Orphans with Aids given Hope by Ggcc

They live along the shore, and on islands in the southern part of Lake Victoria. Near the borders of Kenya and the once turbulent Uganda. The Suba people. About 25,000 Suba’s live on Mfangano Island with no electricity or running water. They live much like their ancestors have for centuries: fishing and farming. But as tranquil as their world appears, it is anything but. If I take you for a walk in my village you would see a community that is threatened by being wiped out. Wiped out by *** and AIDS. And you will see in every family, at the door several graves of small children, the graves of their parents, and you see houses that no one lives in anymore. People are dying here. I see people die here. I see them dying. Every day. AIDS is brought to this island through the fishermen that are coming from the mainland to the island. It’s sexually transmitted because of polygamy. This area has a very high rate of polygamy. Once one person got the virus, then he would proceed to pass it on to all the co-wives. Once the husband has died the cousins, members of the family, have to remarry every remaining wife. So this continues, continues, and soon wipes out a whole family. I know fifty percent of people you are seeing here working are *** positive. Here on Mfangano, most of the generation between ages fifteen and forty are dying from AIDS. They leave behind orphans like Walter. Before Walter’s father died, he has served I the army. Walter had enough food, a place to live, and money to go to elementary school. But after his father died, Walter his brother, and his father’s two wives returned to the family’s old home on Mfangano Island. Many times my mother and stepmother were very ill. And that is why I could not go to school. Here both of his mothers, infected by their husband, became ill. As the sickness advanced, Walter cared for them and their small farm. His big brother, then eleven years old, went to the fishing village to work. Times were hard. So many times we slept without food. On average they ate two or three times a week. The disease took its course, and both Walter’s mothers died. At age seventeen Walter’s brother died of the same disease, and Walter was alone without hope. Twelve year old Janice was so young when his mother died, that he can’t remember her. When his father got AIDS, there was no one to care for the house. His father is dead now. There’s only an anthill where their house once stood. Janice now lives with his impoverished grandmother, she struggles to care for Janice and four younger children. Left by her other deceased children. It is a very difficult task. The young children expect something to eat but they don’t realize that I have to fend for it. I would like them to go to school but there isn’t much I can do about it. Most of these kids are living with old grandparents that can hardly take care of them in any way. So children go without food. For some of them they don’t have shelter. They seek for where to sleep in other people’s homes. Other children begin to stigmatize then about this, so it keeps reminding them about a sad story all the time. We find they are abused, they are beaten up. They feel so demoralized. It is worse for girls, because the girls would soon find themselves in prostitution again. In such times, it forces me to find a man to sleep with. Then I get help from that. I have no hope. Neither the government or the local community has resources to grow for the growing wave of AIDS orphans. Naphtaly Mattah, the leader of the Subs Bible translation work, and his wife Nereieh , a gifted teacher, were moved to action by the plight of the Suba children. God spoke the need the plight for these children in our hearts. Soon their small home would not accommodate all the children who needed help. We began to support them, to live with them, but the need was just too big. And so God put the vision for Gethsemane Garden Christian Centre into our hearts. As Naphtaly shared this vision with other caring Christians, Gethsemane Garden Christian Centre was born. In January 2003, Gethsemane opened its doors to one hundred ten students. In Kindergarten through third grade. Most of the students are AIDS orphans, like Walter and Janice. I feel I have played a role of bringing hope in their lives. One way is by exposing them to the Word of God, which I believe is what will solve their spiritual problem. And exposing them also to quality education. I believe out of this they will be able to succeed in life. Gethsemane comes in to offer a home for these children. And not just a home, but a Christian home for these children. A home they would call their own, under the care of Christians who will nurture them and bring them up into the ways of the Lord. Through the love of Jesus all the hipe that was gone can be regained again. Here they have hope. Here they have a Christian education. They have people who are loving them and taking care of them. We are eating the food, we are bathing, we are sleeping on the mattresses, and we are learning in the class. The gospel is not just words. The gospel is relational. It is a touch. Here is the opportunity God has given us, not only to be a blessing, but to touch these children, to carry them in our laps and see them go to sleep and to see their faces light with joy. We are here to play the parts of their parents: love them, touch them, share with them, hold them. Gethsemane’s vision is to add one school grade each year. Impacting their students through high school graduation, but the vision goes beyond the walls of the school. Their desire is to bring help and hope to the entire island of Mfangano and all the Suba people. These children will be empowered to carry the very light and the very hope that has been given to them to their communities. I wish that everybody here is saved and they know God. Then the prostitution shall be gone. My prayer is that these kids would have a real spiritual transformation. They need a real spiritual healing. At Gethsemane, once forgotten children receive food and shelter with love and stability. An education to prepare them for the future. And training in *** purity and abstinence to break the destructive cycle of AIDS. But even more importantly at Gethsemane each young live can discover peace and purpose and a relationship with Jesus Christ. One thing I would like these children to have and to know in life is just these three words of hope, and that is that Jesus loves me. That when all hope is gone, I can live again and rebuild my community, my life, and tell of the love of Jesus to the rest of the world.