AIDS Awareness Introduction
From SPARK
Contents |
Unpublished
Summary
Introduction to AIDS education program.
Introduction
Many people do bad things with their bodies because they do not know what God has said about the bodies of those who are Christians. This is a very dangerous thing. It compromises one's relation with the Lord. It also subjects someone to the danger of getting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
AIDS is a terrible disease that currently has no cure nor vaccine. Everyone who gets the disease dies. Some people have the benefit of treatment with medicine mixtures. That mixture of medicines does not heal AIDS. It slows down the development of AIDS in the body. These medicines are only available to a few people. It is sad that the number of people suffering from the disease is growing day by day, in the whole world.
The disease starts when someone acquires the organism that causes AIDS. The causative agent of AIDS is called an AIDS virus or HIV. It can not be seen with the naked eye because it is very small. It is actually smaller than bacteria. When the AIDS virus gets into the body, it starts to multiply. Later on, the virus starts destroying the body’s natural immune system. The person’s immunity to disease starts to dwindle slowly. In the end the person is left without any immunity to disease. Because of this lack of immunity, the person is vulnerable to all kinds of diseases. This is why people who have the AIDS virus suffer from different kinds of diseases easily.
- By having sex with a person who has the AIDS virus. This is the main way through which the AIDS virus is spread.
- An expectant mother may pass on the virus to her unborn baby or during delivery. However, this does not happen with all expectant mothers. Some expectant mothers give birth to children without the virus even though the mothers have the virus.
- By using things like razor blades, needles and other sharp objects that have infected blood.
- Through receiving treatment from traditional healers if they cut the body using infected razor blades, bones or knives. This can happen if the instruments have not been boiled for a period of not less than thirty minutes.
- By getting injections at the market or from people who are not trained.
Other sexually transmitted diseases can also favor the transmission of AIDS because of sores or broken skin, etc.
You may also think of other ways that we have not mentioned here through which the virus can be transmitted. The chapter on “The AIDS Pandemic and Family Life” gives much more information about AIDS and how to deal with it. It also talks about the need to show compassion to friends with AIDS.
Not all people who are suffering from AIDS contracted the virus through sex. There are several other ways through which the virus is spread as we have already stated above. So we may never judge someone who has AIDS. Even if someone got AIDS through sex, we should not judge the person, but feel the Lord’s compassion and show him or her the way to salvation.
Let us be careful not to misuse our bodies and have them destroyed by AIDS! The Lord has created mankind to look after His creation. He has chosen His people to live in peace before His eyes, to help other people in need and spread the Gospel to those who have not yet heard it. It is such a waste if the bodies of young men and women are misused and destroyed by AIDS instead of accomplishing the Lord’s will.
- Youth, Sexuality & the AIDS Pandemic
- Holy Marriage and the AIDS Pandemic
- Husband, Wife, Children & the AIDS Pandemic
- The AIDS Pandemic and Family Life
- The AIDS Pandemic and the Church
