AIDS Day service focuses on sense of community w/ link to World Aids Day Web site

By Debbie Robinson

news@joplinglobe.com

The Rev. Steve Urie made a plea Saturday for area residents to think community.

“Take attention off yourself and inspire others in your community to do the same,” said the pastor of Spirit of Christ Metropolitan Community Church in Joplin during an observance of World AIDS Day.

The special service was staged to encourage communities to remember the lives of people who have died of AIDS and to act with kindness and compassion toward people living with the disease.

“We are not caring for our community, and it’s time to do so,” Urie said as the AIDS Project of the Ozarks sponsored two benefits to raise money and items for area people living with the disease.

About two dozen people attended the church service and heard Biblical readings, music and participated in communion.

Urie urged people to volunteer their time and to support people who are living with the HIV virus.

Worldwide, more than 39 million adults are living with the virus, he said, and 2.9 million people will die.

This year, new cases are estimated at 4.3 million, including 2.3 million children, Urie said.

Local health officials currently are working on the 2007 statistics for Southwest Missouri, which are expected to be higher than last year, he said.

Statistics in 2005 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show in the United States half of the AIDS cases were among blacks. For black women, AIDS is the leading cause of death.

“There is no condemnation needed when someone is suffering from an illness,” he said. “You can give those with AIDS care, comfort, compassion, honesty, hope, humor, respect and understanding.”

Urie also stressed the importance of prevention and the role churches collectively can play in educating the community about AIDS.

“If it’s not a church issue, then whose issue is it?” Urie said. “It’s not a punishment. It’s an illness.”