Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 125 (July 2006) 51-63

The Medicine of God's Word: What People Living with HIV and AIDS Want (and Get) from the Bible

Gerald West and Bongi Zengele

ABSTRACT

The Bible plays an important role in the context of HIV and AIDS, just as the bible has done in almost every aspect of South African life. In this article we ask members of the Siyaphila Support Group, all of whom are living openly and positively with their HIV-positive status, how they understand the Bible's role in their lives. In particular, we analyse how they viewed the Bible prior to joining the Siyaphila Support Group and how they view the Bible since joining the Group.

Introduction

This article locates itself in a theological context in which the default public proclamation about HIV and AIDS is that it is a form of retribution or punishment for sin, either sin committed by the person infected or sin committed by the infected's parents (Exodus 20:5,34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9).l However, recent research demonstrates that ministers, pastors and priests in our region of KwaZulu-Natal do not have a coherent theology with respect to HIV/AIDS. Research by the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness (PACSA),2 KwaZulu-

1 Gerald O. West and Bongi Zengele, "Reading Job 'Positively' in the Context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa," Concilium 4 (2004).

2 Daniela Gennrich et al., Churches and HIV/Aids: Exploring How Local Churches Are Integrating HIV/ AIDS in the Life and Ministries of the Church and How Those Most Directly Affected Experience These (Pietermaritzburg: PACSA, 2004).

Gerald West is Professor of Old Testament at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. < west@ukzn.ac.za>. Bongi Zengele is the Programme Director and Co-ordinator of Solidarity Programmes for People Living With Aids (PWA) in the Ujamaa Centre for Community Development and Research, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. <zengeleb@ukzn.ac.za>.

52 West & Zengele

Natal Christian Council (KZNCC),3 Beverley Haddad,4 Haddad and Norman Mudau (see their article in this volume) make it quite clear that church leaders are struggling to come to grips theologically with the dilemmas of HIV/AIDS. What is also clear, unfortunately, is that church leaders have not allowed ordinary church members to witness their confusion. They have instead resorted to a prevalent theological position with which they are familiar. The consequence is that they are perceived to have a coherent theological account of HIV/AIDS by their parishioners, and this has done considerable damage, especially to those living with HIV/AIDS, who have felt the full effects of the life-denying default theology.

Those who have chosen, courageously, to test and declare their status in the face of the default theology and its accompanying stigma and discrimination, have had to find alternative sites in which to construct their own counter theologies. One of these sites is the Siyaphila network of support groups and another is the Bible itself.

Siyaphila Siyaphila, a Community Based Organization, (CBO) was formed in 1997, as an outreach programme of the Ujamaa Centre for Community Development and Research (formerly the Institute for the Study of the Bible and Worker Ministry Project). Bongi Zengele, one of the co-authors of this article, a staff member of the Ujamaa Centre and a Graduate Assistant doing her Masters degree at the time, led the initiative, working together with another two Ujamaa Centre staff, Mzwandile Nunes and Chris Mbude. The first active members included a number who are no longer with us and some who remain struggling to live positively with HIV.

It is the enthusiasm of this first group of people living with HIV and AIDS that led to the launch of the support group on 10th of October 1998, at the Edendale Drop-in-Centre. The group invited Bongi Zengele to facilitate their launch, which was indeed a historic day, for it gave living faces to HIV and AIDS. They named this group 'Siyaphila', which means 'We are alive'. It is important to note that at that time there was severe stigma imposed on those who were infected. It was then thought that if you have HIV you would die soon. The media warnings associated HIV/AIDS with death, and did not leave space for those who were HIV-positive

3 R.Pope, Churches andHIV/AIDS: A Research on KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC) Member Church Initiatives and Strategies in Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis in KZN, Draft report, May 2005 ed. (Pietermaritzburg: KZNCC, 2005).

