During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
Psalm 22:24
In this psalm, we see the heart of God—He does not hate those who are suffering. He does not turn away. He does not ignore them. Instead, He listens to their cries for help. This is heart of our Saviour, who suffered for us. He was despised and rejected. He experienced great pain. He is a God who can sympathize with our weaknesses.
Consider those around you who are suffering in some way. Ask God to fill your heart with His compassion that He can use you to comfort and bring hope to those He desires to heal, save, and deliver.
Let the families know the children will learn about HIV/AIDS over the next couple of lessons. If possible, provide the families of your students with copies of the Resource Article “HIV/AIDS.” You can find this Resource Article just before this lesson.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome the children to class. Start today’s class by reviewing what your children have learned about staying healthy and how their immune system works.
Have the children stand in a circle. Hold the ball or small stone and state something that helps you stay healthy. Then gently toss the ball or stone to a child who will do the same. Help the children if they get stuck. Remind them to toss the ball to someone who has not had the ball yet.
That was a great job reviewing. You have learned a lot about staying healthy! God created our immune systems wonderfully to help keep us healthy. Today we will learn about the disease of HIV/AIDS.
In an earlier lesson we learned about how our immune system fights for us. If your immune system is not working well, you can become very sick. Some infections can damage the immune system and prevent it from working correctly. One virus that can do this is called HIV. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV causes the disease AIDS. HIV destroys a part of the immune system so it cannot fight even minor sicknesses such as a cold or the flu.
HIV is not like a cold. You cannot catch it like you can a cold. A person cannot get HIV by hugging, holding hands, or spending time with someone who has it. HIV lives in some body fluids such as blood, but not in saliva. The virus must enter the blood of someone to cause the infection. It cannot enter through your skin as long as you do not have an open wound. It cannot be breathed in.
HIV/AIDS is a disease that can be prevented in some cases. But in some cases, there is nothing the person with HIV/AIDS could have done to prevent the disease. Here are some ways a person may get HIV.
Some children are born with HIV or develop it soon after they are born. It can be passed from a mother to her baby at birth or through breast milk. These children did not do anything to cause them to get HIV.
If someone receives a blood transfusion that is contaminated with HIV, he can get HIV. Hospitals screen the blood they give, so it is rare to get HIV this way anymore. Someone who develops HIV from contaminated blood did nothing to cause the disease.
Some people use needles to inject illegal drugs into their bodies. If a healthy person uses a needle that was used by an HIV-infected person, the virus can infect the healthy person. This is one more important reason to never take drugs.
The HIV virus can also be passed through sexual intercourse. If an HIV infected person has sexual relations with a healthy person, the healthy person may get HIV. If an HIV-infected person rapes someone, the victim might become infected. Rape is when someone forces another person to have sexual relations. Sexual relations with a child is always rape and is never the child’s fault.
When a person is infected with HIV, it may take years for the virus to damage enough of the immune system for him to develop AIDS. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. This stage of the disease is when the sickness begins to become obvious. The infected person can no longer fight infections, even minor ones such as a cold. Then that person begins to get very sick. At this point, the person has AIDS.
A person with AIDS might show many different symptoms. He may have swollen lymph nodes. She may lose weight. He may get fevers, mouth infections, and diarrhoea. She may feel tired all of the time. Eventually, the virus can infect all of the body’s organs, including the brain. This makes it hard for the person to think well and remember things.
A person with AIDS often develops other life-threatening diseases because his immune system is so weak. For example, he might get pneumonia. She might develop infections in major organs. He may get cancer.
About 33 million people in the world are living with HIV/AIDS. You cannot tell who has HIV/AIDS simply by looking at her. The symptoms of HIV/AIDS can be treated. For example, someone could treat a fever associated with it. But there is no cure for HIV/AIDS at this time. New medicines can help those with HIV to live for many years without getting AIDS. Sadly, these medications are not available to everyone in the world. Scientists are also researching vaccines that may one day help to prevent the HIV infection. It is important for everyone to know how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS by knowing the facts and avoiding the behaviours that lead to infection.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Let’s play a game to review what we have learned today about HIV/AIDS. Everyone stand up.
Divide the children into 2 teams and have them form 2 lines. Tell them that you will read a statement. If it is true, the first child on each team will shout, “True!” If it is not true, the first child on each team will shout, “False!” Whoever shouts the answer first gets a point for his team. If the statement is false, the child who shouted “False” first will turn the false statement into a true one. For example, if the false statement is, “Only people older than 25 can be infected with HIV” then the child will say, “Anyone, no matter how old he is, can be infected with HIV.” The next child in each line will answer the next question. Continue through all the statements. Then announce a winning team.
Read the following statements so the teams can answer. If a statement is not true, the true statement is in parentheses. Do not say these true statements unless the children cannot remember the correct statement.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, the children can do this review on them.
Once the children have completed the game, have them sit down.
Some of you have known someone who has HIV/AIDS. Some of you might have it. God wants us to care for those who are sick. Here is a verse that teaches how God cares for those who are suffering.
For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
Psalm 22:24
You can show care for those with HIV/AIDS by praying for them. You can pray that God would help them be as healthy as possible. You can also pray that doctors would find a cure one day.
Another thing you can pray for those who have HIV/AIDS is to have good relationships with other people. You can pray that other people do not treat those with HIV/AIDS badly. You can pray that you will be good friends! And most importantly, you can pray that they will know God’s love for them. Listen to this instruction from Ephesians 4:32:
Be kind and compassionate to one another.
Ephesians 4:32a
Divide the children into small groups to pray together. Give them a few minutes to talk about what they heard in class today. Remind them to be sensitive to anyone who knows someone with HIV/AIDS.
Then, ask them to pray for people with HIV/AIDS. If any of the children have been unkind to people who have HIV/AIDS, suggest that they tell Jesus they are sorry.
Close class by speaking this blessing from 1 Peter 3:8 from over the children.
Blessing: May you be filled with sympathy and love for those with HIV/AIDS. May God help you to be compassionate and kind.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible. (soft return here)
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
