(Photo courtesy of OneHope)
Sub-Saharan Africa (MNN) ― Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world, and the situation is not improving. Rob Hoskins with OneHope says a better solution is needed.
"I think a lot of it is due to failed policies, where we're not taking into account what really needs to happen, which is prevention, and prevention at a younger and younger age," Hoskins explained.
OneHope runs programs for children in public schools, teaching them a biblical approach to sexuality. Hoskins said that attempts to alleviate the HIV/AIDS epidemic must address the "systemic" problem of the culture's attitudes about sexuality. OneHope is trying to prevent the spread of the epidemic by adjusting kids' attitudes while they are still young.
"We want young girls to understand who they are in God, that He's created them, that they're special, and that He's given them a gift, which is their sexuality," Hoskins explained. "The same thing goes for young boys -- we want to really teach them a biblical worldview. We want them to respect all people, including young girls, and understand that they don't get their significance from sexuality, but rather God designed them to use sex in a proper way for marriage."
African women tend to view their sexuality as their only resource and their "only weapon" in society, Hoskins said. Recently, he met a 13-year-old girl in Swaziland who has a difficult decision to make.
"Do I sleep with the bus driver once a month, or do I walk 6 kilometers to school every day?" Hoskins explained. "Everything in the culture says, 'Sleep with the bus driver, it's the only thing you have to barter.' And if you have an education, then you can help your family out of economic difficulty."
Hoskins continued, "Obviously that's a lie of the enemy, and it most probably condemns that girl to death. And this vicious cycle continues."
Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world, and the life expectancy of its population is only 32 years. The United Nations has warned that it could become the first nation in the world to go extinct, if nothing changes in the next 21 years.
Nevertheless, Hoskins said there is hope for the children of Swaziland.
"OneHope is active in the schools of Swaziland and many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We hope to take the Word of God and implement new values into that young girl's heart, working with the church to give her an alternative so that she doesn't have to face this existence of death."
It costs only 33 cents to bring the message of the Gospel to one child, providing teacher training, Scripture materials, and a school program.
Hoskins asks Christians to pray for the children of sub-Saharan Africa. "We need a massive prayer emphasis for the children and young people of southern Africa, so that God would really encounter them, and that they'd view the world a different way," he said. "One of these three things is possible to everybody: pray, give, and go."
