Blog Contributor:
Justin Fung
Nov 22nd, 2011 11:07 AM UTC
By Justin Fung
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In just a couple of days, we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving, and churches and other faith communities will be participating in ONE Sabbath Thanksgiving — a campaign to raise awareness about the ongoing situation in the Horn of Africa. More than 200 people of faith and faith communities from across the world have signed up to do their part to combat the devastating drought and care for our brothers and sisters in Africa. Some of you may be sharing video clips showing the living proof of the effectiveness of agricultural development and investment. Others might be speaking from the pulpit on the responsibility to be thankful for what we have but act on behalf of those who don’t.
If you’re interested, it’s not too late to join in. Head over to one.org/faith to sign up and download the resources; and to request postcards for our advocacy petition drive, email faith@one.org.
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May 5th, 2011 12:41 PM UTC
By Justin Fung
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Earlier this week, I asked a question to those of you who are engaged with Faith at ONE on Facebook and Twitter: “How does your faith impact/influence your involvement with ONE?”
Here are some of the answers I got:
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Apr 25th, 2011 1:22 PM UTC
By Justin Fung
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Stories continue to roll in from churches that got involved on Lazarus Sunday, almost two weeks ago. To recap: almost 1,800 faith communities across the United States and around the world signed up for more information on how to raise awareness about AIDS in Africa.
Here’s a snapshot of the latest:
“The Lazarus Effect” was shown in its entirety to small groups, Sunday school classes, and whole congregations at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church (Derwood, MD) and Zion United Church of Christ (Henderson, KY).
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Apr 18th, 2011 3:30 PM UTC
By Justin Fung
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Wow! What a Lazarus Sunday weekend! After months and months of preparation, getting the word out and mobilizing churches to lift their voices, we’re reflecting back on a tremendous campaign.
Nearly 1800 churches across the country signed up to celebrate Lazarus Sunday with ONE, raising awareness about the issue of AIDS in Africa and seeking to engage people in the fight against the pandemic.
Everyone from Evangelicals, Catholics, Mainline Protestants, campus ministries, youth groups and small groups participated in a number of different ways, including Sunday sermons, Sunday school, bulletin inserts and screenings of the entire “The Lazarus Effect” documentary.
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Mar 29th, 2011 1:47 PM UTC
By Justin Fung
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 This weekend, we were at Ecumenical Advocacy Days to join with over 700 people of faith, who had descended on Washington, D.C. to advocate “on behalf of people-centered sustainable development and economic justice, physical safety, security and peacemaking, with a particular focus on those most impacted — women, girls and families.”
The theme of the weekend was Development, Security and Economic Justice: What’s Gender Got to Do With It?, and the plenary sessions took their title from Nick Kristof’s book Half the Sky, “Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.” Several workshops were particularly germane to what we do, including “Women, Agriculture, Climate, and Food Sovereignty” and “The Disproportionate Effect of HIV/AIDS on Women and Girls.”
Dozens of people were introduced to the work ONE does; and many jumped onboard immediately, adding their names to our US budget petition, which has already garnered over 130,000 signatures!
Yesterday, the faith-based advocates hit Capitol Hill to ask their members of Congress to stand up with and for families living in poverty, both in the US and around the world; we want to thank them for their efforts!
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Mar 21st, 2011 9:55 AM UTC
By Justin Fung
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Justin Fung, who works on our Lazarus Sunday campaign, gives you 10 great reasons why you should sign up for Lazarus Sunday, a nationwide event to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in faith communities on April 10th, today.
A panel discussion on HIV/AIDS is held at a church after a screening of the Lazarus Effect
1. For churches following the lectionary, the Gospel reading on Lazarus Sunday (April 10) is the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life, in John 11. This is a perfect opportunity to speak about the parallel Lazarus Effect, the millions of people who have been brought back to health and wholeness thanks to anti-retroviral treatments.
2. You get to be one of more than 1,100 churches who’ll be joining together on Lazarus Sunday to speak up about AIDS in Africa and the Lazarus Effect.
3.These churches are from across the Christian tradition: non-denominational, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, Evangelical Covenant Church, United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, Mennonite, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Greek Orthodox and many more.
4. This is also a great chance to be a voice for the voiceless—to share the stories those who are living with AIDS, and to advocate on their behalf.