4 Beverley G Haddad, "Reflections on the Church and HIV/AIDS: South Africa," Theology Today 62, no. 1 (2005).

The Medicine of God's Word 5 3

to lead active healthy lives. So this group focussed on promoting positive living principles and the acceptance of people living with HIV and AIDS in community. In short, we believe that there is life after being diagnosed with the virus.

The group was initiated because there was a need to give support to people living with HIV and AIDS, and to help the community to understand better about HIV and AIDS, starting with the person who is infected, his/her family, and then their community.

The following activities are implemented to support Siyaphila members, particularly those who are unemployed, focussed and involved in the struggle against HIV and AIDS. These include a HIV and AIDS Community Motivators Project, a Beadwork Project, a Gardening Project, and an Education and Training Project. Most of these income-generating projects are enormously beneficial to the members, not only for the additional income they can provide but also for the opportunity they offer to be in community with others who are striving to live positively with HIV and AIDS.

The objectives of the Siyaphila network are to provide care and psycho-social support to people living with HIV and AIDS and their families by providing emotional support during home visits, encouragement, motivation and formation of support groups; to assist and monitor new support groups for people living with HIV and AIDS in the form of training in the areas of Positive Living and Life Skills; and to assist with the establishment of income-generating projects for unemployed people living with HIV and AIDS and provide food parcels to those who face hunger and starvation.

Siyaphila is also involved in helping children whose parents are active members of the Organization, and children of deceased members of the organization as well as from the community at large. For the organisation to function independently of the Ujamaa Centre, who established and sustained it in its formation, fundraising was undertaken. Siyaphila now has its own funding base and officers, with the support of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) and the Department of Health.

At present there are twenty support groups that receive training and mentoring from the Siyaphila CBO. This is one of the aims of the programme, to do outreach, care and support in the community.

The Support Groups normally meet by-weekly. In these meetings a range of Non-Governmental service-providers are invited to talk to the members about various aspects of life with HIV and AIDS. Each Support Group is encouraged to formulate themes that are of genuine importance to them. The Executive Committee of Siyaphila has its meeting twice a month, before the Support Group meetings. Here the progress report of the Coordinator is read, the complaints and problems of the organisation are discussed, and decisions and plans are made.

54 West & Zengele

Ongoing education and training on HIV/AIDS is still the vital tool in fighting stigma and discrimination in our communities, and forms a vital part of Siyaphila's work. While members of Siyaphila have moved beyond the issue of HIV/AIDS awareness, having taken the decision to know and declare their status, there are many more people in our communities who are in denial. This causes great concern as it makes it easier for HIV/AIDS to spread. The most noticeable aspect is the lack of direct support for men, who are reluctant to join the Siyaphila Support Groups (see the discussion below). Siyaphila Support Groups are therefore actively involved in attempts to devise new strategies which will attract more men into their programmes.

Another important aspect in education and training is the fact that when a person is diagnosed as HIV-positive, this status does not make him or her an expert in the area of HIV/AIDS. In most cases, this is the beginning of a new life with new challenges, which call for new learning and the unlearning of old behaviour which might be detrimental to one's health. So there is still a need for basic information about HIV/AIDS. As there is constant research and new information on this illness, there is a need for regular updates. Also, with most of our members starting anti­retroviral treatment, we feel it is our responsibility to keep up with a Treatment Literacy Programme, so as to alert new members to the availability and complexities of this treatment for life.

Siyaphila works with people living with HIV/AIDS, from the time that they receive their results until they join a Support Group or form one. Central to the work of Siyaphila are training workshops for Positive Living. These are the most important training workshops for those living positively with the virus. The themes covered by the workshops include the following: the immune system, stages of HIV in the body, basic information on nutrition, tips on cooking nutritious food, an attitude test on HIV/AIDS, learning to live positively with the virus, planning for the future (including how to write a will and how to make a memory box), and basic information on anti-retroviral treatment.

Siyaphila also runs a Wellness Programme, which deals with mental health, as we search together for peace of mind and as we seek to identify things that can help to decrease levels of stress in a person's life. Being HIV-positive is very stressful, and such people need constant informed support in order to sustain a robust immune system. Physical exercise has been introduced in these sessions and participants are responding positively.

