Posted: 12/30/2012 at 3:34pm | IP Logged

ST LOUIS, MO (ANS) -- Over 16,000 students built 32,000 caregivers kits for AIDS workers in Africa last night (December 29, 2012) in less than 120 minutes during the Urbana 2012 event which is being held at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri, December 27-31, 2012.

Students assemble AIDS kits (Photo: InterVarsity USA/Matt Kirk)

To do it required a "logistical miracle" said Kits Coordinator Debbie Durham from Seattle, Washington.

"Tonight you're going to change history and change the world," promised a medical supply executive who helped provide the kit contents. "You're going to set a record and build 32,000 caregivers kits that will provide over 800,000 touches to AIDS victims in Swaziland."

In partnership with local churches in Africa and World Vision USA, Urbana 2012 organizers from Intervarsity Christian Fellowship constructed 44 assembly lines to build the kits. To the beat of African worship songs, they assembled bags as videos of village life in Swaziland projected onto five giant screens in the Edward Jones Dome.

Nikki Toyama Szeto, Program Director, said, "This is one of those God things that happens at every Urbana when we wait upon the Holy Spirit to guide us -- in this case if was how to touch the justice generation and create a value change in an evening session."

"The kits are going to a country where 32% of the population is AIDS infected and dying," she said, "and we want this to be both proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. These kits are being distributed in communities where there is a robust witness with caregivers from Christian churches."

Students at the huge mission's convention learned a lot about the contents of the kits and heard testimonies of how they are being used from a caregiver named Shortie Kumalo who flew to the States for the evening to represent the African churches.

The kits, worth $22 each retail, contain: 25 latex gloves, 5 bars of antibacterial soap, antifungal cream, sterile gauze pads, petroleum jelly, washcloths and water purification sachets plus a hand written prayer of encouragement from the students.

Local churches and campus ministries are encouraged to stage similar "Kit Builds" in their communities and can contact Debbie Durham through 434-227-0811 or email bray.william@gmail.com