LAKE FOREST, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- "I was ignorant; I was self-righteous; and I was prejudiced," says Kay Warren about her opinion of AIDS and those who are affected by the disease.

Kay and Rick Warren (Picture: Dan Wooding)

Four years ago, Kay honestly admits that she did not pay attention to the looming AIDS crisis, attributing its spread and limitations to the white, male, homosexual population.

And she will quickly add that even if that were true, it shouldn't have mattered. Even so, it was only after picking up a news magazine on her coffee table and being drawn to the staggering figures of African orphans that the issue finally caught her attention.

While most would consider it difficult, if not impossible, to find anything positive or redeeming about the escalating HIV/AIDS pandemic, author and advocate Kay Warren does just that in her debut book "Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God," published by Zondervan and scheduled to arrive in bookstores in November 2007.

"I believe that AIDS is one of the most devastating atrocities I will ever witness in my lifetime," says Warren. "This disease ravages not only the vital organs of a human being, but their entire body, their entire being, their families, their communities, and now entire countries."

"If nothing else has come of this, I have been humbled and broken and recognize that until I reach out and do what I am capable of, then I will continue to be part of the problem. I don't want to be part of the problem; I want to be part of God's solution."

That life-changing moment propelled Kay to become what she termed as 'seriously disturbed' by the pictures and statistics of this pandemic. Going to bed each night and waking up each morning, she couldn't get the numbers and images out of her mind.

In her book "Dangerous Surrender," Kay chronicles how she

Cover artwork for Kay Warren's new book on AIDS.

was transformed from a typical suburban housewife and mega-church pastor's wife to a now internationally recognized HIV/AIDS advocate, regularly consulting and communicating with heads of state, business leaders, humanitarian aid foundations and cutting-edge researchers from the medical field.

"I knew that I could no longer ignore the travesty playing out on the world stage in front of me," Kay continues. "But I was one person, and there were millions of people living, suffering and dying with HIV/AIDS. Unless God was behind this prompting to get involved, there was no way that I was equipped to even go one more step forward.

"So many people are burdened by the societal ills, natural disasters, manmade tragedies, and health plights in their families, neighborhoods or communities and look at God asking, 'Why are you letting this happen?'" she says. "I am pretty confident that God is looking right back at us and asking the same thing. I didn't have an answer when I was confronted with the issue of AIDS, so my only response was to surrender to His leading."

While Kay draws on her own personal experience in the context of HIV/AIDS, the book is more broad in its intention to communicate to the reader both the humility and power, the freedom and the duty, as well as the privilege and the pain of obeying and totally surrendering to God as He unfolds His plan for our individual lives.

The "Getting Started" sections at the end of each chapter prompt the reader to consider what is in their own lives that they are not surrendering to God, whether it be their finances, their marriage, their children or their careers. The possibilities are as varied as the individual. In addition, "Discussion Questions" at the end of the book encourage the reader to probe even further into the implications of what dangerous surrender will mean for them through intentional conversations with other readers.

"It has been so much more than a lifestyle transformation, and it has certainly been a process, not a transaction. It has truly been an overhaul and a crystallization of everything I believed about God, everything I believed about my responsibility as a Christian, and everything I believed about the human condition," Kay concludes. "What the world intends for evil, God will use for good. And even in the midst of this atrocity or any other tragedy that the world can throw our way, love, compassion, kindness, humility, outreach, ministry -- and yes, even hope -- can be demonstrated and bring joy where there otherwise is none."

A media release on the new book states: "This book will take you where you never thought you’d go, and leave you wanting never to return. It will ruin your complacency about the suffering in this world, and it will stir you – compel you – to do something about it. It will show you what the cutting edge of your life can look like, and it will challenge and equip you to live there. And it will help you discover an intimacy with God experienced only by those who lay down their lives on behalf of the things that move His heart."

Kay Warren takes you face-to-face with a young AIDS outcast in Africa living out her last days beneath a tree. She ushers you inside the mud hut of a 15-year-old orphan in Malawi raising his younger brother and baby sister. You’ll feel what Kay felt – the shock, the heartbreak, the anger, the tears. And like her, you’ll never be the same. As the needs of the others take on faces, Kay’s passion and determination to make a difference will become yours. Open these pages – and discover the impact of a dangerously surrendered life as you exchange your agenda for God’s.

Warren is a Bible teacher and advocate for women and children affected by HIV/AIDS. She and her husband, Rick, author of the best-selling book "Purpose Driven Life," began Saddleback Church in their home in 1980 with seven people. Tom Holladay and Kay developed the Foundations curriculum to teach in-depth doctrine to the largely un-churched congregation.

