Mike Bergman

ATLANTA – Mike Bergman left last summer’s HIV/AIDS Summit awakened to a need. At the event during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General Assembly in Atlanta, Bergman listened to Ann, a summit speaker who told about her life with AIDS.  Later, when he met her and gave her a hug, he knowingly touched someone with AIDS for the first time.

The next morning, he shared his encounter during the summit’s breakfast event. A man at his table was moved to tears.

"I could not get those scenes out of my mind," said Bergman, who is the worship pastor at Hope Community Church in Belton, Texas. "When I returned to Belton and our leadership team shared the Assembly experience, we agreed that we must respond by doing something in our own county."

And so members of this CBF church start are beginning to get involved with the local HIV/AIDS community. So far, 26 members – more than half the church’s membership – have volunteered to help.

"They are anxiously awaiting someone to befriend," Bergman "We are attempting to become friends with individuals affected and infected. We hope that our effort will encourage them to see the church as a safe place for them to pursue their spiritual journey and relationship with God."

Central Texas Support Services helps match a church member with an individual living with HIV/AIDS – for friendship, encouragement and assistance. At this support center, the church was the first congregation to become involved. Bergman said the church hopes HIV/AIDS support groups can develop soon in the county. 

"The response of the congregation has been outstanding," he said. "We have been compelled."

When the church start launched in January 2004, its purpose was to reach out to the neglected and rejected in the community.  And now with the majority of the church’s membership interested in HIV/AIDS ministry, Bergman said the church has caught a vision – to be the presence of Christ.

"We are doing this because we believe God put us in the necessary places to catch the vision," he said. "We believe that if Jesus was here today, he would be friends with homosexuals and prostitutes. His presence means caring for those who are often feared and rejected."

To learn about HIV/AIDS ministry resources available through the Fellowship, visit www.thefellowship.info/AIDS.   

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.