Melanie offered a faint smile but shook her head slowly. “What made you decide to work with people with AIDS and HIV?”

Amy remembered her own misgivings about helping AIDS and HIV patients before God began tugging on her heart. She understood why Melanie was questioning her newfound calling for helping those with AIDS. Glancing at her watch, she decided to forego the doughnuts and coffee at the conference. “If you have time, I’ll tell you why I’m doing this,” Amy said. Melanie nodded, and Amy shared some of what she had learned.

According to Kay Warren, wife of pastor and author Rick Warren, HIV/AIDS is still the greatest humanitarian crisis of all time, killing millions every year and leaving millions of orphaned and vulnerable children behind. Kay became so burdened about it that she began an international ministry to those suffering from the ravages of AIDS. Although treatments are increasingly more effective, there is still no cure for AIDS, which is outranked only by cancer and heart disease as the leading cause of death for women.

Kay has said that Jesus spent one-third of His ministry healing the sick. And we as His followers in this current age, with our current issues, inherit His calling to go to the sick and hurting, to help and minister to them in Jesus’ name. How might God be leading you to serve those who suffer today?