The church now has an average weekend attendance of more than 22,000 people, and has sent out over 7,400 of its members into 68 countries around the world to participate in the P.E.A.C.E. Plan.

Additionally, this year Saddleback Church will host the third annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church, with speakers representing pastors and church leaders, domestic and foreign governments, business leaders, medical leaders, and an extensive roster of HIV/AIDS and humanitarian aid advocates from around the globe.

For more information about the Warrens' HIV/AIDS initiatives, Saddleback Church or the P.E.A.C.E. Plan, visit www.purposedriven.com/ . For further information about Kay Warren and her book, visit www.alrcnewskitchen.com/kaywarren.

In endorsing the book, Her Excellency, Jeannette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda, says: “Although we marvel at the moments of joy and clarity in our lives, we struggle daily to cope in a world that swirls with uncertainties and disappointments at every turn. Kay Warren’s story of surrender to a deeper meaning demonstrates that there is a way to make sense of the chaos and jubilation that characterize our existence. Through her human and humble submission, we are reminded first of all that we possess within us the power to redeem ourselves when we are willing to undertake a sincere, no holds barred exploration of our worst fears. We discover that along this often painful journey, we are without a shadow of doubt, not alone. More importantly, we learn, as Kay does when she decides to form the ‘Seriously disturbed and gloriously ruined club’ that if we aspire to a more compassionate world, we cannot afford to remain indifferent.”

Steven W. Haas, Vice President, World Vision, says: "Kay Warren describes herself as a ‘white suburban mom in a minivan’ and she's all that. But under God's guidance, she's also an unflagging lioness, boldly giving leadership to the Church's efforts in defeating AIDS and ministering to its vulnerable victims. This isn't so much a biography of one woman's awakening to the global suffering, as it's a primer in Christian obedience that anyone can consider. Christ came to bring good news to the poor...Kay has taken those words to heart and joyfully invites you to do the same.”

Compassion International's President and CEO, Wess Stafford comments: “Kay Warren’s intimate portrait of brokenness reminds us of what surrender to God ultimately produces – a person with God’s own heart for the hurting. It is a deeply moving story that a watching, suffering world needs to see in the Church today.”

Rich Stearns, President, World Vision US, states: "Too many Christians assume their plans must also be God's plans. But surrender means just the opposite. Kay Warren could have taken the easier road. As the wife of one of America's most prominent pastors in one of America's most successful churches, why tackle an issue as ugly as AIDS? No one wants to hear about human pain, suffering and death, especially from the pastor's wife. But Kay Warren, like the person in Robert Frost's famous poem, took the road less traveled ‘....and that has made all the difference.’”

WORLD PANDEMIC HIV/AIDS STATISTICS*
Estimated figures:

People living with HIV/AIDS in 2006 39.5 million
Adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2006 37.2 million
Women living with HIV/AIDS in 2006 17.7 million
Children living with HIV/AIDS in 2006 2.3 million
People newly infected with HIV in 2006 4.3 million
Adults newly infected with HIV in 2006 3.8 million
Children newly infected with HIV in 2006 0.53 million
AIDS deaths in 2006 2.9 million
Adult AIDS deaths in 2006 2.6 million
Child AIDS deaths in 2006 0.38 million

Fast facts:

• More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.
• Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans.
• At the end of 2006, women accounted for 48 percent of all adults living with HIV
worldwide, and for 59 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide -- around 6,000 become infected with HIV every day.
• In developing and transitional countries, 7.1 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.015 million (28 percent) are receiving the drugs.

*Source: UNAIDS/WHO materials dated November 2006, and referring to the end of 2006

Advanced Reader Copies are now available and can be requested by contacting A. Larry Ross Communications. To schedule an interview or request press materials, contact Whitney Kelley at (o) 972-267-1111, (m) 214-457-1398, or whitney@alarryross.com;  or Kristin Cole at (o) 972-267-1111, (m) 615-289-6701, or kristin@alarryross.com.

Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God
Kay Warren. Zondervan, $21.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-310-25890-2

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Whitney Kelley o. 972.267.1111
Kristin Cole c. 615-289-6701

Source: Kay Warren

CONTACT: Whitney Kelley, +1-972-267-1111, or Kristin Cole,
+1-615-289-6701, both for Kay Warren

Web site: www.alrcnewskitchen.com/kaywarren  
www.purposedriven.com /

** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. His weblog appears at: Michael's Wor(l)d BLOG