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When Dan Haseltine heard the staggering statistics on AIDS in Africa, his mind reeled. Dan, lead singer for the popular Christian rock band Jars of Clay, read that AIDS will leave 14 million orphans in Africa in the years ahead.

"Fourteen million," he says aloud. "That number is way out of my capacity to really understand. I felt like the best thing I could do was just go and sit down face-to-face with one person struggling with AIDS. That would make it personal and real."

So Dan looked up his friend Larry Warren, founder of African Leadership, a Christian ministry. Traveling around Africa with Warren and representatives from World Vision, Dan saw the AIDS crisis up close—not all at once, but one face at a time.

Especially the smiling face of Kevin, an 11-year-old boy in Malawi, in southeastern Africa. Kevin told Dan that when he grows up, he wants to be a doctor so he can help AIDS victims. Dan gulped, because he knew Kevin wouldn't get a chance to grow up. He's in the advanced stages of AIDS.

"His eyes were hollow," Dan remembers. "He probably knew he was going to die, but his dreams would not die. He wouldn't let AIDS take away his hopes for the future."

It was an unforgettable experience for Dan—especially as a parent.

"My heart would absolutely break if my son was diagnosed with a terminal illness," Dan says, referring to Noah, his 2-year-old. "I don't know how I would live with that."

By the time Dan left Africa, "my heart was full of all kinds of emotions—despair, anger, hopelessness. But there is much we can do."

And Dan and his band are doing something about it. Jars of Clay has formed the Blood:Water Mission (bloodwatermission.com), a foundation to support and fund medical facilities in Africa to help people with AIDS.

Dan encourages his fellow believers to join him in the fight—by supporting the ministry of Blood:Water Mission or other Christian agencies reaching out in Africa, such as World Vision's Hope Initiative (hopeinitiative.org) or African Leadership (africanleadership.org).

A Christian Reader original article. Mark Moring is senior editor of Campus Life.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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