Lausanne will host the North American Consultation on the role of the church in solving the HIV/AIDS pandemic for the first time this month.

|TOP|On Nov. 10th, one day prior to the world’s largest medical missions conference, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation will host the North American Consultation at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. The topic of discussion this year is the role of the church in the HIV/AIDS crisis, which some are calling a “global emergency.”

Among the prominent guest speakers at the consultation is Edward C. Green, who is the senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health. Green, whose session is titled “Uganda’s ABC Model: An African Response to AIDS,” will be discussing his findings that the ABC (Abstinence, Be Faithful, Use Condoms) model in Uganda lowered the HIV/AIDS rate from 18 percent in 1992 to below seven percent presently, according to a statement released by the Southeast Christian Church, Missions Ministry.

In addition to Green, the consultation will include speakers such as Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, and Ben Homan, president and CEO of Food for the Hungry, who will be speaking on the role of churches in the HIV/AIDS crisis; and Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director for the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), who will speak on the power of partnership in response to the epidemic.

The Lausanne committee hopes to invite leading North American church pastors and Christian leaders to speak about the AIDS epidemic and as a result increase the participation of churches in the United States and Canada in what is now considered one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the history of the world.

Moreover, the health consultation and conference will address the issue of not only looking for the medical solution to AIDS/HIV but also the method to reach with the Gospel those already afflicted.

In addition to the sessions, the consultation will include ten additional workshops on Nov. 10th. Following the consultation will be The Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC) held also at Southeast Christian Church, featuring over 90 speakers, 98 workshops, and over 100 exhibitors on Nov. 11th-12th, including a few presentations and exhibits about the HIV/AIDS crisis.






Michelle Vu
Christian Today Correspondent