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A Ministry in Partnership with
Illubabor Bethel Synod
Ethiopian Evangelical Church
Mekane Yesus
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By 2010, over one-third of Africa’s
children
will be orphaned as a result
of AIDS
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FACT
AIDS
is the first epidemic of a new disease since the 1400s.
FACT
Nine
out of ten children living with AIDS are African.
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FACT
By
2010, it is estimated that there will be 25 million orphans of AIDS in
the world.
FACT
One
of the major challenges in fighting AIDS is caring for orphans of AIDS. |
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Children and
Ethiopia’s
AIDS Pandemic
One million children in Ethiopia
have been orphaned by the loss of one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.
Each child has a story to tell about living in a family where the parents
are HIV positive or have AIDS.
But God loves each of these children.
Each is created in God’s image and has worth and value in the eyes of
God. Each child needs:
- help to reach tomorrow
- to know God cares
- a human touch
- someone who expresses God’s HEART
in action
- HOPE
Many orphans of AIDS are:
- left to care for themselves
- living with grandmothers (who need
someone to care for them)
- living in households headed by an
older unmarried sibling
- living with an extended family member
cared for by the community
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What is being
done now?
Sixteen million African children
under age 15 live without a mother or both parents. Churches are at the
epicenter of this challenge, seeking to meet it with creativity, love
and wisdom. Churches are also at the heart of each community and it is
there that the challenge must be met.
In partnership with the Illubabor Bethel Synod (IBS) of the
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Shenandoah Presbytery’s HEART
Project seeks to help support the ministry to orphans of AIDS and their
families.
What you can
do
You can Help Ethiopian orphans
of AIDS Reach Tomorrow by being part of The HEART Project. Churches,
sessions, Sunday school classes or other groups, and individuals are
invited to support this ministry to orphans of HIV/AIDS.
IBS has indicated it costs approximately $244 per child per
year to provide living, medical, educational and caretaker training.
Gifts to the HEART Project of $244/year are welcomed. However, we are invited
to give at least $300/year or $25/month to support this important ministry.
HEART Project Application Adobe MS Word
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For more information or to arrange for
a presentation, contact Bill Cox by phone at (540)499-2585, or by
email at cwmcox@htcnet.org
or call the Presbytery office.
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