Life of Fei: Snapshots: Angelo

In South Africa over 5.6 million people are currently living with AIDS. It is said that there are over 1.9 million AIDS orphans in the country. Statistics say that about 70% of children have lost their mother to AIDS. In 2009 some 310,000 South Africans died because of AIDS. These statistics are startling. Those are not numbers, they are people. They are brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and so on. It is so easy to look at these statistics and continue on, but glance back at them and really think. Each number is a PERSON. A person whose life has been destroyed by a debilitating virus.

one of the many Soweto funeral parlors

We visited a very well known squatter town named Soweto. This town has such a high rate of deaths due to AIDS that they have to have multiple funerals a day. Driving through the town our driver pointed out that there were police officers stationed at the intersections in the town. He said that because of the amount of funerals they have a day, the officers are there 24 hours directing traffic when a procession happens. This is daily life for these people.
This summer I was able to visit a hospital where those who have AIDS go to get their medicine for the month. I can honestly say that I was a bit scared to go to the hospital. I learned about AIDS when I was in the fifth grade. We learned all about Ryan White, a young boy who had a blood transfusion before they screened the blood for diseases and contracted AIDS that way. We learned how AIDS was transmitted, not by air, or touch but through bodily fluids of any kind. So I knew when we visited those who had AIDS in the hospital that I could not contract the virus simply by talking with them. I honestly had no idea how these people would look or what kind of shape they would be in. Before we went to the hospital we made sandwiches to hand out. Apparently if they do not have a meal before they take their medicine, it is ineffective. Unfortunately most people are so poor that they can not afford any food to eat. We were there to remedy that problem and share the good news in the process. As we were walking up, the woman who was with us said "I usually do not go to this hospital because the people here are in really poor conditions, so be prepared." As soon as she said this I was nervous. Walking into the large brick hospital we saw signs for various ways to prevent AIDS that made us chuckle. We also saw rooms and rooms filled to overflowing with people waiting. Each person (not a number or statistic!) had AIDS and was waiting to see a doctor to get their monthly treatment and medicine.

Reminds me of Angelo

After going to various rooms to hand out sandwiches and praying for many people and sharing the good news, I decided to sit near a woman about the age of my mom who was all alone. I introduced myself and started talking with her. In the middle of our conversation she said "i am so glad you came here to give us sandwiches, I was very nervous to come to this appointment today but since I have been talking with you I have calmed down and am not nervous anymore." She had two girls, was divorced and hiding the fact that she had AIDS from her employer. While I was talking with her a young man came up and sat down next to me. He was visibly nervous and shaking as he sat. He blurted out "Are you a Christian?" and spilled his cup of tea all over my purple skirt. He asked me to pray for him and started pouring his heart out to me. He said he had just lost his fiance due to AIDS, that she had died suddenly and unexpectedly. He also said that their son had been taken away from him by her parents after her death and he can't see him anymore. He said that they are telling his son that he (Angelo) does not love him anymore. Angelo was visibly crushed about this, crying and pleading for prayer. I ran and grabbed Chad because I figured it would be better to have a man to talk with him and Chad was able to share the gospel a few times with Angelo. I was able to offer a few comforting words as well and we prayed with him. As we started praying Angelo just started crying. He seemed so relieved to have us pray for him. It was so heartbreaking to see this man who has had so much hardship because of AIDS. I have no idea how he got AIDS or how long he will live, but I do know that God did not have us at the hospital the very day he was there on accident. Angelo needs Christ, he needs the forgiveness that is only available through Jesus's death on the cross. When he died for the sins of all. He needs the comfort that only God can bring. Please pray for Angelo and his son. That man was just skin and bones, and at the end of his rope. Please also pray for those affected by AIDS in South Africa. That God would bring believers into their lives to love them and share the good news with them. That they would see that it is truly good news and put their faith and trust in Christ! Going to the AIDS hospital was one of my favorite things we did in Africa! I was so sad the second time we went that I was sick with the flu and could not go! Isn't it funny, the one thing I was most nervous of doing was the one thing I loved the most? The one thing I would go back to Africa to do every day instead of once the whole time we were there? WOW.