A light for Africa

Fire of Liberty

I think Marvin Olasky sums up the solution to the problems ravaging the African continent best in his most recent column. While we have people like Snoop Dog, Elton John and countless others at Live 8 trying to shame the G8 nations into sending more money to Africa to fight starvation, poverty and AIDS, Olasky notes that their are people who have gotten off their duffs and are doing things that garner results. One individual who's fighting the good fight in Africa is Robert Smith of the Agathos Foundation who has made it his mission in life to fight the scourge of AIDS in South Africa. Here's what Olasky has to say about Smith's work:

But the 32 orphans on the dusty Agathos property here along the almost-dry Tugela River are doing well, and Smith last month was trying to teach them not to throw their lives away. Wearing a t-shirt showing a tree planted by streams of water, he read to them the Ten Commandments, emphasizing, "Do not commit adultery," and told them of predictions that "90 percent of you will be dead by the age of 30."

Smith put his arm around one girl and said, "We're going to pretend that she's HIV-positive." He then asked her to speak to three others. Giggling, she complied. Those three then spoke to the others. "That is how AIDS spreads," he said, and contrasted that multiplication with Christ's emphasis on sex only within marriage to one other person.

That was different from what the teens hear at the nearby government medical clinic, which offers free condoms. But Smith insisted, "The Bible says sex with the person you marry is the only protected sex."

The teens were silent. Smith pressed his point: "We prevent getting AIDS by abstaining from sex until we are married. God designed sex for marriage. ... Those who are married know that sex is best when it's with one person for the rest of your life. God's design is always best for us. Right now, young men are sleeping with three, four, five girlfriends. That's why we have all these funerals."

Thank God we have people in this world like Rob Smith who actually does something rather than complain about the wealthy nations being "too stingy," to help Africa out. Lets hope more folks like Smith will step up and make a difference in the future.