Story number 1 for 30 Nov 2001

(South Africa)–Headlining today’s news, while the death toll at the World Trade Center stands at more than 36-hundred, the AIDS pandemic is claiming even more victims. David Seefried is the Executive Director of the Evangelical Baptist Mission’s Bethesda Outreach International. He describes the South African crisis. “Durban has run out of grace plots. In Kwa Zulu Natal in Zulu land they’re digging graves 24 hours a day. 7,000 moms and dads are dying every day in sub Saharan Africa, which means they’re leaving behind children and that figure stands at about 11 million.” But, the number’s growing. Seefried says Bethesda is creating communities of refuge for these orphans. “We are raising the children Biblically and keeping them from HIV. We’re attempting to raise the next generation of African leaders who will then impact the whole of sub-Saharan Africa for the Lord.”