Thursday, August 28

Today we tried to post a new blog but the internet was down. I guess this is par for the course here in Africa. So, our apologies!

This morning we got to go with Living Waters on home visits again. This time the visits were much more sobering. One of our visits was with a woman named Adela; she is 24 years old and living with HIV. She has three kids including a beautiful 8-month old boy who lights up the room. Adela is not married but has a boyfriend who is married and has another family. When he found out that Adela had HIV, she asked him to go get tested. Up to this day, he refuses to get checked. We find that this is the case with many people here in Arusha. As we have conversed and fretted over the situation, one can somewhat understand why some people choose just not to know whether or not to get tested. There is such a stigma with having HIV and very little hope of having a long life that many people would rather not know that they are positive. No one in Adela's family knows that she has HIV. Other than her boyfriend, the only other person who knows is a neighbor who has been faithful to maintain Adela's secret. As we heard her talking about this, I wondered how alone she must feel to not be able to share with others her disappoint, her fears, her despair. She too was a believer. She shared with us how she had been raised Muslim but had become a Christian. I wonder if she came to faith in Christ because it was in Jesus where she was finding hope and joy in the midst of such a challenging situation.

The last visit was to a woman named Hilda. Though we were sitting in the same room as Hilda, we never got to see her. She was so ashamed of having HIV that she covered herself with a bedsheet and did not let us see her. Based on what we could make of her body frame, we could tell that she was skin and bones. It was so devastating to see that this woman was wasting away and eventhough she had access to the grace and love of God her shame kept her from the very thing that could make the last days of her life more bearable. We prayed for her. I'll be honest with you, as we were praying I wondered if anything would come of the prayers because the situation seemed so hopeless. Yet this is where I was reminded that God makes a way for us to still pray and ask Him to fill in the gaps of our unbelief.

Today as the English Club was going, Kim and Sally got to do a seminar with a group of teachers from the local school. While they felt challenged by the task ahead of them, at the end of the time with the teachers, they felt like they were able to connect with them and encourage them.

Our teachers-in-training are taking over more and more of the teaching in the afternoon classes. It is so much fun to see them teach the very same stuff that they were taught earlier that day! Some of them have some amazing teaching gifts! We are so excited to see that this one-week course will live on after we leave.

Tonight we had dinner at the Borden home. Did we mention how much we love them? They are an amazing family! Byron and Lisa have the hugest hearts and just being around them makes you feel at ease and at home. Between the Russells and the Bordens, they make a powerhouse set of families that is impacting this city.