November 8, 2011

SUKAMAKMUR, Indonesia/GENEVA – A week-long gathering to support Lutheran churches' response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Indonesia began with a call on young people to take a leading role in breaking the prejudice and stigma around HIV and AIDS.

"Like those who carried the crippled man on his mat and broke the roof to reach him to Jesus, you should break the roof of prejudice and stigma in the church to bring solace to the HIV-infected," Bishop Langsung Maruli Sitorus of the Indonesian Christian Church (HKI) told 30 delegates attending the three-day youth consultation at Sukamakmur, 80 kilometers north of Medan.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) HIV and AIDS desk is coordinating the 6-10 November youth and church leadership consultations on the theme, "Embracing Life: Our Common Responsibility," with participants drawn from the 12 LWF member churches in the country. The LWF National Committee in Indonesia is hosting the gatherings, to which participants also from support groups and networks of people living with HIV are invited.

The youth consultation focused on the role of young adults in HIV prevention and explored strategies for action. In his address to the group that also included 12 young pastors, Sitorus, chairperson of the LWF National Committee in Indonesia, reminded the young adults that the parable of the healing of the crippled man (Mark 2:1-12) offers a lesson on the AIDS crisis in Indonesia.

"The goal of the consultations is to create a platform for the churches here to take HIV and AIDS more seriously," said Rev. Dr Veikko Munyika, coordinator of the LWF AIDS desk at the Department for Mission and Development.

The United Nations AIDS agency, UNAIDS, reported in 2010 that the HIV epidemic in Indonesia was among the fastest growing in Asia, with all but one of the country's 33 provinces reporting HIV or AIDS cases. At the end of 2009, it was estimated that there were 333,200 people living with HIV and that the figure could reach half-a-million by 2014 without increased prevention. There was a sharp rise in those with AIDS between 2004 and 2009, when it reached 20,000. The largest increase was among 15-49 year-olds. Sex workers are at greatest risk. National HIV prevalence is estimated at 0.2 percent in the population of more than 241 million people.

The LWF consultations "will empower the churches to redouble their efforts to combat HIV and AIDS in Indonesia," noted Munyika.

The youth and church leadership consultations are a follow-up to the 2003 LWF Asian region meeting on HIV and AIDS, which produced the Batam Declaration, committing the churches to prioritize response to the pandemic.

"We want the churches to formulate a clear policy and take concrete steps to intensify efforts to combat HIV," noted Erlina D. Pardede, AIDS coordinator of the LWF Indonesian committee.

Almost all the Lutheran churches in Indonesia, representing over 5.6 million people, are based in North Sumatra, where Christians account for nearly 50 percent of the province's 15 million people.

Lutheran World Information
Written for LWI by Indian-based correspondent Anto Akkara