John: Infected and Affecting Others--for Good

John was not the average participant at our most recent seminar in Nduha, Tanzania, about 1.5 hours south of Mwanza, Tanzania’s second-largest city. (Mwanza lies on the southern shore of Lake Victoria near the borders of Kenya and Uganda with Tanzania.) John had known he was infected with HIV for several years, and had been on anti-retrovirals (ARV’s) for most of that time. According to Kevin Linderman, the missionary who was our primary contact for this seminar, John had frequently made casual public remarks about his medications in contexts that revealed his status, but John had never had the occasion to openly address the problem of HIV before other church leaders. Our seminar provided just such an opportunity.

One of the most powerful events in our five-nation teaching tour in 2005 was a presentation by the female president of the Kenyan Association of Religious Leaders Infected with or Affected by AIDS (KenAReLAA). We shared with John about the positive effect of her talk on the church leaders attending that seminar, and asked if he’d like to address his group. While encouraging him with the thought that his presentation could be equally powerful, I offered him the option of just answering some questions about his feelings about the disease and its effect on his relationships, and we assured him that he should feel under no obligation to speak at all. We left him to think about it overnight.

The next day John told us he was ready to speak. I thought he was just going to answer some questions, but when he got the floor he took off. Though I can’t tell you all (or even most) of what he said (my translators were more interested in listening to John than telling me what he was saying) I can tell you that it was powerfully delivered and captured the attention of our group. Among other things, he addressed the problem of the prejudices of his friends and neighbors. John said he knew many people were wondering what woman he picked this up from. John answered with the testimony of his life.

“When I planted the church in your village,” John asked, indicating one of the participants, “did I pick up a woman there? And when I planted the church in your village,” he asked another, “what woman did I pick up there? And how about your village,” he asked another. “When I planted the church there was I with a woman?” John had planted churches in many villages, and his faithfulness to his wives was as evident as his evangelistic skill. He had come to those villages on behalf of the King of kings, and his life reflected that commitment.

Yes, John had been a polygamist. His first wife had died some years ago (perhaps of HIV-related infections), and he had divorced his third wife after repeated instances of unfaithfulness on her part, perhaps another opportunity for infection. He now lives faithfully with his second wife, who was present in the seminar and who avidly supports the many facets of his ministry. John is now a grandfather, and through his encouragement his children have all been tested and found to be negative for HIV.

I asked John how long he took to reveal his HIV status, which was discovered during hospitalization for a nasty leg infection that wouldn’t get well. He told his immediate family about two months after the diagnosis, then his extended family after a year. He began to tell other church members after about two years. The reason for his delay: fear; fear of rejection. While some of his relationships have suffered since his diagnosis, John’s aggressive defense of his life’s record has stood him well, and the unquestioning support of his family has been an added comfort.

Our seminars attempt to address the stigma of HIV infection in several ways:
1. Recognition that all of us are sinners, whether we have HIV or not.
2. Recognition that those who have sinned in ways other than sexually are just as much sinners, and thus in need of God’s grace as those who have sinned sexually.
3. Recognition that there is good evidence that a great deal of the HIV in Africa, at least early in the epidemic, was acquired through other than sexual means (more about this in a later blog).
4. Recognition that our task on earth as the Body of Jesus Christ (the church) is to invite all sinners back to God for healing, not condemnation. This was Jesus’ work, which he did not only in word, but also in his attitude and social behavior, and which he expects us to continue as his followers.
5. Recognition that those infected with HIV are in great need of care in many ways: socially, physically, mentally, emotionally, and often spiritually and financially, and that the church is the best institution to deal with these needs because it is really the only institution that can deal with all of them.

John’s participation in this seminar added a very special dimension to it. He is a respected leader of the churches in his area and the father of many of them. His ministry has the opportunity to acquire additional power for the Kingdom as his weakness (his HIV infection) becomes a Kingdom strength, a point for connection with his neighbors whose lives are being crushed by their HIV infection, no matter how they acquired it. It is a blessing to know John and to count him a friend and partner in the work we are doing.