12 Prayers, 12 Weeks

South Sudan - "AIDS Concerns Everybody"

The Bible Society in South Sudan is running workshops and empowering Chruches to teach about HIV/AIDS prevention and to reach out to people who are being marginalised due to the disease.

Reaching out to people affected by HIV and AIDS has become a high priority for the Bible Society in South Sudan. Years of civil disruption have torn people away from their homes and from education, leaving many unaware of how HIV is contracted.

"AIDS concerns everybody", is the slogan used by the Bible Society in South Sudan in their fight against HIV and AIDS. They are using Bible-based materials to help Churches and Church related organisations to raise awareness about HIV and help people learn about the importance of prevention.

Workshops are used to tackle the stigmatization, discrimination and condemnation that are attached to HIV and AIDS. These workshops bring a change in attitudes towards people who are suffering, beginning steps to bring people back into society, into churches and into families.

HIV and AIDS are a particular challenge in Western Equatoria State, which borders other countries with a high prevalence rate. It is here that the Bible Society recently ran a workshop called 'The Good Samaritan' aimed especially at children and young people. Education is vitally important. It is hard to believe that there are still people who have no knowledge of how HIV and AIDS is spread, and how it can be prevented. Some are unaware that this disease even has a name. Such is the lack of education in some parts of South Sudan.

Praying for Ministry in South Sudan

Thanks so much for standing with our colleagues in South Sudan in this important ministry. So little is being done through the government or any other organisations.

Pray for a great outpouring of God's favour upon this ministry . May they see miraculous provision from places they did not expect. Praise God that he always provides for Kingdom work!

Pray too that God will allow more people to be educated in prevention, to slow the spread of this disease. Ask God to raise up more trainers who can run workshops.

Ask God to touch those who are suffering and all who care for them. May they receive the help they need and be welcomed back into church, family and society. May stigmas be broken in Jesus' name.

Week 2: 11 October 2016

Mary's Testimony

The Good Samaritan programme is inspirational! I love its Bible-based material which encourages children to know God, have a good attitude and be a Good Samaritan to other vulnerable children who are victims of war and HIV. The programme is relevant for everyone, not only children, because it gives hope and encourages someone who is infected, traumatised and marginalised by providing spiritual support.


	The Bible Society workshops inspired Mary to help others.

M y parents died and left three of us as orphans. We suffered a lot. I decided to leave school and stay at home to feed and take care of my younger brothers as nobody was there to

support us. I didn't know that our last born was carrying the HIV virus from our mother who passed away shortly after giving birth to him. We keep on sharing everything. I remember one day he fell down and injured his knees. I washed the blood away and bandaged the wounds. I too k care of him for six years after the death of our mother. When he died, I heard people whispering to each other, 'He must have got the virus from his mother', but because I didn't know what HIV was, I didn't realise what they were talking about... When I was pregnant with my first child, I was tested for HIV but the result was negative. I thank God for protecting me from contracting the virus from my brother.

I want to fight ignorance in my community. Although I did not finish my education, I can still be an agent of change with help from the Bible Society and other organisations. I will fight HIV by raising awareness among both children and adults and also being a Good Samaritan to the infected and affected ones.

I love this programme because I love ministering among children.

God is good!

Bible Society NI, 27 Howard Street, Belfast, BT1 6NB

TEL: 028 9032 6577 - www.bsni.co.uk

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