Today is World AIDS Day.
It’s a day that raises awareness of the continued fight against HIV/AIDS throughout the world. Right now there are 33.4 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS. 2.1 million of those are children under 15. In 2008 alone, 443,000 children under 15 contracted the disease.
World Help has been on the front lines of combating the devastation left by HIV/AIDS for those in developing countries.
In 2007 I knew that World Help couldn’t turn a blind eye to the millions of children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. At that time, a child was being orphaned by the disease every 14 seconds in Africa. 
I knew we had to tell the story of so many children that had no voice. I wrote a book with my daughter Noel entitled, Children of Hope. We detailed the HIV/AIDS crisis and told the stories of individual children who had lost everything. We gave Children of Hope away for free so that as many people as possible could read it. So far 75,000 books have been distributed. Thousands have shared in these children’s ultimate struggle.
We also began developing Homes of Hope and Villages of Hope. These are communities where HIV/AIDS orphaned children can live and receive medicine, schooling, food, and water. Through these 52 homes and our other children’s homes we have been able to reach out to 7,281 children directly affected by HIV/AIDS. Each one of these lives is precious and is an example of what compassion can accomplish.
For 2007 and 2008 the Children of the World, our international children's choir, focused on HIV/AIDS. Many of the children on the choir had personally lost their families due to the disease. They toured the country and performed in front of over 1 million people! They shared their experiences and what ordinary people can do to get involved. A million people were impacted and personally challenged to join the cause and we were able to raise nearly 5 million dollars for children who have been victimized by HIV/AIDS.
It can be easy to dismiss HIV/AIDS as a homosexual disease or one that only affects the immoral. But I can tell you that millions of innocent babies and children have died and are dying in Africa. Just as Jesus reached out and healed the lepers of his time, we should also reach out to those who are often the outcasts of our time.
On this day I hope that you will think about this crisis in light of the millions of suffering children. We don’t have to stand on the sidelines wishing we could help . . . only wanting to make a difference. There are such simple ways to get involved, reach out, and impact a God-given life.
The only question is if you will.