The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kenya has appealed to its entire membership and institutions to fight the scourge of HIV and AIDS.
Pastor Musyoka Paul Muasya, who heads the church in Kenya, made the pledge before Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, at the launch of the nation’s “Total War on AIDS” initiative. The initiative involves collaboration between the government of Kenya and a number of faith-based organizations.
The pledge reads, “We, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, commit ourselves and our institutions to fight in the war against HIV/AIDS.” President Kibaki personally acknowledged this commitment at a meeting at the State House in Nairobi. Accompanying Muasya were directors of the health ministries and personal ministries offices in the East Africa region of the church, along with the president of the Central Kenya Conference.
Representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, as well as leaders of the Methodist Church, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, the Presbyterian Church , the Hindu community, the African Inland Church, the Pentecostal Church and the Baptist Church also attended and made the same commitment.
Acknowledging that HIV/AIDS is the greatest threat to human well-being and public health in the country, with three Kenyans dying every five minutes from HIV/AIDS related complications, President Kibaki said, “If you are not fighting HIV/AIDS, you are not promoting the development of the nation.”
“The purpose of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kenya of evangelizing the entire nation is rendered worthless if we do not do something drastic to alter the alarming incidence of HIV/AIDS,” Muasya said, echoing the sentiments of the head of state at a subsequent meeting.
Expressing his gratitude that the national prevalence of HIV/AIDS had been reduced from 14 percent in the year 2000 to 10 percent last year, Muasya noted that the church in Kenya must do more in the area of prevention to halt the onslaught of the disease within its ranks and within the nation. He urges leaders of church institutions and all members within the territory to ensure that adequate treatment and compassionate care is given to those infected with the disease.
While the Adventist Church has articulated a comprehensive and compassionate stand on HIV/AIDS, Muasya said, “That stand has remained on paper, and has not made the transition to the hearts, and hands, the feet, and means of our membership in this territory.”
He added, “It is not enough to preach against practices that facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS. It is not enough to preach comfort to those bereaved as a result of HIV/AIDS. It is not enough to visit those afflicted with the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We must do more to mitigate the suffering that comes in the wake of HIV/AIDS. We cannot afford to remain conventional. We must walk that extra mile, in the shoes of those infected, and directly affected by this disease.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a member of the Kenya Inter-religious AIDS Consortium (KIRAC,) a sub-section of the National HIV/AIDS Control Council.