For the second time in less than a year we are devoting our cover story to the subject of AIDS. Last August our focus was AIDS and the American church: what evangelical churches are doing to care compassionately for individuals and families affected by this modern day plague. In this issue, our focus shifts to the African church and the mission outreaches that have played an integral role in that burgeoning church community.
We asked Sharon Mumper, associate director of Evangelical Missions Information Service, to find out how African Christians are confronting the AIDS crisis (there called the “slim disease”). Working under a news deadline (which means her story was completed two weeks before publication rather than the usual three months that is the rule for most of our cover stories), Sharon was able to combine analysis with the latest facts and figures to present an up-to-the-minute look at a continent—and church—under seige.
As you will note in Letters, relatives of radio preacher Bob Shuler took exception to the profile we did of their father’s moral crusading in 1920s California (ct, Jan. 15, 1988, p. 21). They emphasized Shuler’s integrity, believing our coverage lumped him together with less-scrupulous religious broadcasters. Such was not our intent, although we can see how family members could have thus interpreted the photo of Shuler in jail (we thought it was clear from the context he was there “fighting the system”) and remarks in this column about his aggressive approach. His pioneering use of radio was indeed a precursor of techniques later used by others less honest than he. But no evidence suggests he acted with anything less than full integrity.
HAROLD B. SMITH, Managing Editor
