Pastor Living Positively

Tuesday I interviewed a pastor living with HIV. You’d never know by looking at her and hearing her laugh that this disease has stolen the lives of her husband and son. The rains seemed an appropriate tribute today – it’s the seventh anniversary of her son’s death, who died just nine months after her husband. By God’s grace, she has passed through this suffering to forgive her husband’s unfaithfulness and live positively. She now works at Faith Alive as a counselor who encourages others who think all hope is lost.

I won’t reveal her name here because she believes other Nigerian pastors will judge her. Recently she gave an HIV awareness training to a group of pastors. She put them in small discussion groups. Unknown to the pastors, she’d included some HIV+ people among them. She asked the groups to discuss why people get HIV, and whether or not HIV+ people should be allowed to marry HIV- people. The judgments were rampant. After much talk, she revealed the HIV+ people’s identity (but not her own), and the pastors' eyes dropped. They were so ashamed of their words. They apologized, and some wept. It was a start, but there’s still a long way to go for pastors and ‘The Church’.