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I thought Fidel (whose very name means faithful) had a message perfect for Randall Tobias and others in that church. I didn't realize then, as I do today, that his message was for me, too. I've been faithful to my husband, but not faithful to my Love of all loves. My spirit often takes me to the sidelines, with an attitude as piercing as that of those I find fault with. I find it so hard to confess my own vulnerability and sin.

The 2004 Lausanne Conference on World Evangelization in Thailand dealt with the same problem: "Our call to action [in the AIDS crisis] begins with a repentant spirit. Our past practice of evangelism was better at saving souls than creating Christian minds and Christian behavior."

Ang, my friend and Chinese sister in Christ, demonstrates a Christian mind and behavior. She doesn't sit on the sidelines. She gets in the game, playing badminton every Saturday in Beijing with intravenous drug users, gay men and women, and their partners. Except for Ang, they all share a diagnosis of HIV. Ang doesn't pay attention to her critics or to the many in her city who spurn the men and women with whom she bats the birdie. She just goes there week after week to be a friend.

There was another friend who made a difference. She hung a scarlet rope in her window as a sign to the spies once protected by her. The woman was Rahab, who confessed that she was one of those in her city "melting in fear" and acknowledged a simple truth: "The Lord, your God, is God in heaven above and earth below" (Joshua 2:8-11).

Lord, be my dwelling place in this earth below and welcome through me all who bear scarlet A's, hang scarlet ropes, and stand before your scarlet-drenched cross.

The international director of HIV/AIDS programs at World Relief (http://www.wr.org/), Debbie Dortzbach and her husband Karl first worked Africa in 1973 and then with Mission to the World since 1980. She presently resides near World Relief's headquarters in Baltimore and is co-author together with Dr. Meredith Long of The AIDS Crisis: What We Can Do.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The AIDS Crisis: What We Can Do is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

Christianity Today reviewed the book in our May issue.

Christianity Today interviews with Deborah Dortzbach include a Q&A and "'Sexual Revolution,' AIDS, and the African Church."

Dortzbach wrote "Speaking with Action Against AIDS" for Christianity Today.

The Billy Graham Archives has a section on the papers of Debbie Dortzbach, including biographical information, and transcripts of extensive interviews.

World Relief posted an article on the spread of HIV in Cambodia.

More recent news about Tobias includes:

Sex and foreign aid | The lessons learned from a high-level administration official's resignation in the 'D.C. Madam' scandal. (The Los Angeles Times)

'D.C. Madam' case enthralls capital | Phone list creates tremors of scandal (The Chicago Tribune)

Woman apologizes for outing official as escort client | She insists service was legal (The Dallas Morning News)

Christianity Today's recent coverage of AIDS/HIV includes:

Banking on Breast Milk | One ministry's unusual approach to saving AIDS orphans in Africa. (December 15, 2006)

Long-Distance AIDS Ministry | How one modest-sized church in North Carolina is making a big difference in the heart of Africa. (November 27, 2006)

Q&A: Richard Stearns | The president of World Vision U.S. on the Global Fund, free condoms, and church-based relief and development work. (October 17, 2006)

Prevention Wars | Christian activists question Global Fund's AIDS strategies. (August 1, 2006)

The AIDS Team | Principled collaboration by churches is urgently needed to help defeat HIV.A Christianity Today editorial. | (August 1, 2006)

Prevention Wars | Christian activists question Global Fund's AIDS strategies. (August 1, 2006)

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May (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51