Mobilizing, lobbying and advocacy are also aspects of Siyaphila's work. Here the focus is on 'the bigger picture', creating an awareness that goes beyond HIV and AIDS as a personal problem. There is a systemic dimension to HIV/AIDS and its treatment which requires that we strengthen our mobilisation, advocacy and lobbying through existing initiatives and networks, and that we establish new

The Medicine of God's Word 5 5

ones. At the core of this work are those who are directly affected. For example, it is extremely difficult for people living with HIV and AIDS to receive a Disability Grant. In those cases where a grant is made, it often comes too late.

Bible Study is also one of the core activities of the Siyaphila Support Groups. Bible study does not take place every week, but in most Support Groups it takes place at least every second meeting. Bible study is a component of Siyaphila's work that deals with spiritual support to all people living with HIV and AIDS.

Contextual Bible Study The above overview of Siyaphila's work is important in its own right and as an introduction to the rest of our paper. What follows should not give the impression that Bible study is life-sustaining on its own. It is not. But it does form an important element in the well-being of those trying to live positively with HIV and AIDS.

We have already reported on Siyaphila's adaptation of the contextual Bible study method used by the Ujamaa Centre,5 itself an elaboration of the See-Judge-Act method. Here we reflected on a number of significant shifts in emphasis that have taken place in the introduction of this form of Bible study to the Siyaphila Support Groups. Among the things we noticed was the preference Siyaphila members had for gospel texts in which Jesus takes sides with the victims of stigma and discrimination against the institutions and their leaders who promulgate stigmatising and discriminatoiy forms of theology.

In addition to these familiar texts, we have also found that Siyaphila members feel profoundly empowered by unfamiliar texts, texts that we have introduced to them from our work in the Ujamaa Centre. The story of Tamar (2 Samuel 13) has been a particularly powerful text and contextual Bible study on this text has done more, perhaps, than any other Bible study to 'return' the Bible to those living with HIV and AIDS. We will discuss this 'return' in more detail below. We have also found that contextual Bible study on Job 3,6 an almost unknown text in the lives of most Christians, to be of immense importance. Job 3 is an articulation of unmediated lament, and when read within the literary context of the well-known prose sections (at the beginning and end) of Job, offers an entirely different way of understanding the book of Job. The Job of chapter 3 is quite different from the Job who piously proclaims, "the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (1:21). In our Bible study with Siyaphila members the effects of their

5 Gerald O. West, "Articulating, Owning and Mainstreaming Local Theologies: The Contribution of Contextual Bible Study,"Journal ofTheologyfor Southern Africa 122 (2005), Geraldo. West, "Reading the Bible in the Light of HIV/Aids in South Africa," The Ecumenical Review 55, no. 4 (2003), West and Zengele, "Reading Job 'Positively' in the Context of HIV/Aids in South Africa."

6 West and Zengele, "Reading Job 'Positively' in the Context of HIV/Aids in South Africa."

56 West & Zengele

encounter with Job chapter 3 were devastating, such was the despair and lament that it occasioned. And yet the catharsis that resulted and theological energy that the Bible study released was experienced as profoundly empowering.

So we have already received some evidence of the effects of the Bible study component within the work of Siyaphila. But we wanted to probe this more fully, and so set up a focus group meeting with one of the Siyaphila Support Groups that meets in our city offices. Following one of their normal meetings, we invited those who could to stay on for more in-depth discussion on their perceptions of the role of the Bible in their lives.

The Focus Group

The focus group met on 23rd May, 2005 in the late morning, after a normal Siyaphila Support Group meeting. Present for our discussion were the following (and we have included their names with their permission): Bongi Zengele, Gerald West, Sanele Mngadi (all of whom work in the Ujamaa Centre), Thuli Cele, Thulisile Nkomonde, Sifiso Zuma, Jabu Molefe, Dudu Hiela, Mbali Maphanga, Esther Dumakude, Nomusa Mncwabe, S'phephelo Zondi, Morning Cebekhulu and Molly Kubheka (the Coordinator of Siyaphila). Our discussion was conducted in English and Zulu, though primarily in Zulu.

