Prayer for AIDS Orphans

God of Orphans,
What compassion you must feel for your children in Africa,
The forgotten victims of AIDS, those left behind.
You must ache for them as they grieve for parents taken away;
become "parents" for younger siblings;
and labor in order to provide the necessities of day-to-day life.
Show us how to ache for them, too.

We who are affluent, who have access
To the medicines AIDS victims need:
Let us not be deaf in the midst of our comfort.

A child's cry must break your heart.
Let it break ours so that we are moved to action for
better access for the poor to AIDS medication, that parents won't have to die;
education programs about AIDS prevention, that siblings can live; and
development that can offer just jobs and opportunities, that life can be good.
God of orphans, hold your children close.
Amen.