Talking about our work

We were asked today by some of Amma and Appa’s fellow church members about our work with people with HIV. It seems odd to talk about what is often a very grim subject when we are in such a season of being pampered and fed – when all around us is the greenery of coastal Andhra Pradesh – when we are enjoying games with the kids and long conversations over tea and cake.

But talk we must. Here of all places. Andhra Pradesh leads the country in the largest number of estimated people with HIV. Our dear friend John Forbes tells us that the Nireekshana clinic’s Vishakapatnam branch has registered 1200 cases.

And so we do talk. We tell people about how lives are changed. We try and share the challenges faced by people when the get the disease and find out about it. I shared with the concerned family this evening that we are seeing people’s lives change – but that these changes do not mean that everything is smooth sailing for people with HIV. Each family has their own set of challenges - and once one set of pressing issues is dealt with (which itself is nothing short of miraculous for most) there are often other sets of problems cropping up like mountain ranges just as you get to the top of the first pass.

In everything, however, there is hope. Hope based squarely on the person of Jesus Christ. He who became flesh – and still is in human form – which he will be forever – knows what we are experiencing. He cares. He has compassion. He wants to be part and parcel of who we are. And he wants to change us. He will not always change the situations – but he will always change us – if we let him.

At the end of the day, we see that families who have embraced Jesus are so much better off than those who do not. HIV continues to spin out complex sets of issues in both groups – but those who follow the Lord have hope. Its as simple – and as complex – as that.