We began by introducing ourselves and Siyaphila members were asked to indicate how long they had been part of a Siyaphila Support Group. Most of the members had been part of Siyaphila for a considerable time, ranging from two to eight years. There were two members who had only recently joined, and the Bible study on that day was in fact the first they had attended.

The first question we asked focussed on their attitude to the Bible before they had joined the Siyaphila Support Group and how their attitude had changed or remained the same since. We worked reasonably systematically, inviting each person in turn to contribute, but exerting no other pressure. Most wanted to share their experiences with and understanding of the Bible. We also encouraged the members to respond to each other's comments, using the comments of another as a cue for their own responses.

The second question was on which Bible study the members remembered best and why. The third question was on how the Bible speaks about HIV, given that this disease is not mentioned in the Bible. The fourth question was on how or in what way the Bible might be understood as life-giving. The fifth question was not planned, but emerged in response to a comment by one of the participants who expressly raised the issue of stigma. The question was on how they assessed the state of Stigmatisation in their communities at the present. The sixth question

The Medicine of God's Word 57

asked in what ways the contextual Bible study process was empowering. The seventh, and final question, was also not planned, but arose out of the recognition that the Siyaphila Support Groups are constituted almost entirely of women. The question was: "Is the Bible for women only?" In this particular group there were only two men, and one of them had excused himself early on in the discussion because he had another commitment.

In reporting on our preliminary findings from this focus group we will reflect on the responses we received to each specific question.

/. What was your attitude to the Bible before and since you joined the Siyaphila Support Group?

The dominant metaphor used to describe the experience of most members of the Bible prior to their joining in the Siyaphila Bible studies is one of distance. The Bible was there, but far off. Not one of the members portrayed the Bible in a negative manner. Distance was the issue, not negativity.

Related to this image of distance was the image of place. The Bible was located in particular places, mostly in the church, but also on the shelf at home. In only one instance did the Bible have a place in the life of a participant prior to their membership of Siyaphila. As one person expressed it, the Bible "was opened and closed in church".

A related image used was that of belonging; the Bible belonged to others. For most, the Bible belonged to the minister/pastor/priest. For some the Bible had some sense of belonging in their homes, usually with a parent or grandparent. But even in these few cases, the Bible belonged predominantly in the hands of the professionals.

Another related image used of the Bible prior to their participation in the Siyaphila Support Group was that of its relative silence. As one member put it, the Bible required a preacher to make it speak. What she wanted to convey in saying this was that the Bible was a holy book and could therefore only be made to speak by those whose task it was to do so. As one person put it, it was a book "handled" by others. In fact, this person reported, she has been expressly forbidden to touch the Bible, given that she was HIV-positive! Only holy people should "handle" the Bible.

When the Bible did speak to them personally, it was used negatively. As we have already said, there was no sense that the Bible itself was negative, but there was general agreement that the Bible was used in a negative way to speak about people like them, namely, those living with HIV and AIDS.

There was also general agreement that the Bible was not about ordinary life, let alone about their predicaments. As one said, the Bible "is just a book, talking

58 West & Zengele

about things that do not touch me". She certainly could not bring her questions or reality to the Bible. It was "about" other things, unrelated to her context. These comments prompted others in the group to say that church leaders seemed to be selective in what they allowed the Bible to say.

At least one member of the group had had a generally positive experience of the Bible prior to coming to the Siyaphila Bible study. She was a member of a charismatic church, and members of her prayer group had been particularly encouraging and supportive, giving her Bible verses to memorise. She had joined the Siyaphila group for additional support, not because she lacked support in her own church. She was looked on with envy by the other members.

