In an urgent response to the global HIV/AIDS crisis, World Vision Australia is calling upon Australian churches to spend significant time this December in fervent prayer for the AIDS crisis around the world.

The call to prayer comes in the lead-up to World Aids Day which will be observed internationally on December 1st.

According to World Vision Australia's chief executive, Lynn Arnold, the enormous scale of devastation being wrought by the scourge of HIV demands a committed, united response.

"The bombing of the nightclub in Bali recently was a tragic waste of 184 lives," Mr Arnold said. "Yet every hour, more than that number of people die needlessly of AIDS. Every hour of every day! This is a catastrophe of immense proportions which must compel us to action. And the most profoundly significant action Christians can take is to join together in concerted prayer."

More than 40 million people are currently infected with HIV. Nearly 70 per cent of them are in sub-Saharan Africa, and the threat is increasing in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. At least 22 million people have died of AIDS, more than a quarter of them children.

World Vision is urging the Australian community this year to focus on the plight of the millions of AIDS orphans.

More than 2.7 million children under 15 have the virus today and millions more are at risk. At least 13.2 million children - most of them in Africa - have lost one or both parents to AIDS. That number is expected to grow to 40 million by 2010.

"These are mind-numbing statistics about precious children being left in the wake of the HIV crisis," Mr Arnold said. "This is an unfolding disaster on a devastating scale. As believers in the God of justice of the Old Testament and followers of Jesus, the man of compassion and mercy of the Gospels, we must respond to the plight of these children immediately.

"We urge all who claim the name of Christ to join in prayer for AIDS sufferers, for the many children who have lost primary carers, and for all those actively working to find a cure and to deliver assistance," Mr Arnold said.

World Vision Australia is providing resources for churches and church leaders wanting more information about the HIV/AIDS crisis.

The latest edition of GRID, a resource newsletter for Christian leaders, is now available with a special GRID Xtra insert on HIV/AIDS. This includes a sermon outline, a children's talk, prayers, case studies, inspirational articles and a factsheet.

"We are called as followers of Christ to love others unconditionally, especially the most defenceless, " Mr Arnold said. "And there are none more vulnerable than the poorest of the poor in developing countries grappling daily with poverty, famine and now this deadly infection."

World Vision International has committed more than $25 million annually to HIV/AIDS initiatives, including prevention programs, care and support for orphans and vulnerable children, specialised assistance for child-headed households and capacity-building for churches and other faith-based organisations wishing to respond to AIDS on a wider scale.