Contact: Krista Poplau, 215-324-0746, press@nueva.org

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Nov. 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- Esperanza USA President Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr. will preside over a workshop on Hispanics and HIV/AIDS and participate in a plenary session with Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren November 29 -- November 30 during the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church.

"I am honored to be a part of this important conference that Pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay Warren, have organized for the second year in a row. It is crucial that we involve the church in education and prevention efforts on HIV/AIDS both in this country and abroad where more than 40 million people currently live with HIV," said Rev. Cortés.

Joining Rev. Cortés at the two-day conference in Forest Lake, California will be Senators Barak Obama and Sam Brownback, Ambassador Mark Dybul, the Global AIDS Coordinator as well as Bishop Charles Blake of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ and John Ortberg of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church.

Esperanza USA recently launched an education and awareness campaign called Tú eres la respuesta (You Are the Answer) for the Hispanic church which includes several multi-media resources, including an educational short film entitled "No te rindas" (Don't Give Up).

Over 1,000 Hispanic pastors have seen the short film in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, New York and Philadelphia with several hundred committing to show the film to their congregations. In 2007, Esperanza USA will continue screening "No te rindas" in several additional cities, including abroad in Puerto Rico.

Rev. Cortés will be in Washington, DC on December 1, 2006, to accept the Red Ribbon Leadership Award for Communications from The National HIV/AIDS Partnership. The organization selected Esperanza USA as an award recipient because of its unique multi-media approach to educating the Hispanic church on HIV/AIDS through the Tú eres la respuesta campaign.

"Esperanza USA has worked diligently for over two years to produce useful and culturally appropriate materials for our Hispanic churches with this campaign. We are pleased with the positive reaction from the many Hispanic church leaders who have seen the short film and look forward to continuing to promote its message of compassion and understanding on HIV/AIDS through our grassroots network of churches in the next year," Rev. Cortés said.

"I applaud the all the recipients of this year's Red Ribbon Leadership Awards. Esperanza USA is proud to share this distinction with others who promote education and prevention efforts against this epidemic," he continued.

Esperanza USA is a network of Hispanic Christians, churches, and ministries committed to raising awareness and identifying resources that strengthen the Hispanic community. More information can be found at www.esperanza.us.