The member who attended the Shembe church said that she did not have a particularly close relationship with the Bible, but that was probably because, she said, the Bible was only one book among others. The Catechism7 was the most commonly used book in her church.

All of these predominantly negative images had been reversed by their membership of the Siyaphila Support Group. What was far off had become close; what had no place now had a place; what belonged to others now belonged to them; what had nothing relevant to say now spoke directly to their condition; what could not be touched or made to speak by them was now in their hands and they could make it speak; what had brought judgment, stigma and discrimination now brought healing, hope and life.

The Bible was no longer far off. It affected them personally, dealt with daily issues and challenged them. As one person said, it affirmed to her that she was made in the image of God and supported her in her inner struggles.

The Bible also belonged in a new way. As one person put it, now that she actually owned a Bible, she was aware of how much the Bible was used selectively in church by the church leadership. She now understood the wider context of the Bible.

One of the most startling changes was that the members had come to see that the Bible dealt with real life issues. The Tamar Bible study more than any other had contributed to this new perception. They were amazed to discover that things that were happening in their contexts are "in the Bible". The many connections between their lives and the Bible astounded them. In addition to the Tamar example, another text that resonated with their reality was the story of the workers waiting to be hired for a days work (Matthew 20:1-16). The existence of this text was further proof, one person said, of how selective the church was in its use of the Bible. Here was an obviously relevant text and yet she had never heard it read or preached on.

7 Robert Papini and Irving Hexham, eds., The Catechism of the Nazantes and Related Writings, vol. Volume 4 (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002).

The Medicine of God's Word 59

Closely related to this new understanding was their sense of control. Through the contextual Bible studies they had realised that they did not need anyone else to interpret the Bible; they could do this for themselves. Another aspect of this control was the sense that they could critique or interrogate the Bible. As one member put it, the Bible itself gave you permission to probe its stories, referring to the Job Bible study as a particular example. This was especially empowering, she continued, for it enabled her to talk back at those who used the Bible to say that HIV is a punishment for sin. She could now affirm that God loved her and take the issue deeper. Another member had actually felt secure enough in her newly found sense of ownership of the Bible that she had confronted her own minister about the way he was using the Bible against people like her.

For those new to the Siyaphila Support Group, one of whom had been warned against it by her family and church, the overwhelming sense was one of excitement and support. Given what those who had been members for longer were saying, they looked forward to learning more about the Bible. For those few who already found support in their own local churches, the Siyaphila group was additional support. As one said, it is "the continuation of a revival service", alluding to one of the few opportunities lay people and women have of engaging with the Bible for themselves.

2. Which Bible studies do you remember best, and why?

One woman shared that it was the Tamar Bible study, and others agreed with her. She said that this study was remarkable in that it showed that current problems could be found in the Bible. For her it was not just the particular issue that was important but the "tool" this gave her, knowing now that the Bible did address contemporary life.

Another favourite Bible study was the story of the woman with a haemorrhage. The power of this story was that they saw here someone like them, a woman suffering in silence and in isolation. Yet Jesus brought her into the public realm; he was not ashamed of her and he made her not to be ashamed of her disease. Jesus reached out to her, insisting that she was significant. Her courage was also a source of encouragement.

The story of blind Bartimaeus was another well remembered story. His persistence and his refusal to be discouraged when the disciples try to silence him was the most important feature of this story for them. This story, and the story of the bleeding woman, were also encouraging in that both had incurable diseases in their day, but found healing. When we pushed them on this point, asking whether they then assumed that Jesus would heal them, they said that though this might happen, what really encouraged them was that diseases that had been disabling

60 West & Zengele

or terminal in Jesus' day, and some mentioned leprosy as an example, were now curable, so they too hoped that a cure would be found for their incurable disease. Their sense of realism was remarkable.

