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Christo Greyling is a Christian minister in South Africa. He became infected with HIV after a blood transfusion. He soon became painfully aware of the stigma and rejection that HIV&AIDS brings to those suffering from it, unfortunately also in the Christian community. That prompted him to create, together with a few health specialists and the support of World Vision International, a programme for church and community leaders, called ‘Channels of Hope’ and aimed at awareness raising and alleviation of stigma related to HIV&AIDS.

The programme (framed originally in Protestant terms) was very successful in Africa and is adapted now for Orthodox and Catholic contexts. However, the most surprising move on this front was the adaptation of this tool for Muslim contexts. The process started a few years ago, when some sheikhs in Africa became envious of the impact of the programme in Christian communities and asked for it to be adapted for use in Islamic communities. This adaptation required that – although the basic structure and ethical principles remained the same, and essentially Christian – the Bible quotations be replaced with adequate Qur’anic quotations. This change was quite natural, because of the basic agreement between Islam and Christianity on the ethical matters discussed in this course. I have met personally Sheikh A.B., who was involved in this adaptation and I am convinced of the seriousness of this engagement.

Let me share with you two stories from the region where I work (Middle East & Eastern Europe). One of the places where we have been involved in development activities (the main object of World Vision’s work) is Orenburg, in Russia, which is a mixed community, Christian and Muslim. The Channels of Hope trainings that we have organised with Church leaders (mostly Orthodox) had such an impact on the community that the Muslim imams in the area approached World Vision asking for trainings to be done with them also, even using the unadapted Christian version of the course, because the needs in the community were so great and they could not wait for the adaptation to be finalised.

A few months ago I have visited Ingushetia, a small Islamic republic in the Russian Federation, in the North Caucasus. One of the persons I have met during my visit was the Ingush Chief Mufti. He told me that he is personally convinced of the effectiveness of this programme and that he wants all his imams to be trained as facilitators for Channels of Hope, even if he knows this is a programme created by Christians. This was absolutely surprising for me, because his right hand, the deputy Mufti, participated about half a year before in a training we have organised in Istanbul, and he and his delegation were among the most sceptical about the use of the programme in their country.

In fact, this is the genius of Channels of Hope. I have seen people, including church leaders, who would have been ready to obliterate HIV&AIDS patients from the face of the earth, because, they thought, they are under God’s judgement. After three days of training, the attitudes of most of them towards these people were radically changed and many of them engaged after that in diaconal programmes aimed at helping people suffering from this pandemic. This is, admittedly, an indirect way of witnessing for God’s love in Christ towards people in Muslim communities. Yet, given the proven ineffectiveness of classic missionary methods in these contexts, Channels of Hope may be part of God’s providence in tilling the ground for the Gospel in these needy lands.

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Note: I have written this text for Langham Scholarship. If you want to learn more about Channels of Hope, you may find details HERE and HERE.

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