Stories of Hope

John*
In 1995, John, then aged 28, left his country in South East Asia to get a better job.

After one year, he had to apply for a new work permit. Besides all the other paper work, he had to take an HIV test. He was speechless when the doctor told him that his test was positive.

Without telling anybody, John travelled back to his home country and found a job where no one knew his status. He started drinking to forget his problems, but after nine years, he realised that his life couldn’t continue like that.

Since he never felt sick, he assumed that he was healed from the virus. He went back to his hometown where everybody was glad to see him and he moved in with his cousin.

In 2005, John became so sick with a high fever that his cousin had to take him to the hospital. He was treated for lung disease and lay for four months in a bed in his cousin’s house until he was so weak that he could barely walk or breathe.

Back in the hospital, a doctor saw his skin diseases and tested him for HIV. Obviously, the test was positive and his CD4-count was 1 (healthy people have 500-1000 cu mm).

He was in the very last stage of HIV, called AIDS, and knew that he was close to death.

John told his cousin everything. That day, the news spread through his hometown. People rejected him and forced him to leave. When he got so sick that he fell into a coma for five weeks, no one would come to visit him in the hospital.

One day he saw his very first visitor standing at the end of his bed smiling at him. He didn’t say anything, but returned with the same smile the next day. After visiting every day for eight days, John knew who the man was. It was Jesus.

John said to Jesus,
1. I’m still so young; please give me my life back.
2. I’m so poor, to survive I will need some money.
3. Give me a chance to serve people that have no more hope, maybe in a hospital.
If you grant me this then I will go to church.

One week after waking up from the coma, John was able to leave the hospital. He got the right medication and was even able to start farming on a piece of land that his father had left for him. As he began to make some money, the desire to go to church became stronger.

One day he visited a church and during the worship, a warm feeling overcame him and for the very first time, he cried.
He has found a new family in the church, people who have embraced him even though they knew about his HIV status. With Christ in his life, he realised that “THERE IS HOPE”.

Christopher

What many would consider their worst nightmare became a reality for Christopher.

While attending dental school, he began living a lifestyle of homosexuality and drug abuse. Within a few years, he was expelled from dental school, imprisoned for drug dealing and discovered that he was HIV positive.

But his nightmare has turned into an exciting and inspiring story of redemption and grace. Christopher has an understanding heart for those struggling with same-sex attractions or living with HIV and AIDS.  He speaks locally and internationally. Check out his web page at www.christopheryuan.com.

Rajiv

Rajiv has been living with HIV for about 4 years. Like many of Nepal's HIV positive people he was injecting drugs and probably got the virus through a dirty needle.

His family are wealthy, but when they heard he was HIV positive they threw him out. However, friends lobbied his family who eventually gave him some money to set up a small street stall also selling food.

He has proved to be an adept business man and now, in an ironic twist, some of his family members work for him. Of course, no one else can know he is positive.

Emmanuel

A Zimbabwean police office brought Emmanuel to Brian and Vanessa Warden when he was orphaned at just a few months old.

They cared for him for the rest of his short life. He battled many AIDS related illnesses before he passed away on Friday 16th June 2005 from severe gastroenteritis and brain complications. He went in to a coma on the previous Tuesday and never woke up again.

Krishna*

Have you ever met someone whose face reflects both deep joy and deep sorrow. When you look in Krishna's eyes you see the joy of Christ, the joy of hope. But, there are moments when you also see behind the joy, or mingled with it a deep pain.

Coming from one of Nepal's villages life had never been easy. He studied hard and did well at the village school, but had to drop out for financial reasons. He then went to work in Mumbai, India. On one of his trips home he got married, it was an arranged marriage and a good match. But soon he returned to Mumbai in order to support his wife.

On one of his trips back to Nepal Krishna heard that he could make more money if he took a job in the Arabian Gulf. He applied and started the process. The day he got his positive HIV test result was a dark day. He was in a daze. He didn't go home, not wanting to see or talk to anyone. He contemplated suicide.

Eventually he told his family who said they wanted nothing more to do with him. His wife was shocked, but opted to stay with him, she went for a test, it was thankfully negative, and she is still negative.

They ended up living in a shack by the river that flows through the centre of Kathmandu. Krishna got very sick, but with the help of some concerned friends he was able to access ARV treatment at the local hospital. He grew stronger and was also able to find peace with God.

Krishna, is very brave, he has risked being open about his HIV status and is willing to share his story with others. He has now joined AIDSLink Nepal and will be focussing on helping those who are living with HIV.

Joshua

Joshua lives in a one room hut in rural Zimbabwe. He contracted HIV in South Africa where he was working. His mother, who had so many hopes for his future, nurses him as he dies. There is no medicine available and very little food. She keeps the hut spotlessly clean and a Salvation Army home based care team help out where they can.

When l was 7 years old, l was sexually abused by a soldier. I couldn't speak about it until I reached my teens. Shortly after that, my father left us. We were very poor.

Because of my difficult childhood, what I wanted more than anything was to be rich and famous and I was determined to reach that goal no matter what. I studied theatre, music and dance, but I was left discouraged when all my attempts at fame failed.I was so frustrated that I started to sell my body on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. That's how I became a sex worker.

In 1997, my life changed when l became a found peace in a relationship with God. For several years I travelled to Romania and Moldova to work there. It was whilst I was in Eastern Europe that I was diagnosed HIV positive after completing various medical tests. l lost all desire to live and spent days crying.The Moldovan immigration services ordered me to leave the country within 48 hours because they considered me a danger to their country. I was devastated.

My family and friends have accepted me, I now know that I am not a threat to others and am working amongst those who suffer in secret because of HIV & AIDS. My goal is for them to find love and hope.

*Name changed.