The story of the adulterous woman was also a favourite. Most were unfamiliar with this story, but were struck by how contemporary it was, for precisely the same kind of thing happened in their communities on a regular basis. Women were singled out and judged by men for crimes in which men often played the principle part. This story also legitimated asking the Bible and the church questions. Jesus asked the religious leaders of his day penetrating questions, and so should they. Neither their religious leaders nor the Bible were beyond being questioned.

The story of the Syrophoenician/Canaanite woman (Mark 7:24-37; Matthew 15:22-28), though not generally agreed on as one of the most well remembered texts, was mentioned by a visitor to the group from Zambia. She treasured this story because it responded to xenophobia. We then discussed this story a little together, for some were unfamiliar with it. When it was suggested by us that this woman may have played a role in educating Jesus to his own xenophobia, they were amazed and wondered that such a thing could happen to Jesus. For those who had argued that the Bible itself taught us to question it, this story was appropriated as a further illustration of the way in which the Bible did this.

3. How does the Bible speak about HIV and AIDS, given that this disease is not found in the Bible?

While they acknowledged that the Bible does not address this disease directly, they insisted that the Bible does relate to HIV and AIDS in a number of respects. The story of the bleeding woman, one person argued, deals with an incurable condition, many years of suffering, the inability of doctors to cure the disease, alienation from society, yet in the long term there is healing. This story speaks therefore of the need for patience and perseverance. A further example that was given then in support of this argument was the stories about leprosy, another incurable disease of the day and another disease that led to stigmatisation and discrimination. Though incurable then, the disease is now curable, and so they must hold onto hope for healing in the future. Time was not an enemy, but the medium of hope.

Bartimaeus too bore testimony to the importance of perseverance; if they shout long enough, one said, maybe God will respond. This theological comment is similar to a comment made by the member of another Siyaphila member in a Bible study some months earlier, as they discussed the story of the stilling of the storm (Mark 4:35-41/ Matthew 8:23-27). Though they know that God and Jesus stand with them against the dominant discriminating theology of the church, they also

The Medicine of God's Word 61

experience a Jesus who is in some senses asleep. "It is time for Jesus to wake up", they said!

Making reference to a Bible study on David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) they had done, one of the members said that this story spoke to her about the need for ongoing vigilance in the war against HIV. While his people were at war, David had lost his focus and had remained at home, instead of accompanying his army. There he had failed to control himself and became a rapist. They were engaged in a war against HIV, she said, and this text taught her the necessity for vigilance. There was no option but to be involved actively and continuously in the war against HIV.

We concluded this question by probing whether they really believed that Jesus was on their side in the face of the almost continual assault of the church against them. Yes, they all insisted, and when they read the Bible they receive that affirmation.

The examples they gave affirmed our own sense that the contextual Bible study process was empowering because it provided access to unfamiliar texts and new ways of reading familiar texts.

4. How is the Bible life-giving?

In answering this question it was made clear to us that members are not in denial. Rather, they are constantly on the lookout for tools in their struggle with HIV and AIDS. The Bible, they have discovered, is a powerful tool. Because the Bible affirmed that God was with them, this enabled them to pray. The Bible studies also 'forced' them to talk about things that were very difficult to talk about, which in itself proved to be important. Normally they did not reflect on the kinds of topics that came up in Bible study, so the Bible studies helped them to deal with these very painful and personal things.

By raising their own understandings of the Bible they also believed that they would persuade others not to judge them. Using the story of Pontius Pilate refiising to condemn Jesus (Matthew 27) as an example, a member went on to say that even if those in leadership, like Pilate, did not get involved, at least they no longer condemned. As this example indicates, the Bible provides frameworks or perspectives from which to see the world with new eyes.

5. What is the current state of stigma in your communities?

This was not a question we had planned, but arose from the above response. We wanted to know whether they experienced a change in their communities with respect to being stigmatised. They agreed that prevailing attitudes are changing,

62 West & Zengele

but made it clear that there is still extreme prejudice against HIV-positive people. Education is making a difference, they said, but harsh things are still said, particularly from the religious sector, which is the sector most reluctant to change because of local church rules.

