We thank God and you, our supporters, that we hit our target of £16,000 and 16,000 lives which can be changed. But money continues to come in and we have now received over £22,000. The need still exists and so we have left the project open

You can help directly by sending a donation to AMEN, 79 North Road, Dartford, DA1 3ND. (Cheques payable to AMEN). You can download a form by clicking here - please write HIV AIDs kit on the form and consider if you can Gift Aid the donation.

Alternatively you can give online by going to the bottom of this page

Fighting AIDS in Africa with Grace & Light

The scourge of HIV/AIDS continues to ravage Africa. Some 24 million people across the continent are living with HIV/AIDS* This compares with some 73,000 in the UK**

Christians are by no means immune from HIV. There is even a grouping of church leaders in Africa, who themselves live with the disease.

One Christian organisation with a novel approach which is making inroads into Africa’s AIDS pandemic is Grace and Light.  Founded in 2003 by a British couple,  the charity is now run entirely by Africans and based in Nigeria.

The stigma .... the solution

Stigma has always been a huge issue with HIV.  All over the world, to have HIV/AIDS is to invite judgement and criticism.  So people keep their HIV status a secret, and live in silent submission to this devastating illness.

The approach at Grace and Light is to be completely open about your HIV status.  Workers gain the agreement of a church to bring Biblical teaching about their work, then all who agree are offered an AIDS test.  They can then choose for the result to be made known in the church, and a system of  support and accountability put in place.  Necessary drugs are also provided to those in need of them.

Tassie Ghata runs the Grace and Light Project.  She says “The best part of our work is sitting down with people every Sunday in counselling, to share their lives and see them turn around with excitement for God, as a result of a test carried out, or because one has shared the true meaning of life in Christ.”

Transforming whole communities

Grace and Light is supported in the UK by the charity AMEN, founded by Gareth Bolton.  Gareth says, “I am impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of Tassie and her team.  Their work is having a major impact on many thousands of lives. It transforms not just individual lives, but whole communities as well.!”

George Verwer - founder of OM says, "This is a unique, church-based, cutting edge, HIV/AIDS ministry; with its emphasis on personal revival, Biblical reality and accountability, it deserves maximum support. I wholeheartedly commend it to you"

£1 can dramatically change a life

AMEN trustees felt that God was calling them to raise at least £16,000 by the end of June 2008, to change people’s lives in Nigeria and beyond.  And God has honoured that. But people continued to give and so we have left this project open.

Grace and Light is a unique, African solution to a devastating problem in Africa. The Christian, holistic nature of the work has already helped thousands.  Because of its Christian ethos, Grace and Light receives no state funding for its work.  Please support Tassie and her colleagues as they help tackle AIDS in Africa. AIDS testing kits cost £1 each.

Patrick Woodward

Sources *BBC

**www.avert.org

You can give online here

AMEN accepts on-line payments using the following Cards