Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA – In the first week of December the international community draws special attention to the world-wide fight against the AIDS epidemic. World Mission Broadcast (WMB) South America recently joined forces with Compassionate Ministries on the SAM Region to produce a powerful radio resource in Latin America. “We realize that there are other regions in our world where AIDS is more prominent. Having recently begun sending our Spanish radio programs to Equatorial Guinea in Africa and reading about the growth of AIDS in Latin America, we felt their was a void in the Evangelical Church in response to this crisis," said Brian Utter, Regional Communications Coordinator.

Over 2 million people live with AIDS in Latin America. That might seem low compared to other parts of the world, but the growth rate is much quicker. One of the most vulnerable groups is the adolescent population. These young people are at greater risk due to ignorance of the ways of prevention and transmission, as well as a more careless lifestyle.

A four-part radio series was created to air during the first week of December 2004. Daily programs of 10-minutes each looked at the epidemic from different perspectives. The first program dealt with the myths and truths about AIDS/HIV and featured Dr. Alberto Ainscough, former missionary and director of the Nazarene Hospital in India. The second program featured Dr. Rosa Russo, Nazarene OB/GYN sharing about the special issues of Women and HIV. The third program entitled “Vivir Con SIDA” (Living With AIDS) featured the testimony of “Juan P.” (name changed for protection). “Juan P.” is a 27 year-old former drug addict living with HIV. The final program, calling upon the international faith community to make AIDS/HIV part of their ministry strategy and the responsibility to act, featured Dr. Luis Mesa, Regional Coordinator for Compassionate Ministries South America.

Responses have been coming back from radio stations that have partnered with WMB South America.

“What a blessing, those programs about AIDS. After airing them, two secular radio stations in our city contacted us for copies. They both are airing them with us now.”
Jose Luis Riquel, Director
FM Del Rey 105.9
Entre Rios, Argentina

“Dear WMB, we want to thank you for sending this month’s material, including the wonderful programs about AIDS. They all are a huge blessing to our audience. Thank you for meeting a huge need by addressing AIDS in our community.”
Manuel Barria, Manager
Radio Vida de Olume FM105.7
Olume, Chile

“Please receive my gratitude. We are obliged to work with you on this program ‘Living With AIDS’. Thank you for being so timely in allowing us to participate in something that generally has been left up to the secular world.”
Marcos Aguila, Manager
Radio Encuentro 93.5 FM
Ciudad de Este, Paraguay

Impacting lives and changing communities is the purpose of WMB South America.

For more information contact WMB South America log on to radio@esperanza.net.