Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

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Tsunami!

Since the 26 December 2004, the world has been confronted by the reality of a rare, yet earth-shattering threat. I must confess that I was largely ignorant about tsunamis. I would probably have been one who walked out to inspect the ocean bed oblivious to the cause of the phenomenon.

There is no doubt that the tsunami has left us with the huge challenge of deciding how to respond to the victims and for how long? Such events also pose serious theological challenges with which we must grapple. David Batstone of Sojourners offers an insightful article outlining the two very different theologies that undergird the distinct approaches to Christian humanitarian assistance. More information...

<typohead type="4">Being partners that count</typohead>

Confronted by the devastation of the Indian coastline, our partners, The Church of North India (CNI) sprang into action with impressive speed. No more so than in response to the almost complete devastation of the Andaman & Bar Nicobar islands which are part of India despite being geographically closer to Thailand. Such remote communities of indigenous people are mostly ignored (or is it forgotten?) by the world. But suddenly they were centre stage and our partner church was there. I wondered how quickly the Presbyterian Church of Aoteraroa New Zealand would be able to respond if the tsunami had hit the Cook Islands or Niue? Thankfully as I write, Cyclone Meena has mercifully bypassed most of the Cook Islands. But on Bar Nicobar, much like Nuie a year ago, the devastation was total. Nothing was left standing. Twenty-thousand of the 38,000 inhabitants were lost to the sea. Interestingly, 90 percent of the population are professing Christians and members of CNI. You can read their story by visiting their special Tsunami website: http://www.cnitsunamirelief.org/

<typohead type="4">Away from the spotlight</typohead>

The challenge for us is not limited to the survivors of the tsunami. Increasingly the people suffering hardship around the world began to raise their voices, saying “don’t forget about us”. Our Zambian friends were quick to ask that they not be forgotten. People working in Darfur asked why the 200,000 deaths there had not generated the same humanitarian response as pictures of Phuket under water? Sudan’s “tsunami” has driven 1.5 million people from their homes. Quoted on the Christian World Service ( www.cws.org.nz ) website, worker Anna Hoth describes it as being “like September 11 everyday”. My 11 year-old daughter Casey asked during January if the war in Iraq was over because “you never see it on TV anymore”. Such questions strike at the very heart of our Christian life, witness and commitment. If it is not on the 6pm news, do we even think about it at all?

Theologically speaking

Speaking at the World Council of Churches’ World Forum for Theology and Liberation during January in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff asked this question: “Is it possible to live calmly and happily when you know that two-thirds of human beings are suffering, hungry and poor?” He went on to argue that “e very kind of repression, every cry of the poor, of the oppressed, of the marginalised anywhere in the world is an appeal to theology”. Of course this presupposes that the cries are heard at all.

An even bigger catastrophe

The Boxing Day tsunami has also provided a scale against which to measure the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A cataclysmic event that occurs in a matter of hours is clearly more shocking and easier to televise around the world. The latest edition of CWM’s Inside Out magazine is devoted to the challenge of HIV/AIDS. Extra copies are available at the HIV/AIDS section of our website:http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/1216.0.html. It offers numerous links to many informative sites. In every part of the world, when HIV/AIDS hits, the churches are being asked to lead the community response. Take this quick test to see if you are ready:

<typolist type="1">

What does HIV stand for?

What does AIDS stand for?

When does HIV become AIDS?

</typolist>

If you don’t know the answers to those, you aren’t ready. Simply put, the number of deaths caused by the tsunami amount to less than 10 percent of the total number of deaths caused by HIV/AIDS in 2004. While we can only applaud the lightening response of CNI to the tsunami’s victims, by contrast churches in Africa feel as if they have lost the battle against HIV/AIDS. General secretary of the All Africa Council of Churches, the Rev Mvume Dandala was recently quoted as saying that churches “don't seem to be winning the war on AIDS” . Privately funded research suggests that over five million South Africans are now infected, which equates to more than 11 percent of the population. Communities are characterised by grandparents caring for grandchildren, with the middle generation largely missing. Despite the huge numbers and public awareness campaigns, the stigma associated with being infected is still so great that people usually travel to the hospital at night, if at all. Dubbed the “midnight people”, they are often given paupers’ funerals because families refuse to retrieve their bodies out of fear of infection and community backlash.

<typohead type="4">HIV/AIDS hits the Pacific</typohead>

With the first death in the Solomon Islands due to HIV/AIDS recorded (or should that read “admitted to”) during 2004, the general impression is that HIV/AIDS is only just reaching the Pacific countries. However, neighbouring Papua New Guinea recorded their first case in 1987, not long after the first case reported in Africa. Just like a tsunami, for the initial period HIV/AIDS travels unnoticed but once it hits the shores, communities end up looking like war zones. By 2004, official PNG figures estimated that there were 10,000 to 15,000 confirmed cases, with 150 new cases reported each month. At times the number of known cases was increasing by 50 percent per annum! HIV/AIDS has arrived – ready or not.

We have a Pacific warning system that (hopefully) will warn us if a real tsunami is on its way. The devastation in Africa and Asia should be sufficient warning for us that HIV/AIDS will be catastrophic. The choice is ours as to whether we sound the warning or wander down to the beach to inspect the ocean bed.

If you would like to register your interest in the formation of a national AIDS Task Team, please contact the Global Mission Office.