Help From Around the World Continued
National Evangelical Leaders / Princess Kasune Zulu
National Evangelical Leaders:
On June 11, 2003: “Challenged to be good Samaritans on the Jericho road of AIDS, 100 evangelical leaders from across the country signed a statement of conscience on the global AIDS crisis and answered the call to take action against this deadly disease (World Vision, Michael Camp).
From across the U.S., about 240 organizational leaders and churches were represented at the event. In addition, governments and health representatives were there to propose solutions for the issue of AIDS. Especially in focus was the country of Africa.
Leading the way was Richard Stearns. The reason why he became so active on the AIDS issue is because he experienced the look of it during the year of 1999 in Uganda. He saw that education was not given to every child; he also saw that there were no parents around to teach them. The main reason was also because he saw that the issue of AIDS was much hidden in churches; nobody talked about the disease.
Besides Stearns, other leaders from churches also took some roles in strictly discussing how churches across the U.S should take leadership in defeating the deadly disease.
Although many pastors were at the event, including some from Africa, the discussion wasn’t just a talk. It was hoped that each one of those pastors would go back to their church and share the knowledge and to reach forward. Not just the pastors need to be involved; the whole point was to teach them how to get others involved also.
When it was almost the end of the session, Pastor Rick Warren concluded the audience with a stunning statement. He said “God is obviously in this. If God has given us this Goliath, there must be some David’s out there to take it down (Camp).
On May 6, 2003, a special guest arrived in Seattle at the University of Washington lecture hall. It was the day that Princess Zulu touched the heart of 100 students. Every student who entered the room that day had the phrase, “Hope in the Midst of AIDS,” on their minds.
University of Washington was just among the few places Princess Zulu visited.
She is an important speaker for World Vision and Intervarsity Christian
Fellowship to come to the Puget Sound area to promote attention about
AIDS.
Zulu is only 27 years old now, which makes her even better to talk to students because there is not such a big gap between them. She feels this is a blessing to be able to talk to people about the issue and not be ashamed about it. The reason why she is so passionate about teaching others is because in the year of 1997, Zulu and her husband were tested positive for HIV. But what made it even more heart-felt for her is that both of her children are HIV negative. One of the main focuses she is guiding people through is telling people that AIDS is not just a concern to African people, but a concern to all people around the world.
Princess Zulu’s
main goal is to teach more people to come out and face HIV.
“If all of us come together, all of us in this room, we have the
potential to do something, to leave a legacy.” Said Zulu (Lythe).