Brazilian Mennonite pastor takes AIDS information to churches
Tim Shenk Pastor Cristiano Maximiano de Oliveira is helping churches welcome those with AIDS by spreading information about the disease. De Oliveira, a pastor at Lagoa Encantada Igreja Menonita Evangelica, one of Recife's two Mennonite churches, says that too often those with AIDS are ostracized by their churches. "What happens is a lot of times when someone goes to their pastor and says they have AIDS, the pastor announces it in church," he says. De Oliveira frequently gives detailed talks on AIDS prevention at churches and schools in his section of Recife. It is important, he says, that people with AIDS not be feared or condemned. "You can't get it from using the same toothbrush, you can't get it from somebody's sweat, from drinking after them or from a hug," he says. De Oliveira took a year-long class on AIDS for pastors at Associaçao de Ação Solidaria (ASAS), an organization supported by MCC. He says it is a big challenge to get churches to discuss AIDS, but some now are. For those having unprotected sex, "we try to alert them to the risks they're taking and get them to take care of themselves," he says. In August 2003, De Oliveira attended Mennonite World Conference in Zimbabwe, participated in an AIDS forum and spoke about AIDS in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. MCC sponsored his trip. "I took advantage of the opportunity to talk about how the church needs to take initiative and talk about this subject," De Oliveira says. He asks those who listen to his detailed talks on AIDS to pass on correct information as a way of expressing love and care for those with the disease. "The church should be the place that loves and accepts people as they are," De Oliveira adds. "And I think when the church doesn't do this, then God raises up people in other places to love those that need to be loved, when the church isn't doing its job."
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