Story number 1 for 2 Oct 2000

We begin today in Zambia, where the AIDS epidemic threatens to obliterate not only the country’s economy, but also the social structure. One state official compared the crisis to the devastation of apartheid. SIM’s John Evans says the situation is forcing pastors to confront their cultural relevancy. “This is an issue which dominates the thinking of African church leaders and is of great concern. The societies are in danger really, these fragile economies could very easily implode because so many are dying.” Evans says the crisis is changing the way many pastors are approaching ministry. “We must see HIV as “The church’s problem”. It isn’t just society’s problem. It is a problem which must be addressed by the church if there is going to be any change in these dreadful, horrifying statistics.”