Analysis of Week 5 Links

Hideyo and I spoke about how to get churches mobilized in fighting HIV/AIDS. I was especially inspired by the stories of the conservative campus group working with the atheist and gay and lesbian groups to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. We wondered how churches could do something similar with HIV/AIDS. That is, how can we work with other groups whose philosophies and theologies are different than ours to fight HIV/AIDS and be the city on the hill Jesus calls us to be? So many churches are worried that if we reach out together, we must approve of everything others do. But that is not the case of Jesus in the Gospels, and as I learned in my pastoral counseling class, acceptance does not mean approval. Anyway, Hideyo believed that our Wiki would need some theological and biblical materials to support HIV/AIDS outreach. I found this page, which is a study on the concept of hospitality in the Bible and how it relates to the current HIV/AIDS crisis. Nancy A. Carter writes,

Hospitality and justice are...linked in the Bible. When some individuals or groups lack these necessities, justice is not fully present in society.

To address lack of justice in biblical times, Israel created laws to help strangers, widows, and orphans, some of the most vulnerable people in society-- people whom Jesus would have called "the least of these." For example, Exodus records this command: "You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry" (22:21-23)....

For Jesus, hospitality meant not only welcoming strangers, but also doing justice.

The study is primarily focused on reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS in our local communities. Many of us Christians in the US agree that there is a heartbreaking crisis on other continents, but we are hesitant to reach out to those living with HIV/AIDS in our neighborhoods. And while I appreciate the transition of groups from primarily didactic teaching to practices, in order to make that change, some communities will need the didactic information before even considering a transformation. This exegesis of hospitality also reminded me of the discussion of different churches in the US who consider hospitality one of the main ministries of their congregations. Certainly Carter's study would resonate with those communities.

Secondly, I focused much of my attention this week on microfinance. According to FINCA International, microfinance involves offering "loans, not grants, to low-income microentrepreneurs, because at the root of their poverty is lack of opportunity, not lack of desire to work." Wikipedia's definition of microfinance (of which microloans are a part) says, "Microcredit is the extension of very small loans to unemployed, poor entrepreneurs and others living in poverty who are not bankable. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimum qualifications to gain access to traditional credit."

The UNAIDS background paper, "The Role of Microfinance in the Fight Against AIDS (.pdf)," offers a larger discussion of how microfinance can help combat AIDS. It says that the majority of the work occurs before HIV enters into the family by helping families save money so that if the disease does come, they have capital to help take care of themselves. Also, and perhaps this is more important in terms of justice, microfinance has been directed mostly at women. If women can establish sustainable work for themselves and their faimlies via microfinance, they may not have to resort to high-risk behaviors such as prostitution for economic necessity. (1) The article lists other ways that microfinance helps, as does the article, "Microcredit Helps Ease the Burden of AIDS in Africa." Let us not look at microfinance as a savior, but as a necessary part of the solution. The International Labour Organization just released a report entitled, "Microfinance - Not a Gold Mine, but Saving Livelihoods." The following quote comes from that report:

The research team found that many MFIs are technically efficient, but fail to be fully financially self-sufficient due to adverse local market conditions, like low population densities, insufficient diversification of economic activities and limited acceptance of certain cost-reducing techniques such as group lending. Yet, these MFIs generate substantial social benefits by stabilising livelihoods and incomes, helping the working poor to protect themselves against risks and empowering women.

It would behove us as we develop our resources for churches to look into these microfinance organizations. They seem to be a great developmental tool so that we help people create just and sustainable economic systems, rather than focusing on immediate (and necessary) relief.