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>>I would like to share with you a few insights from the Arab region in the way we see the
response from the heart of God to two global epidemics, the drugs and the *** epidemics.
These two epidemics, we can see few of the characteristics of globalization in them.
One of them is the product-centered lifestyle. *** was invented as a medicine for common
cold in the 19th century under the claims that it is less addictive than morphine. ***
was put in cola drinks up until 1938. The major response to *** which failed largely
in Africa is through products. They bombard people with condoms even though they don’t
use condoms. One expert told me we did everything to make people use condoms in Kenya and they
are not. I told her are they in Kenya eating with forks and knives or using their hands?
She told me they’re using their hands. I told her how do you expect them to use utensils
and equipment in a much intimate activity? And we are in the age of stereotyping. The
age of the mighty media. *** is a weak virus scientifically. I’m a medical doctor. Scientifically
it’s a weak virus. Its strength is what came out of the fear and propaganda coming
out of the media of the early days and the religious media that said it was the wrath
of God and then we’re in the age of the multi-nationals responding in the church and
outside the church to the *** and drugs response.
Now I tell you three stories. This is the tradition of the West and the tradition of
the postmodern era through storytelling, so the first story is when I was a young man
in 1989 and I was sort of a preacher and a psychiatrist, and I was in youth camp in our
church, a very nice youth camp, 250 young men by the beach side and then I was told
five hard core *** addicts came to the camp and I was very upset. Because one of
them could ruin our nice camp, so how about five of them? Then I knew these people, I
have some interaction with them to contain them from ruining the camp and then I was
asked to preach on Jesus can set you free. And I was praying before the sermon and the
Lord asked me, do you believe that I can set these people free and the answer came right
from my heart, no. So it was very difficult. So I had 30 minutes of struggle with the Lord
and then I went in faith yes, Lord, you can.
And after the sermon, 50, 60 people stayed and gave their lives to Jesus, the Liberator,
in tears. Among them was those five *** addicts and up until now 21 years later they
are still free and the big ministry started from there. Right now we have 440 beds, 3,000
addicts freed from drugs and an impact on the whole nation.
Now this is one of the stories that God raised from all over the world. People like me, from
the Ukraine, from Russia, particularly Ukraine and Russia, but also from Latin America, South
Africa, all over the world we came together as Christians and we established what is called
Isaac, the promise of the impossible becoming possible. The International Substance Abuse
and Addiction Coalition, as a response to this. Also we have 550 members in 77 countries.
I’ll talk more about that in the dialogue session after this session. However, there
is ACIT - AIDS Care and Education and Training. Two dialogue sessions are running in this.
These are major global presence of Jesus in response to these epidemics.
40 to 60% of the *** services in the world are given through Christians. However, during
my work the UNDP wanted to some help in mobilizing religious leaders to produce anti-stigma messages
and raise the dignity of people living with *** among religious leaders so they summoned
me up. Long story short, I became more and more involved with them.
One of the stories I want to tell you is about an iman from Yemen who was very astonished
that the facilitator is an evangelical Christian. It was the first time in his life to meet
such a creature, but he made friends with me and he made friends with other Christian
leaders, and he was deeply touched and got very compassionate about people living with
***, and in one of the sessions we brought in drug users and they started to give their
testimonies, former drug users. And then two or three came up and said we were in prison,
this is what happens there, we need protection, we need dignity and such and such. And then
one of the consultants, a human rights expert and an eminent lawyer, came to the platform
and he was one of the facilitators of the sessions and said, I was a drug user myself.
I got changed. I got transformed by the power of God and I became now a consultant with
you and myself. This started to change the way people looked at human beings even drug
users who are hopeless. And this iman, [gives his name] he is a good friend of mine, became
the iman who defend people living with ***, and he had in another session we had legislators.
So this is the way multi-nationals can work for Christian values and transforming the
nations. We had legislators and I was facilitating and the one parliamentarian from Yemen told
me Doctor, what you’re saying is good and nice and we want to protect people living
with *** from discrimination and all what you say but religious leaders will tear us
apart. So I gave him, Sheikh El Jabri immediately on my mobile. Sheikh El Jabri told him they
are good people. And a law was produced in Yemen to protect the rights of people living
with ***, which is human rights respecting in one of the most underdeveloped countries
in the world.
In another session, I was facilitating a session again very amazingly a Christian evangelical
facilitating a session for imams in North Africa. All of them were imams from Morocco,
Tunis, Algeria and Libya. And then the first lady, there were people living with ***. The
first man said, I used drugs in Libya and I got infected. The lady said my husband died,
they told me he died of AIDS, do the test, I did the test, I found out to be positive.
The third one told them I was 20 years old, my husband died, left me three children. I
was in a remote village in Morocco. Nobody helped me. My children were hungry. I sold
my body. I became a sex worker and got infected by *** and now I’m in my later stages of
*** and I’m seeking the forgiveness of God and I seek your own forgiveness because you
are my religious leaders.
Now I was facilitating this session. The day before, the imams were preaching about the
wrath of God on unrighteousness and that AIDS is the punishment of God, and two of the preachers
of wrath of God asked to speak, so I gave the word to the first one and praying in my
heart Lord, help me. So the man stood up and he said dear lady, I want you to forgive us
for letting society do this to you. The other man, a big man with a big beard, fervent preacher
of the wrath of God stood up and asked for the word, I gave it to him. He said nothing.
He choked with tears and sat down. From that day on, a compassionate wave came on the religious
leaders, the imams of Morocco. They were all trained and UNAIDS, another global body, reports
that two measured breakthroughs in the Arab region of the *** response took place in Morocco
and Yemen specifically.
Now what I want to say, this is my moment of glory in the League of Arab States and
this is the religious leaders we have trained. Jesus spent time with lepers, sinners, tax
collectors and prostitutes. We should spend more time, as church, with people living with
***, drug users and sex workers particularly in this age of globalization. I finish up
with one story.
One of my colleagues, another media consultant and she is a devout Muslim. She told me actually
in the funeral of her son who died tragically, she told me I dreamt of you so I told her
what did you see in the dream? She said I was in Mecca and I dreamt of you coming along
and you brought with you Jesus and his 12 disciples. And I asked you in the dream, how
do you bring these people in to this place? And you told me in the dream, I will not respond
– she saw that– you told me in the dream this is who we are evangelicals, we speak
reasonably but we change lives. And as a psychiatrist I can analyze this dream about the collective
archetypes and subconscious and I can give you an article but in the age of globalization,
this in the Arab region this is what I think we evangelicals can do.
Speak reasonably, speak with an understandable language in the world of globalization and
two, bring in the transforming presence of Jesus and the transforming presence of the
community of the sacred, of the holy communion, bring in the transforming presence of the
real church as seen in the last supper. Thank you very much.