Love
. . .
Tuesday
Beloved,
since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives
in us, and his love is perfected in us. --I John 4:11-12
Perry
Njeri was stunned when the doctor told her,
“Your husband is in the advanced stages of AIDS.”
As is common in Kenya, an HIV test was performed unbeknownst
to him when he went in for a medical exam. A few months
later, Perry got up the courage to have herself and their
5-year-old son tested. Both were HIV positive.
“I
became obsessed with finding a cure,” recalls Perry. She
and her husband, one a teacher and the other a civil servant,
exhausted every orthodox and unorthodox AIDS treatment and
all their financial resources. Perry’s husband died
two years after diagnosis.
Perry
turned to her church for support. “I went to the church
to look for help from God who promises to love me despite
anything.” Bitterly, she discovered that Kenya’s
widespread anti-AIDS stigma had seeped into the sanctuary.
Because many Kenyan Christians view HIV/AIDS as a “sinner’s
sickness,” Perry was shunned and told that God wants
nothing to do with her.
But
Perry was convinced she wasn’t the
only HIV+ Christian in Kenya. She decided to reach out.
With little money and even less experience, she launched
Christian AIDS Awareness Organization, giving community
seminars and workshops to equip Christians to care for people
sitting in the pews right beside them who are living with
AIDS. “The work of the church is to tell people about
a living, loving God. If the church is not serving the needy,
it is not the church of Christ Jesus.”
Perry
tries not to fret about the future. She doesn’t know
how long she will “be on the train,” as she
says with a laugh, but she is determined to reach the final
destination thanking God for the gift of every new day.
Contributed
by World Vision [The Bethany team that traveled to Kenya
last summer was privileged to hear Perry’s story firsthand.
We were deeply moved by her courage, optimism, and faith.]
Living,
loving God, we pray that we your church will be ready
and willing to love and offer a safe place for those suffering
with HIV/AIDS. As you have been to us, so may we be to
others a refuge for those in pain. Bless our sister, Perry,
in her efforts to open the eyes and hearts of the Church
in Kenya. Give her strength, and give us courage to follow
her example. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
An
Advent Journey