The Child In The Midst Affected By Loss and Death

Approximately 33 million people were living with HIV in 2008; 2.1 million of
them were estimated to be children under 15 years of age.
• Around 17.5 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Millions more have been affected, with a vastly increased risk of poverty, homelessness, school dropout, discrimination and loss of life opportunities. These hardships include illness and death
• Of the estimated 2 million people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2008, 280,000 of them were children under 15 years old

Ecclesiastes 3
‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to …’
(Read and pray as led by the rest of this passage.)

Pray for -
• More local church families to be open to welcoming HIV/AIDS orphans into their homes or supporting them
• The children who end up being the head of a family, that they would have support, training and encouragement
• The ministries and initiatives who are working to educate people about issues relating to HIV/AIDS
• More governments to follow Uganda’s example by supporting services to give all pregnant women very effective antiretroviral therapy in a bid to stop children from becoming infected
• The strengthening of marriages and family relationships, which encourages commitment to one sexual partner for life thus preventing the spread of HIV.
• Children in other situations where they suffer loss. (War, disease, natural disaster…)