10 myths about HIV/AIDS
By Dale Hanson Bourke

Beginning to understand the challenges of HIV/AIDS starts by dealing with some of the common myths people tend to believe about the disease. Following are some of the myths and the actual facts about the disease.

1. HIV/AIDS is mostly a disease of homosexual men.
Primarily spread by heterosexual sex, HIV/AIDS now infects as many women as men worldwide. Although the disease was first recognized in the United States among gay men, it is also significantly spread among IV drug users. Internationally, it is more often a disease of heterosexuals.
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A Christ-centered approach to HIV/AIDS support groups
By Manda Gibson

Every person infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS needs a Christ-centered place to share his or her story and be accepted, says Kathi Winter, a successful businesswoman who has been HIV positive for 11 years. And an ideal place to find that is in a church-sponsored HIV support group.
 
A support group simply is a regularly-scheduled, biblically based meeting where people infected with or affected by HIV gather to share their stories, find connections, and be accepted in a Christ-centered environment. In addition, they learn practical, biblically based skills to help them emotionally, spiritually, and mentally deal with life’s trials, traumas, and tragedies.
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Churches the answer for Rwanda’s giants
By Manda Gibson

Kay Warren recently visited a country full of giants – giants she believes the Church is equipped to defeat. Still healing from the 100-day genocide of 1994, the nation of Rwanda is fighting the giants of prejudice, hatred, and violence. And like many other African nations, it is working to control the HIV pandemic.
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How churches around the world are responding to HIV/AIDS

As your church works to minister to those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, you can learn from churches around the world engaged in similar ministry. In this article, you’ll find an excerpt from the executive summary of a research report called “The Contribution of Christian Congregations to the Battle with HIV/AIDS at the Community Level.” Stan Nussbaum, staff missiologist for GMI Research Services in Colorado Springs, Colo., prepared this report for the Summer Mission Briefing at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, which was held June 7-9, 2005. The report includes research from seven countries: Honduras, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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Also on the Caring Community

Other resources newly added to the HIV/AIDS Caring Community include:

• Ask a question: By ministering to those with HIV, am I putting myself at risk?
• New Partners Initiative: Government funds for HIV/AIDS care and prevention
• Prayer for pastors and church leaders from Kay Warren