Best Inspiration

A group of HIV-infected children halfway around the world inspire a woman to make a difference.

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A few years ago, Kay Warren, 54, a pastor's wife and mother of three -- her husband is bestselling author Rick Warren, with whom she founded Southern California's Saddleback Church -- had a realization that changed her life. She was reading a magazine when she came across an article about the 12 million African children who have been orphaned by AIDS. At the time, Warren says, she didn't know a single person infected with HIV. "How could there be problems this large, yet I wasn't personally touched in some way?" she says. "That set me on a journey."

First she established an HIV/AIDS initiative at her church. Then she challenged the evangelical community to deal with HIV in a compassionate way. Finally she began traveling through Asia and Africa to minister to the sick and dying herself. Even as she battled breast cancer and melanoma (she's now in remission), she never wavered in her mission to bring attention, time, and help to a world crisis. In fact, she says, "going through cancer has made me more empathetic. I know what it's like to lie awake at night and wonder if you're going to live."

Warren urges others to do something, anything, for those who are HIV- or AIDs-afflicted. "Send clothing or a card. Visit with someone. Sit with someone. The smallest steps matter."

Dangerous Surrender, her 2007 memoir, articulates her passion. In the fight against global illness, Steve Haas of World Vision calls Kay Warren "an unflagging lioness."

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From Reader's Digest - May 2008