The Faces of HIV in 2013

I was driving to work this morning and passed by a billboard that reads, “I am living with HIV and my brother is standing with me.” As I read it, there was this moment inside of me where I *forgot* that I too am living with people who have HIV. And just as fast, the flash was gone and I remembered my babies.

The truth is, I never thought this would be my life. I mean, come on. MY life? Single and raising not one, but TWO children who have HIV?  Sheez. I must be crazy!  Here’s some more truth:  I never {okay, very rarely} think about it!  My boys, wrestling in full-nelson style on the floor?  Nope. Doesn’t occur to me. Wet beds, runny noses, coughs, vomit?  Never think of HIV.  Leah and Seth sharing drinks, food, baths, and germs?  Not a second thought. My kids engaged in straight-up-mania in the jumping pool?  Zilch. Is there a chance one of them could get hurt and bleed? Um, yea. There’s always that chance! But if they bleed — hear this now — they are not going to “catch” HIV from each other.  Period, full stop.

More truth? Listen up. I don’t think our friends think about it either. {gasp} That’s the thing about the truth. Once you know it, you’re not afraid!!!

I pray that those of you who are considering adoption would consider that HIV is, as our founder Kiel Twietmeyer has said, a “cheater” special need.  It is medically manageable and not scary.  For those children who are in need of a loving home, could God be leading YOU to parent a child with HIV?  Are you willing to step out in faith for this?

 

Or this?

 

Because this is the face of HIV today:

And this:

 

What are you waiting for???

Have “Faith”…

by Dawn Patterson

When I accepted the position of Director for the HOPE+ sisterhood, Uganda, it wasn’t probably 10 minutes later that I thought “what have I gotten myself into?” I was comforted slightly by the fact that there wasn’t an immediate need to get the program up and running and there was much grace extended on the timing due to our adoption.

When I returned from Uganda and started thinking more about the responsibility and my “skills” (or lack thereof), I panicked. Enter the voice of doubt. I quickly called Deb and said “look, I am not cut out for this. I don’t have the skills to do this. I MAKE JEWELRY. That is what I’m good at. I don’t “direct” anything. Deb was kind, patient, wise & encouraging. She said 2 things that really stuck. The first was “I tell everyone to not make any major decisions until 6 months post adoption” and the second was “and for the record…you are cut out for this. You are exactly who God wants for this”. Enter the voice of truth.

It didn’t take 6 months….only about 4 when I heard God say “go…the time is now”. God perfected every detail, funds were raised almost effortlessly and we were on our way to Uganda. And I felt a tremendous amount of peace.

When I left the U.S. I was under the impression that there were 18 sisters. So, when I asked “how many sisters do we have” and the response was “about 35”…..I panicked. Again. But this time it lasted all of about 30 minutes. God had perfected every detail of this trip and I knew He had this. Peace came over me as I heard the words “Trust me, Dawn”. I’m quite sure I was even wearing my “It’s not about me shirt”. That really should have been my first clue ;o)

And so I trusted Him.

I have been home for 11 days and there are only 2 women left who need sisters. TWO. And by the time you read this blog post….there will probably only be 1. He truly paved the way. He did the work. All He needed from me was obedience. There is no special skill set you need for obedience. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:17

I am so encouraged by the plans I believe He has for these women. One of them is Faith. She is beautiful, amazing and talented. Faith is a trained tailor, but she lacks the funds for a sewing machine. She’s going to use the funds she receives to purchase a sewing machine so she can make more awesome creations like this! This is one of the bags Faith made…..and this was her first attempt! Aren’t they adorable??

Please join me in praying for these beautiful women and that God will make perfect His will for their lives.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Game Changer – The End of Stigma

From Dawn Patterson.

The best laid plans are plans at best. I’ve heard this quote many times. It’s held true so often in my life. This trip to Uganda was no different. I went there with a plan…many plans in fact. But one of my plans took a turn, a radical turn.

The HOPE+ sisterhood has always been about enabling HIV+ women to live longer, fuller lives through a Jesus centered relationship with a sister here in the US. But, because there is so much shame & stigma surrounding HIV, many of these women wanted….and needed….to remain private. Although Project HOPEFUL stands by the TRUTH “No shame in our game”….we needed to respect this. It’s so important for these women to understand that they have a disease….but they are NOT the disease! But, to help them….we need to understand them first.

I went to Uganda fully expecting each woman to want their “status” to remain private to everyone except to their sister.

I can joyfully tell you, that was not the case. AT ALL. Were there women who had not shared their status publicly? Yes. And we will respect that. But there are women who are joyfully sharing their stories and I would be doing them a disservice if I did not share them with you.

Take for instance Lazia. I met Lazia 2 years ago for the first time when I traveled to Uganda with my friend Cathy. She was one of our home visits. She was not strong, she was not physically well and had a relatively new relationship with Jesus. Lazia was a muslim and after her husband died from AIDS, she discovered she was HIV+. A few years later, a local pastor heard about this very sick woman and ministered to her. Through that relationship, she accepted Jesus. But because of her illness, she was very weak and wasn’t able to attend church often. It was around this time that we met her.

I met with Lazia several times on this trip and joy literally seeps out of this woman. She never stops smiling and continually praises Jesus. We had a standard format of questions that we would ask each woman and one of them was “have you shared your status with family and friends”. I wasn’t prepared for her response. With a huge smile on her face, she threw her hands up in the air and joyfully shouted “The whole town knows I have HIV! I have no shame.” You know that moment when your favorite team scores the winning touchdown and you jump in the air and shout “yes”. Well, that perfectly described how I felt AND how I reacted.

There is still so much stigma surrounding HIV. There is still much ignorance and fear. But for a small group of women, in a little town in Africa….there is no shame. They are proud. They are living positively. They are in love with Jesus. And I believe they will be the game changers.

The HOPE+ sisterhood Uganda is a 6 month commitment to be a “sister” to one of these precious women. You will encourage her, pray for her and financially assist her through a $40 per month donation. This donation will be used by your sister to start a small business so that she can obtain proper nutrition (which is absolutely essential for their ARV’s to work) and care for her children.

To learn more about this amazing ministry, please email me @ dawn@projecthopeful.org

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another – Proverbs 27:17

An Important Message from our Founder, Carolyn Twietmeyer:

Friends!

I am sure you are tiring of the begging that has taken place over the last 8 weeks to VOTE FOR PROJECT HOPEFUL through the CULIVATE WINES big grant giveaway!! But, as we always say, “NO SHAME IN OUR GAME”.

I am SHAMELESSLY begging for you to VOTE and keep Project HOPEFUL in FIRST PLACE for this $50,000. LIFE GIVING, FAMILY MAKING, STIGMA SLAYING gift opportunity!! All we need to do is stay in first place for 4 more days and we WIN!! PLEASE SHARE this with YOUR friends and help us to continue EDUCATING, ENCOURAGING AND ENABLING people to adopt the most overlooked children for adoption in the world AND help HIV+ mothers KEEP their children and expand to bring LIFE to children in places like Guatemala, where treatment is currently unavailable!! Lock arms with us through the finish line!!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!! We can’t finish this without you!

VOTE HERE: http://www.cultivatewines.com/give

All for ONE!
Carolyn

YOUR VOTE = LIFE!