AIDS orphans' advocate speaks at Duke fundraiser

DURHAM -- Kay Warren was simply known as the wife of megachurch pastor Rick Warren until a few years ago.

Now she's better known as a zealous advocate for AIDS education, treatment and for adopting orphaned children.

The change happened eight years ago with a magazine article about the devastating effects of AIDS on the continent of Africa.

"For me, it was as if I had never seen it before, never realized there was a major problem, didn't know AIDS and HIV created millions of orphans," Warren said. "It caught me for the first time."

In 2004, Warren founded an ambitious AIDS initiative at her husband's congregation, Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. On Friday, she will speak about her work at Duke Chapel.

Warren's talk is part of a fundraiser for ZOE Ministry, a United Methodist organization that works with children who have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic inAfrica. The ministry was founded by the Rev. Greg Jenks of Clayton.

ZOE Ministry helps orphaned children in Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe by training them in farming, animal husbandry and other vocational skills as a way of lifting them out of poverty and dependency. Jenks and Warren agree that solving the problem of the world's AIDS orphans requires multiple approaches.

The Rev. Rick Warren's church, which draws 22,000 people each weekend, is an AIDS testing site. It pairs people with AIDS or HIV with support teams and holds a global summit on AIDS yearly. In addition, the church encourages members to adopt or sponsor orphans, both domestically and abroad. It also trains volunteers from its church to go to Rwanda and help provide AIDS education in churches there.

"There's a soup-to-nuts menu of ways to go about it," Kay Warren said. "If we can help keep children in families, fantastic. If we can strengthen existing orphanages along best practices, fantastic. If we can empower children to be self-sufficient, fantastic. If we can get kids off the street and into halfway homes, fantastic."

Warren said all her work centers on getting Christians more involved in helping widows and orphans.

"This is something that should be on the mind and heart of every Christian," Warren said. "God cares about the sick and the vulnerable. I want to encourage people to look through his eyes of compassion."