Nagaland Development Outreach (NDO) jointly organized a two-day workshop on anti-human trafficking and HIV& AIDS with CBNEI and LFA respectively at DAN, 4th mile Dimapur which culminated on Friday.
At the culmination program, DABA counsellor Dr. Moa Imsong said that the Church’s mission was not only to evangelize, preach and teach alone — it is also to bring holistic healing to the community – which, he said, was the main calling of the church.
“The Church is God’s kingdom on earth” All human beings are His children because they are created in His own image. Therefore, all human beings (infected or uninfected people) belong to God and He lives in their hearts,” he said.
Imsong also highlighted the purpose and responsibilities of the church and its leaders towards People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA). He said that the goals of the Church in the healing ministry should focus on helping them to heal from emotional wounds, to break the barriers of the past, understand the value of their life, lead them into self realization, live abundant lives, give hope to the hopeless, help gain social acceptance and help them find eternal life.
Imsong also cited lessons from the Bible and said that the Church should be the model in personal life and ministry to the needy, so that it would be a healer for the wounded and fractured.
Earlier, LFA Nagaland state consultant Dr. Vinito L Chishi, in his speech, shared a strategy of six ways called CHURCH that could be used to minister to PLHA. He defined C as care and comfort the sick, H as handle testing and counselling, U- unleash a force of volunteers, R- remove the stigma, C-champion health behaviour, and H- help with nutrition and medication. Civil hospital Dimapur, ART centre’s Dr. Mulo Jamir spoke on HIV and AIDS from the medical perspective where he highlighted the definition, history, widow period and roots of transmission of HIV and AIDS.