effort to educate and empower people to live healthier lifestyles. One of my favorite campaigns is one that focuses on “A New South African Man”. The ad describes a man that lives his life to better the lives of others, a man who respects his wife, never raising a hand to her, and man who doesn’t make excuses, a man who provides for his family and shows them love (maybe we should look into running this ad in the US :). In another campaign an ad focuses on working towards building an HIV free generation. This may seem impossible to some, but the buzz around the campaign has penetrated so many different areas of the community in which I work. I’ve heard it mentioned in our youth soccer program, at the primary school I teach in, and within our church community. Once the lines of communication and education are opened, anything is possible.

Though I have been actively involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS since 2003, I have learned so much in the past two months from experiencing, firsthand, what the people of South Africa are doing to combat its’ spread. Of the over 25 million who have died from the disease* since 1981, the vast majority have been from Sub-Saharan Africa. Of the 9.7 million people worldwide who are in need of immediate ARV(Anti-retro-virals) care only 31%* are receiving them. Since 1981 an estimated 11.6 million children* have been orphaned by AIDS. The South African Department of Health estimates that the province of KwaZulu-Natal has an infection rate of between 34-37% (depending on the study), either way it is far and away the highest rate in South Africa, a country with the highest rate of infection in the world at 28%. The statistics are staggering and the needs are great. Bishop Buthelezi knows this, and he along with others within the church are working hard to turn the tide. In preparing for the HIV/AIDS workshop I worked with Lungile Nyathikazi, the regional coordinator for the ELCSA-SED’s HIV/AIDS Program. I helped create a logo for the workshop and helped her put together informational packets for distribution. She seemed frustrated at times while we were preparing the materials because the number attending was far less that she had hoped. She shared with me her vision of a brighter future in which the church became a visible leader in the struggle not just another “Band-Aid support group”, helping in bits and pieces only when called upon. When the time came for the Bishop to deliver his sermon at the workshop’s closing service, he gave all who attended a much needed wake-up call. The look of satisfaction on Lugile’s face said it all. “If only one member of the Body of Christ were HIV positive, just one, the entire Body is in fact infected, we MUST realize this”, stated Buthelezi. “You cannot separate the Body of Christ from its’ challenges. It is the church that must be the leaders on this issue. It must be the church that stomps out the stigmas, that embraces the infected, and creates an environment of support.” His words rang clear, and he would later expand upon this message at the rally a few weeks later.

This time he used the message as a springboard to the greater question at hand, why do we, as members of the Body of Christ, rarely fulfill our commitment to the struggles of the world? Why do we far too often find ourselves in the passenger’s seat instead of the driver’s seat? How can we ever lead Christ-like lives if we are not willing to make the sacrifices that our Savior made? A bright spot for us as Americans is that we are statistical leaders in allocating aid funding throughout the world. The Bush administration helped significantly by nearly tripling aid to Africa at 15 billion*, with the Obama administration looking to further these pledges moving forward. It’s a great start, but we all need to continually educate and engage ourselves in the world around us to find innovative ways to help in solving the problems of our global community. The time is now for us a Lutherans and Christians to spiritually grow-up, to learn how to fully embrace the greatest commandment of them all (John 13:34), and to live a life of service to all of God’s people. If we choose to walk the easy path, to keep HIV/AIDS and other diseases on the back burner, to ignore poverty, to turn a blind eye to world hunger, to focus on ourselves and not our neighbors, then we will never obey God’s will. By doing so we are in fact turning away from Christ in order to ensure a life of comfort and excess. It is only through selfless service that one can truly lead a Christ-like life. We are saved by Grace indeed, but how do we take this and other gifts bestowed upon us by God and use them to better the world around us…how do we answer God’s call to action? Jesus is HIV positive…what are you going to do about it?

*Statistics were taken from the HIV/AIDS awareness website avert.org)