My name is Rachel Deal and I am a full-time missionary in Iquitos, Peru. My team works with over 100 poverty-stricken children. One year ago (February of 2013), the 20 youth in my children's ministry did not know how HIV was contracted or how to respond to people who had it. Then Duane Crumb of HIVHope International came for a week and taught them ("us" really, as we adults learned just as much as the kids). It was a challenge for him to explain tough topics to young teenagers who struggle to read and write. But he did it--they got it! And at the end of the week, each participant presented a project they had created during the week, something they could use to teach people about HIV.. At the beginning of the week, this seemed impossible.
Since then, we have taken the message to several locations in our area of Peru, teaching other youth via those projects. One kid explained the scientific process, in scientific jargon and an intricate poster he created of the disease and the benefit of medicine. Another rapped how we are to love all God's children and can reach out and--physically--touch people with HIV. Another taught (in lay terms) how HIV is contracted and the medical process after that. A few united to share effective dramas they wrote, including one of a wedding with 2 people at the altar. One was a virgin and stood alone. The other was not and had a long line of people behind her reaching down the aisle of the tiny church. The lesson was that when someone marries a person who has slept with one or two other people previously and those people have done the same, and those people the same...the odds are great that an STD or HIV will be passed to them--it was a startling and effective drama.
The project that touched me the most was a poster of a protective layer around a mother's womb--while nutrition can get into the baby through the protective layer, it keeps out diseases such as HIV. So if the mom were to get tested (and all moms should before giving birth) and she were HIV+, she could have a baby that is not infected--what a beautiful demonstration of God's detailed love for His children!
We are grateful for Duane for making an impact on our lives, and hope you will invite him to teach your people including youth and young adults. While his seminar is designed to help people become effective teachers who would then teach youth--it's a message everyone, young and old, needs to hear and take to heart.
Rachel Deal
Planting Seeds of Love
Iquitos, Peru
Since then, we have taken the message to several locations in our area of Peru, teaching other youth via those projects. One kid explained the scientific process, in scientific jargon and an intricate poster he created of the disease and the benefit of medicine. Another rapped how we are to love all God's children and can reach out and--physically--touch people with HIV. Another taught (in lay terms) how HIV is contracted and the medical process after that. A few united to share effective dramas they wrote, including one of a wedding with 2 people at the altar. One was a virgin and stood alone. The other was not and had a long line of people behind her reaching down the aisle of the tiny church. The lesson was that when someone marries a person who has slept with one or two other people previously and those people have done the same, and those people the same...the odds are great that an STD or HIV will be passed to them--it was a startling and effective drama.
The project that touched me the most was a poster of a protective layer around a mother's womb--while nutrition can get into the baby through the protective layer, it keeps out diseases such as HIV. So if the mom were to get tested (and all moms should before giving birth) and she were HIV+, she could have a baby that is not infected--what a beautiful demonstration of God's detailed love for His children!
We are grateful for Duane for making an impact on our lives, and hope you will invite him to teach your people including youth and young adults. While his seminar is designed to help people become effective teachers who would then teach youth--it's a message everyone, young and old, needs to hear and take to heart.
Rachel Deal
Planting Seeds of Love
Iquitos, Peru
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