New Jersey: A.M.E. Congregation Urged to Get Tested During Special HIV/AIDS Service

Bethel A.M.E. Church on Spring Street held a community service this Sunday to mark the beginning of National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS. Two large panels of the AIDS quilt were draped over a balcony so congregants could relate to the names and faces of those who have died from the disease.

A featured speaker, the Rev. Danielle Bush, said she wants congregants to begin talking about how to prevent HIV in their own homes, and then expand to include discussions with other family and friends.

"This is real, and it's here, and it could be in our congregation," said Bush, project manager of the North Jersey Community Research Initiative (NJCRI). HIV test results are now available in 15-20 minutes, she said, urging the some 175 attendees to visit the NJCRI's van outside the church where they could be screened.

Bush granted that people can be afraid to test for HIV, adding, "I know what it's like to be on that side of the test."

"We need to know our status," said fellow speaker Dwight Peavy, director for Newark EMA Health Service Planning Council. "Because once we know our status, we can do something about it. We've come a long way to treat it."

Bush and Peavy emphasized that HIV can be managed. However, about 21 percent of those infected are not aware they have HIV, as they have not been tested.

For more on the National Week of Prayer, visit www.nationalweekofprayerforthehealingofaids.org.

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