2007 Honorable Mention
Menlo Park Pres.
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Recognized for contributing 23,000 Caregiver Kits to World Vision for distribution to those providing care for those with AIDS. |
Name and location: Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, California
Denomination: Presbyterian
Pastor: John Ortberg
Date Founded: 1873
Total Church Membership: 3,800
Website: www.africanenterprise.org
Outstanding Involvement and Effectiveness in the Fight Against AIDS:
What began as a prayer meeting in June 2004 has grown into “RealizeAIDS,” an extensive AIDS ministry in both a city near this Bay Area-based church and as far away as Ethiopia. Menlo Park Presbyterian Church is helping numerous communities, churches and individuals throughout Ethiopia with food and medical care for people infected with HIV, education and prevention services for others, and care and school fees for children orphaned after their parents died of AIDS. Moreover, the church is supporting the efforts of 85 Ethiopian churches that have undertaken efforts through drama, sports and film to reduce the practice of polygamy and “wife inheritance” in which AIDS widows become spouses of their deceased husbands’ siblings. Locally, in East Palo Alto, California, another congregation has collaborated with Menlo Park Presbyterian to conduct symposia on HIV prevention and eradicating the stigma of AIDS. The church devotes more than $300,000 annually to these and other AIDS-related endeavors.
Impact on the Congregation:
In late 2004, the congregation made a five-year commitment to help the people of Ethiopia. Over five services, 123 people committed to help, and each was given $100 and told, as in the parable of the talents, to multiply those funds to serve and honor the Lord. In one case, $100 has been transformed into an investment of more than $16,000 for AIDS education and training for Ethiopian pastors, teachers and others, as well as textbooks for 2,000 churches and 600 Bible schools. The church commemorated World AIDS Day 2006 by marshalling 600 volunteers to assemble kits for AIDS caregivers in Africa and collecting three million pennies that were displayed in the shape of the ubiquitous “AIDS Ribbon.”
Pastor’s Quote: “(God) wants us to understand some small dose of His pain, His despair and His compassion for the weak, the sick, the poor, the under-resourced, the battered and the lost. He wants our hearts to break, so that we will understand that only through love (like a father for his child), can we have compassion.” (R. Todd Johnson, church lay member)
Comment from the Judges: “For years you have made vulnerable people your focus and the alleviation of their suffering your mission. When AIDS became the gravest threat of this or any era, you simply narrowed your focus and sought ways to be appropriately engaged. ... We deeply appreciate being comrades in this battle.”
