THE SAMARITAN’S PATH
The pastor of our church in the Congo had just finished a sermon on the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) when a young woman stood up to tell her story. Irene is HIV positive. She received a tainted blood transfusion while being treated at a hospital in 2000. Irene soon started to get very ill and lost so much weight, she tipped the scales at 42 pounds. She suspected that she might have AIDS, and doctors confirmed her fears.
God heard her cry, and she slowly but surely began to gain weight. I would have never believed that this healthy, beautiful woman has AIDS. Irene started a nonprofit organisation to help victims of AIDS, and she took in five children who were rejected by their families because they have the disease or whose parents had died of AIDS.
However, Irene was still young and really wanted to get married. As she reviewed her options, she decided that her husband would have to be HIV positive as well. Irene met a young man who was working with another agency helping people who are HIV positive. Jean Pierre wanted to marry Irene, but he was HIV negative. As Irene explained why she couldn’t marry him, he convinced her of his love for her and his willingness to take the risk. Jean Pierre was baptised at our church, and he and Irene married in the fall of 2006.
I am impressed by their selfless love and that in the midst of all of this, they are pouring out their love to the five children Irene took in. Irene and Jean Pierre don’t have a lot, but they do have love. They are Good Samaritans in every sense of the word!
So many people would rather turn their backs on people with AIDS. We need to reach out to the suffering people that our society and our “religious” leaders walk past. May God lead us to the people to whom He wants us to minister.
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