The AIDS Crisis: What We Can Do
by Deborah Dortzbach, W. Meredith Long
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Book Summary Information
Author: Deborah Dortzbach, W. Meredith LongEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-11-17
ISBN: 0830833722
Number of pages: 157
Publisher: IVP Books
Book Reviews of The AIDS Crisis: What We Can Do
Book Review: A Call to Difficult Engagement
Summary: 5 Stars
The AIDS Crisis: What We Can Do is an excellent and unique resource for a Christian who wants to understand AIDS and respond to the devastation it is causing worldwide.
The authors of The AIDS Crisis are not researchers, but practitioners. They have been involved in the heartbreaking, messy, and often frustrating work of responding to (and preventing) AIDS since the early days of the epidemic. Their many years of experience and reflection add a richness and authenticity (and sometimes painful honesty) to their writing.
Throughout this book, the authors attempt to communicate the magnitude of the worldwide AIDS disaster, as well as the complexities involved in prevention and care, both through up-to-date statistics and stories. They make it clear that the present issue is not whether we (as Western Christians) should respond, but how and where. They teach us that AIDS ministry is more of a journey than a project. They challenge us to listen, build relationships, and share the burden with those who are already involved in AIDS ministry, before we leap to the task of designing programs and strategies.
I was sometimes surprised, reading this book, at how frank the authors were in their discussion of the various issues involved in preventing AIDS transmission among various high risk groups. As Christians, the authors are honest about their struggles to balance grace and holiness in their efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and provide sanctuary to those infected. They admit that through their struggles over the past two decades, they have been transformed in ways they had not anticipated (p. 48). Depending on your background, you may be surprised or disturbed by their conclusions. In my opinion, however, this book's challenge to Christians to engage with people or viewpoints they do not agree with, as they work together to address the AIDS crisis, is one of its greatest strengths.
Another strength of The AIDS Crisis is its interaction with Scripture. Through its retelling of the stories of the woman caught in adultery (from John), and the moral failings of David and his sons, it addresses the interaction of grace and holiness, as well the violence (on different levels) caused by sexual sin (reflected in the AIDS epidemic). The authors challenge us to look inward as well as outward, examining our own views and practices concerning AIDS, sex, sin, and forgiveness.
The AIDS Crisis clearly calls us, the readers, to respond to the crisis. To help us, there are excellent personal reflection questions and action steps at the end of each chapter, as well as group discussion questions at the end of the book. The authors do not promise that our engagement will be easy, or even personally rewarding (in the way we often define rewarding). Instead, they make it clear that involvement in AIDS ministry will involve personal distress and suffering. "AIDS ministry is painful, it is long, and it has few tangible rewards (p. 133)." Only through dwelling in the sanctuary of God, and responding to his leading, can Christians persevere in this calling. "Only as we recognize that the tapestry of response is not emerging by happenstance, but that God is actively weaving us into the fabric of his compassion, are we renewed (p.135)."
The AIDS Crisis both informed and challenged me, and I highly recommend it.
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