How many more??

How many more? How many more have to suffer? How many more will die? How many more boney bodies with sunken eyes? How many more burial services with young wailing parentless kids will I have to attend? How many more bodies will I need to prepare and arrange transport for? How many more times will I have to walk back into the house and tell the other girls the news? Will it ever end? My heart is broken. Just when the tears dry, more begin to come. How many more?
This past month I feel like I have been on a wild goose chase. I have been meeting with everyone and their dog it seems trying to find out how many people are suffering with HIV here in northern Uganda and why it seems that so few people/organizations are doing anything about it. As we have been treating patients in the camps these past 7 months we have repeat patients that just aren’t healing. Powerful medicines that should be working aren’t working. It is obvious that we are treating secondary infections due to HIV/AIDS. The problem is here even if no one wants to talk about it.
For example, last Friday… another taste of reality for these people…
We traveled to one of the camps for a burial of a 50+ woman who had been sick for many years but was just recently diagnosed with AIDS last month. Her skeleton of a body was prepared by her younger sister who last week tested positive and a young orphan boy of 11 that they were taking care of. He is currently in the last stage of AIDS and without any family to care for him. I couldn’t fight back the tears as I saw the woman put her arm around the young boy, both of them crying as they lowered the body into the ground. Both of them not having the strength to keep going and fight this deadly disease.
We left the burial service early to attend the final session of this first abstinence class. It was a great time of celebration as many of the girls made commitments to abstain until marriage. A few of their moms even came, which we were thrilled about. As we began, the headmaster of the school stood up to give his formal welcome. He welcomed the girls, their mothers, the abstinence teachers, the translators and thanked personally the GRI medical staff for caring for his wife for many months. He then got very emotional as he was sorry to say she had passed away January 2 of this year. We had struggled for many months trying to get HIV meds for her. This was the most emotional response I have ever seen from a Ugandan man; he loved her so much. He now takes care of their 6 children, 5 of which are orphans. Bethany and MariAnne made my life when they asked me to be the guest speaker at the ceremony. I was thrilled! After a day like this, what was I supposed to say? The eyes of 40 young girls were pasted on the MUNO (white foreigner). My eyes started to water as I told them how special and beautiful they were. I begged little 9 and 11 year old girls to save their bodies and not give them away to any man. I told them all how much Jesus loves them and how if they wait for Him to provide, He’ll give them good husbands. Then I prayed for them that no man would violate them. “Oh please Lord, protect them!” This killer disease is running rampant in these camps and villages. He is stealing lives and breaking hearts and most don’t even know his name.
We have to help. GOD HAS TO HELP! This problem is God-sized!
I know it is hard to imagine all of this as you sit in the States, hearing very little about HIV. But, these are real people and they cry real tears. They have joint pains and fever and vomit just like we do when we get sick. And I know we have all told ourselves, “Well, they could have prevented this. They are just reaping what they sewn.”
But we have to be realistic. We all make mistakes, we all have sinned and we all are messed up. Most of us just don’t get AIDS.
They have to know. They have to be educated. And God has to show up here BIG TIME! All of us here are eagerly expecting a miracle! This problem is so huge, so detailed, so broad, yet so personal. We are surrounded by high mountains of problems and there is no place to look and no way out but UP. “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
This land, Uganda, Africa needs healing. We are believing God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14---
“If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” HE WILL HEAR AND FORGIVE AND HEAL!
Please join us in begging our Lord to hear our/their cries, forgive us/them and heal this land!!!
Thanks-
Shaunessy

Preparations are Fun

Well, we are all back in Uganda again. Jaden arrived back in the country last week and a new addition, Corrie arrived just after him. We are totally excited as we are expecting two or three more new workers to join us in the next month or so. The work is needed so much! I wish it was just as easy as going to the camps everyday and feeling the amazing spirit that God places there through his people. However, just getting to the camps for one day seems to take about 10 days of preparation. Shaunessy and Corrie have been meeting with people constantly about constantly adapting our HIV work to the current situation. The problems we face with HIV are overwhelming. God has been blessing their meetings as they have pursued the best way to touch the millions in Uganda who are infected with HIV/AIDS.

Bethany and Marianne will graduate their first class of abstinence students this week! We are so excited as the progress made in the lives of these girls and their mothers has been so great! We are excited that another group will soon be going through the abstinence training.

One of our staff members, Denis, lost his aunt yesterday in such a tragic situation. There seem to be so many opportunistic infections that are attacking the HIV-positive population in the camps. It is so hard to stand back and see that the most serious cases are out of our control.

Please keep praying as God guides and directs our medical work, our abstinence teaching, our health education, ministry and HIV/AIDS work here in Uganda. God Bless you

-staff