6,000 Reasons: World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. This year the United Nations theme is Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise. Allow me to share 6,000 reasons why you should care.

6,000 reasons . . . and each has a name
6,000 reasons . . . and each has a face
6,000 reasons . . . and each has a story

Today, like every day, 6,000 children will lose a parent to AIDS.
Today, like every day, we have 6,000 reasons to care.
Today, like every day, we have 6,000 reasons to offer HOPE .

Thousands of children will lose a parent today because of AIDS. UNICEF estimates that 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS every day. Each child has a name — and a heart-breaking story.

On this World AIDS let me suggest six things you can do to bring real help and hope to people in our world living with the reality of HIV and AIDS.

1) Take an AIDS Test: How much do you really know about AIDS? One of the reasons AIDS continues to be such a global concern is that the disease is surrounded by myth and misinformation. World Vision has a simple online test that will quickly reveal your knowledge base. And the good news: no blood is required.

2) Learn and Listen: Read a book on the reality of this global pandemic.

The Skeptics Guide to the World AIDS Crisis (Dale Hanson)
The Hope Factor (Tetsunao Yamamori)
There Is No Me without You (Melissa Greene)
28: Stories of AIDS in Africa (Stephanie Nolan)

Listen to this message of compassion and hope by Princess Zulu, an international spokesperson on AIDS and HIDS. Princess knows first-hand the reality of HIV and AIDS as she has lost both of her parents to AIDS and is living HIV+.

3) Get RED: During the season of gift giving, buy (Red) and give life. There are hundreds of products that you can purchase and also provide support for the elimination of AIDS in Africa. Today PRODUCT Red has launched RED WIRE, a weekly digital music magazine where you can receive exclusive music from the world's greatest artists, and people living with HIV in Africa will get the medicine they need to stay alive.

4) Advocate: Contact your members of Congress and urge them to continue exercising leadership on this critical issue. With great power comes great responsibility.

5) Fast: Poverty is one of the leading causes of AIDS. The Micah Challenge is inviting people to ACT FAST for seven weeks to end extreme poverty in our world.

6) Pray: Ask God to show you what you can do TODAY to bring real help and hope to people living with HIV and AIDS, both near and far and everywhere in-between. May God give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that will respond in faith, hope and love.

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