Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM Communications, or to Main News Digest PageA NEW GROUP of "outcasts" is finding acceptance and hope through a new "adoption" program in Chennai (Madras).
Men and women diagnosed with AIDS are being connected with local churches offering help and support, and in some cases reunited with partners and relatives who have shunned them on learning of their infection.
The link service is part of an AIDS ministry established in the city a year ago by Youth With A Mission. It is one of the few programs working with AIDS patients in a city of seven million, where the number of cases of the disease has risen significantly in the past few years.
AIDS is on the increase across the country, largely through sexual contact and drug use, with an estimated three million cases. Fear of the disease has led to a new grouping in the country's caste system, with many HIV carriers shunned.
A small group of YWAM volunteers pay regular visits to the two main hospitals in Chennai that diagnose and treat AIDS. With free access from the hospital administrators, the visitors befriend patients, bring food and other supplies, and offer any practical help they can.
When the patients are discharged, they are put in touch with volunteers from a church in their home area who take on the support role. "AIDS isn't well understood oftentimes, so when people are diagnosed they can be rejected by their families," said Tim Svoboda, who directs YWAM's work in the city. "People are afraid that they can contract AIDS through everyday contact with people, and there is a great deal of shame associated with the disease."
Through talking with spouses and family members, the YWAM volunteers have been able to reunite some broken families. But not always. One man disappeared on learning that his wife was HIV-positive leaving her alone in hospital. Six of the visitors' contacts - many of whom come from Hindu backgrounds - have prayed to receive Christ.
Among those the volunteers have been helping recently are men from a long-distance trucking community in the southern part of the country where many people have contracted AIDS through the drivers' contact with prostitutes on their journeys.
The AIDS ministry is led by Deva Wilson Prabu, who spends hours each week visiting the hospital wards or criss-crossing the city by motorcycle to follow up on patients whom have been discharged and find help in local churches. "It's all very time-consuming in a city with a population the same size of Chicago," said Svoboda. "It's still early days, but we have seen considerable impact already. We have seen people welcome back by their families, and also some real openness to the gospel."
In addition to their practical work, the YWAM helpers are also trying to
increase awareness of the needs for and opportunities of AIDS ministry in
other churches.
(Photo available on request)
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