There goes my coffee money
by Peter Irish
So,
am I going to support Bishop Claude Miller in his walk for AIDS? You're
right I am! I even plan to do some walking myself (God knows
I need to with the weight I put on over the winter). My wife Eileen
is my only sponsor so far. She is going to collect loonies
and toonies. I usually keep loose change in my truck to have handy when
I stop for a coffee –– I expect it will be hit pretty hard
once she gets going.
We tithe to our church, made a commitment to "Building Faith for A Lifetime" (the fund to refurbish our diocesan youth camps) and pledged support to the building fund at the Parish of the Nerepis and St. John. I honestly thought I was pledged out, until Bishop Miller decided to walk for AIDS.
At General Synod in 2004, we were blessed by an address by Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Special Envoy. He spoke passionately about the devastating AIDS epidemic in Africa, told stories of elderly grandmothers trying to look after all their children's children because so many young parents and even older siblings have died from the disease. When a grandmother in that position dies, it often leaves a 10 or 12-year-old to raise the youngest children. It's unimaginable, unthinkable, and there wasn't a dry eye in the auditorium when Stephen finished. Drug patents and the lack of resources to attack the problem of AIDS in Africa makes this a pandemic of monumental proportions.
I thank God that I live in a country of freedom, and of free health care. I thank God that my grandchildren will be able to go to church and learn about Jesus, enjoy the beautiful province they live in, smell fresh air, eat healthy food, and have fun at Camp Medley or Camp Brookwood. I thank God my grandchildren will have an opportunity to live and develop into wonderful young adults, just like the many young adults I have met who have already attended these great youth camps.
In walking for AIDS in thanksgiving for the 60 years of ministry of our youth camps, Bishop Miller reminds us that we are called to look beyond ourselves and share with children everywhere. God needs our help to take the good news in Jesus Christ to the world. Will my walk or the Bishop's walk save everyone with AIDS? Absolutely not. But perhaps somewhere in Africa a little girl the same age as my precious little grandaughter Katie, is dying of AIDS. I want her to get some help. Ideally I would like to see her healed, but if all we can do is make her life more comfortable for a little while, well, I think that might be a beginning. It certainly is enough to make me want to walk with a grateful heart for all that we have. God will bless that child and many others, and then you and I will be blessed for at least trying.
I won't miss that coffee money a bit.
Peter Irish is chair of Building Faith for a Lifetime, the committee raising funds to refurbish the diocesan youth camps of Medley and Brookwood.
02 May 2006
