Mission Network News

International (MNN) ― The 15th International AIDS Conference wrapped up in Bangkok with a stirred awareness of the growing crisis.
The grim news of the pandemic's worldwide grip makes reaching the international goal of treating 3 million HIV/AIDS patients by 2005 quite a challenge.
The Bush administration pledged $15 billion more to prop up international efforts to fight the disease. Despite the staggering amount, it may not be enough.
The bulk of the programs are still aimed at treating the after-effects of the viral contraction. According to Worldwide Christian Schools' Dale Dieleman, the core problem is access to the right kind of information.
Worldwide is developing an AIDS curriculum to meet that need. "Really, the prevention thing that we're talking about here is developing a lifestyle concerning abstinence, but also, just in terms of who you are as a child of God, and going from there. So, it's really a whole child approach, a whole life approach."
What's key here, Dieleman argues, is the 'when' of the message. WWCS's approach will be geared to elementary and secondary aged school children.
As the teams work on writing the curriculum, Dieleman urges prayer support. "Pray for the wisdom of those who are doing the editing and also how this will be distributed. We're hoping that people will step forward and say, 'Yes, I want to be a part of this long-term solution," and, I think, a very biblical solution, beginning to address and attack this whole AIDS pandemic."
The program launch is very near now, and the curriculum has already been field tested in several schools over the last two years.