Bible inspires woman to serve people with AIDS

by Dr Loren Bliese, Translation Consultant with the Bible Society of Ethiopia

(Names and some details have been changed in the following account to protect the people involved.)
More than four million Ethiopians, about 10 per cent of the population, are said to be infected with HIV, making Ethiopia the third worst-affected country in the world after South Africa and India. It is estimated that 750,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. By the end of this year, 1.7 million Ethiopians will have died of AIDS since 1986, and the virus is spreading fast. In an effort to combat it, the Ethiopian government has signed a deal with international pharmaceutical companies to import discounted AIDS drugs. The key to fighting the spread of the disease, however, is education, and the government is investing heavily in AIDS awareness campaigns in the media. The Church, too, is contributing to the fight against AIDS through classes and relief work.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — When Aster noticed sores on her daughter Salome’s body her heart sank. Salome’s husband and youngest son had died some years ago after a long illness that nobody was willing to talk about, and now she was suffering from an illness that medical treatment would not heal.

Salome and her two children were still living with her husband’s family but rumours had begun to circulate, to the family’s discomfort. Many other people, particularly young married couples, were becoming ill and dying, and the community feared that “the disease that has no cure” could be spread through any kind of contact with the infected person.

Nobody would openly mention HIV/AIDS but the local pastor regularly warned his congregation of the dangers of promiscuity and spoke of the importance of faithfulness in marriage.

When people became sick with AIDS, their families refused to openly acknowledge the disease and spoke instead of asthma, typhoid, hepatitis or tuberculosis.

As Salome grew weaker her husband’s family shunned her and her children, fearing that they too would contract the disease. When they were shunned by other families for sheltering a person with AIDS, they asked Salome to leave.

Evicted

Aster had regularly visited her daughter, helping to care for her and her children as she became more ill but she knew that if she moved Salome into her own rented one-roomed house, she would be evicted. She had no choice, however, and Salome and her children moved into the cramped accommodation.
As Salome grew weaker her husband’s family shunned her and her children, fearing that they too would contract the disease. When they were shunned by other families for sheltering a person with AIDS, they asked Salome to leave.

A committed Christian and a recognised leader in the church, Aster went to her pastor to seek advice about what to do next. The pastor had recently attended a workshop about caring for people with AIDS, and was impressed by Aster’s honesty about her daughter’s condition. There were four others in his congregation who were sick but nobody would speak openly about the problem.

He knew Aster would not be able to afford medicine for her daughter or even to feed and clothe her grandchildren. He had seen the same pattern repeated in other families who had been devastated by AIDS and knew that something had to be done to break the silence. For him, Aster’s openness represented a ray of hope that could lead others in the church to acknowledge the disease and help those suffering from it.

Fruits of the Spirit

He told Aster of the need and of his hopes for her, and asked her to go and read the Bible and pray about it. That night, Aster reflected on one of her favourite passages – the list of the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. As she read it again, she was inspired by her love for her daughter, the joy that it would bring her to help her daughter and others affected by AIDS, the peace she could share with the sick, and the patience, gentleness and self-control that God would give her in caring for those affected by the disease.

Aster told the pastor that she was willing to take on the task of helping her church to confront the problem of AIDS. At her next Bible study meeting, she told the group about her daughter and her wish to help people with AIDS.

The response was warm and immediate, and the group began visiting Salome and her children, bringing her encouragement and supporting her in prayer. Salome found herself able to speak openly about her condition and her suffering, which in turn encouraged other church members with the disease, or related to someone with the disease, to share their experiences.

Many of the church members suffering from AIDS are destitute, and the congregation has been providing for them and paying medical and burial costs. In addition, efforts are under way, through the Ethiopian church’s national office, to make HIV testing readily available. (WR 363/21 - 10.01)