Resources for World AIDS Day

Worship Resources for World Aids Day (December 1)
December 1 is the date set aside for United Methodist World AIDS Day observances. Be encouraged to pray for those infected with HIV/AIDS throughout the Advent season and throughout the year.

Hymns for World Aids Day, December 1
Here are two hymns of hope for those with AIDS/HIV and those who minister to them: "We Live in Hope" by F. Richard Garland (Tune: FINLANDIA) and "We Gather Here in Faith and Hope" by Richard Turner (Tune: RESIGNATION -- The Faith We Sing, 2182)

Pray With Us
We invite you to join us in prayer in the coming week as we observe World AIDS Day (December 1). Forty million people worldwide struggle with this illness. 2.3 million of them are children. Join us as we pray for God's comfort, courage, and wisdom in fighting this human tragedy. Learn about Prayers for Encouragement, a global resource helping those with HIV & AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

Sample World Aids Awareness Celebration Service
Adapted from Who Will Break The Silence, Liturgical Resources for The Healing of AIDS. Used with permission from The Balm In Gilead™ (www.balmingilead.org)

Spread Hope Around the World
Your purchase of Prayers for Encouragement: Hope for Persons Living with HIV and AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, and Other Serious Diseases supports the free translation and distribution of this booklet around the world. Current translations include Kiswahili, Portuguese, French, Xhosa, Korean, Japanese, and Spanish.

Hear Don Messer's sermon on AIDS Awareness
Listen to the sermon The Rev. Donald E. Messer preached for the World Aids Awareness Celebration Service held in The Upper Room Chapel in Nashville, TN on November 28, 2007. (Note: The sermon is preceded by the Scripture Reading).

Battered Copies of Upper Room Inspires New Spirituality Resource for Persons Struggling with AIDS
When Don Messer discovered copies of The Upper Room daily devotional guide in the waiting room of Maua Methodist Hospital (MMH) in Kenya, he was led by God to contact Upper Room Ministries about publishing a special collection of prayers for persons suffering with HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

Prayers for Encouragement Video
A "YouTube" video About Upper Room's Pocket Prayers booklet called Prayers for Encouragement -- Hope for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and other Serious Diseases

The Little Girl Whose Name is Enough
A "YouTube" video about a South African AIDS orphan.

World AIDS Day 2008 -- Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise (UMCOR Resources)
The worldwide statistics surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic has not changed for the better since last year. About 40 million people worldwide are HIV/AIDS infected, 4.3 million become newly infected each year and 25 million people have died of HIV/AIDS since 1981. As the battle against HIV/AIDS continues into another year, United Methodists are encouraged to press forward and stop the spread of this deadly disease by creating awareness. Observing World AIDS Day on or near Dec. 1 is one way you can help.

HIV/AIDS Resources from the General Board of Church and Society
We know the denomination is actively addressing this crisis; however, the reality is that we CAN and MUST DO BETTER! -- Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society

UNAIDS (United Nations AIDS web site)
UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations to the global AIDS response.