6. What aspects of the contextual Bible study process are empowering?

The first aspect they pointed to was the rigorous interrogation of the biblical text. It was empowering, they said, to know that they could ask questions of the Bible. A second aspect was the corporate nature of the Bible study. They valued that each person had a voice and that there were others to share with and learn from.

Another aspect of the process that was empowering was the recognition that there were not wrong answers. They were allowed to say what they thought the Bible was saying to them. And even though the corporate nature of the process meant that their responses were often probed, this was not done in a way that prevented them from speaking. Quite the contrary, they said, knowing that others would engage with one made it easier to say difficult things, because you would not be met with silence and suspicion.

They also found the commitment to an action plan an important and empowering part of the Bible study process. By concluding each Bible study with a commitment to action, they always took something away with them from the Bible study. This was something that prior to joining Siyaphila they had not done with the Bible. The Bible spoke through and to others, not them. Now it spoke through them and to them. What they took away, in addition, was always something that they had been a part of producing. Nothing was imposed on them.

That the process did not end with the Bible study was another empowering element. They had acquired tools and skills that they could use on their own or with others.

7. Is the Bible for women only?

This final question was asked in an overtly mischievous manner, indicating that it was asked partly in jest. Having watched the group engage with our questions it was apparent how empowered the women felt and how much they owned the Siyaphila group. Though men were present, their presence was not as apparent.

The remaining male was the first to respond to this question. He insisted, and everyone nodded in agreement, that the Bible was for everyone. However, he added, women were more compassionate than men in general and so engaged more deeply with these matters than most men were comfortable with. Women were also prepared to engage in a process that took considerable time, whereas men became impatient with the slow pace of the contextual Bible study process.

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The women then joined the discussion, saying that men were reluctant to be a part of a group in which they were led by women. Men wanted to be led by other men. It was tìbie women's role to follow, not the men's. Furthermore, they said, having emphasised again that the Bible was a book for all, support groups like Siyaphila were only for the most open of men, and most men were in denial.

Picking up on his opening comments, the male member added that men were socialised not to be vulnerable in front of women, so in a group where women were in the majority it was extremely difficult for women to be comfortable.

In concluding this discussion, one of the women commented that what men might find difficult in being a part of a Siyaphila Support Group is that women are not only in control of the Bible, they are also in control of their own bodies!

Conclusion

This focus group discussion and reflection is an attempt to take our earlier analysis of the Ujamaa Centre's work with people living with HIV and AIDS further. And we will continue to engage in the praxis cycle of action and reflection as long as this disease is with us and as long as the church continues to stigmatise and discriminate against those who have courageously chosen to declare their status and to live positively with HIV and AIDS.

Clearly, HIV and AIDS is having an effect on African Christianity, and while African Christianity has had a great deal to transact with,8 HIV and AIDS pose questions to its very core. Healing holds a pivotal place in African Christianity's conception of power; apart from all else, it is the site, par excellence, of mediation between the human and the divine.9 By fundamentally interrogating this core, HIV/AIDS will leave its mark on African Christianity long after the disease itself is a distant memory - or so we pray. Given the formative role the Bible has played in the construction of African Christianity, particularly among the African Independent/Indigenous/Instituted Churches, the Bible will become a key locus for the struggle we are now engaged in to make theological sense of HIV/AIDS. While the churches and their leaders hesitate or fail to move from well-worn theological paths, ordinary women and a few men in sites like the Siyaphila Support Groups, taking hold of the Bible for themselves, will do the pioneering.

8 Musa Dube, "Twenty-Two Years of Bleeding and Still the Princess Sings!," in GrantMe JusticeIHIV/ Aids and Gender Readings of the Bible, ed. Musa Dube and Musimbi Kanyoro (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2004).

9 John L. Comaroif and Jean ComaroflF, OfRevelation and Revolution: The Dialectics ofModernity on a South African Frontier, vol. 2 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), 333.

^ s

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