Acting in Hope

In this book, Ezra Chitando calls upon African churches to train their voices in speaking out and challenging systems of oppression so that AIDS competent churches work towards the transformation of death-dealing practices while strengthening life-enhancing ones. He argues that the response of African churches to the HIV epidemic will be determined by the quality of their theological education and the ability of the current generation of Africans to question the culture it inherited, amongst other contextual issues. Chitando insists that not only must churches with quick feet, long arms, warm hearts and loud voices necessarily have sharp minds but that a critical analysis o African cultural beliefs and practices must occur. This openness to new idea and modes of thinking means that that African traditionalists, Africa Christians, African Muslims, followers of other religions and ideologies an secularists all need to engage in an open re-evaluation of African cultures in the context of HIV. Chitando courageously demands that the contemporary generation has the mandate to actively critique what the previous generation bequeathed to it by deciding whether or not to uphold, transform or reject previously held beliefs and practices. This is the second of two books dealing with the response of African Churches to the HIV/AID epidemic.