In the midst of all our hard-core theological reflection, the session on HIV this afternoon was a good change of pace for me! Two speakers from Uganda and Nigeria presented about the ways in which the Anglican church in their countries has been active in HIV-related areas, and gave a wonderful overview about the impact that well-organised churches can have. For the international HIV community, Uganda is regarded as one of the major success stories, having managed to decrease the prevalence of HIV from around 27% in the early 1990’s to 6.7% in 2005 – a phenomenal result not paralleled in any other country. Churches in Uganda have promoted abstinence and faithful marriages as their major platform, and supported this with youth groups, HIV support programs, AIDS palliative care and HIV treatment programs in conjunction with UNAIDS - a program from a church that is much more impressive effort than most countries, I must say!
Alongside the stories of these programs was a strong feeling that GAFCON needs to be about more than just doctrine, as important as that is. If we are to be a global, renewed communion, we also need to be serious about how we transform our communities and look for healing and justice for those around us. Uganda's example was a powerful reminder of just how big an impact churches can have in major social issues, and one that I think we can learn a lot from as we share our stories here.