5. There are all sorts of ways to get involved, from sharing about it in your church bulletin to showing “The Lazarus Effect” clip to discussing “The Lazarus Effect” documentary in your Sunday school class or small group to preaching about AIDS in Africa.
6. We’ve already provided the free resources that you can use: video, slideshow, sermon materials, bulletin insert, and more.
7. Or you can let your creativity run wild! We already have one church getting its kids involved in doing a drama.
8. If you get involved and share your story with us, we might be able to put it up on the blog so you can encourage and inspire others to action! To find out what one of our pastors in Ohio is doing for Lazarus Sunday, and why he’s doing it, check out this Q&A blog post from last week.
9. Sign up to get involved with Lazarus Sunday now, then shoot us an email, and we’ll send you a free copy of “The Lazarus Effect” DVD (while supplies last).
10. And finally, if you show “The Lazarus Effect” documentary, produced by HBO and (RED), it may be the only time you can show an HBO product in its entirety at church…
Also, there’s still time to sign up: head to one.org/faith. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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Mar 10th, 2011 6:11 PM UTC
By Justin Fung
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Lazarus Sunday is a nationwide event aimed at raising awareness among churches and people of faith about the realities of AIDS in Africa and the tremendous progress that has been made in the fight against this preventable, treatable disease. From bulletin inserts and prayer points to Sunday school lessons, small group video screenings and sermon illustrations, faith communities all over the country are joining the Lazarus Sunday campaign — we’ve had more than 800 people, churches and groups sign up already, and we’re aiming for 1,000 now!
The Mt. Orab Church of Christ in Mt. Orab, Ohio is one of the churches that will be participating on Lazarus Sunday, and we’re excited to bring you this interview with Associate Minister Mike Whittymore. We hope this will help to inspire and encourage you. If you haven’t gotten involved, there’s still time to join in by signing up at one.org/faith; and if you or your church is already planning to be involved, please feel free to share what you’re doing by emailing us at faith@one.org.
![Photo on 2011-03-09 at 15.06 #3[1]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5515309573_1614b507e5.jpg)
Mike, tell us a little bit more about your church.
MW: We are a 125-year-old non-denominational church, located in Mt. Orab, OH, which is small rural community. Socially and economically, Mt. Orab is pretty diverse, from ‘old money’ families to blue collar workers, farming families, and the working poor. Locally, our church tries to offer a lot of assistance to those who are in need: we have a busy food pantry, a pregnancy resource center, a student counseling program, and we set aside funds to help families who might need help covering their utility bills.
What makes you interested in this issue of advocacy and AIDS in Africa?
MW: I grew up and went to school in the city, and so was exposed to these kinds of social issues from early on. The stigmas surrounding AIDS are very different depending on where you live. Living now in a more rural environment has made me more aware of the need to advocate for those in need. Nevertheless, Jesus calls each of us to a place of awareness. How can we sit idly by and watch millions die and say and do nothing? These families, these men and women and children—they are God’s workmanship. He loves them! And so do I.
In addition to that, my wife and I are the adoptive parents of two amazing children and we are currently exploring the possibility of adopting children with HIV/AIDS.
How did you first hear about Lazarus Sunday/ONE?
MW: I’ve known about ONE for a few years now. I was attending a conference at Willow Creek Church in Chicago, and was introduced to this organization. So from time to time I check in on ONE to see what’s new. However, I discovered Lazarus Sunday because of a Facebook ad. Which proves that all the time I spend cyber stalking my friends is time well spent!
What is your church planning to do on Lazarus Sunday?
MW: I am stoked about our Lazarus Sunday: we’re bringing our children and student ministries together for this cause. We’ll be opening with the ‘Amazing Grace’ video that was made available by ONE. After that we are showing the promo video for the Lazarus Effect.
Then we’ll have all of our children and students take their place around the church, each one wearing a shirt that says, “I have HIV/AIDS.” In a pre-planned drama, we will call the name of different children and students to leave their post and come to the stage. These young people will represent the thousands that die each day in Africa from AIDS.
We want our church to connect to the fact that the kids on our stage are your children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Likewise, the children that are dying of AIDS are someone’s child, grandchild, brother, sister, niece, and nephew.
Any closing thoughts?
MW: We know this is just a start and a simple approach to providing awareness, but we believe it will be powerful. We are seeking to challenge the stigma of AIDS in our community. On Lazarus Sunday our church will pray … as if the future of a child’s life depends on it. Because it does!
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