Last night, while I'm typically emailing with Betty's agency at 2 in the morning, I got an email with her measurements, which I had requested. She is 19 months old and just 28 inches tall and 22 pounds. While she is chubby for her very short height, she's a tiny thing! I looked up the growth percentage charts and she is in the 3% range, which I'm guessing is not uncommon for kiddos in an orphanage and certainly not unusual for HIV positive babes. I wonder if there is a different growth chart for Ugandans? (They are shorter on the whole, I noticed....)
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Anyway, I'm reading a new book called "Red Letters -- Living a Faith That Bleeds." Tom Davis wrote it. There was an interesting section on HIV that I read yesterday and thought I would share:
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"The following are blatant lies about HIV: You can contract HIV by sitting on a toilet seat. You can get HIV from a water fountain or from someone else's saliva. (You'd have to drink a five-gallon bucket's worth of spit to stand a chance. Any takers?) Only homosexuals or drug users get AIDS. You can tell by looking at people if they're infected by HIV. Debunking lies is easy. The truth, on the other hand, is not. Yes, the majority of people with HIV got it through sexual contact or because of drug use. But does that make them less worthy of compassion? It seems as if we have taken a hands-off approach to this disease because people classify it, at best, as a dirty disease and, at worst, as a curse from God. But how might Jesus have responded to AIDS?
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Obviously, AIDS is a new disease, not something Jesus would have encountered when He walked this earth. He did, however, encounter leprosy, which was considered a dirty disease at the time. Sure, there are some differences, but let's not get tripped up by that. Take a moment to look at leprosy. It doesn't require a time machine to see what it's like -- leprosy is still with us today . . .
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[When encountering leprosy] Jesus didn't walk on the other side of the road. He didn't scrunch up his face in disgust or withhold his hand. He reached out with love and compassion."
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Aren't we called to do the same?
7 comments:
Great post Deb!!!! Love that book!!!!!
I LOVE that book! The Christmas after reading it I gave out about 10 to friends! :)
When we traveled to Kenya, my heart fell in love with the babies in the AIDS orphanage. Oh how I longed to bring them home and we began the journey. Unfortunately Kenya is not an option right now as we must live there (which we considered) but were at the time serving in another country.
Delighted to meet you. I hope you don't mind if I splash around a bit. This looks likes a great place to slip off my shoes and dip my toes.
Splashing,
Sara
Thanks, Deb, for laying the beautiful nature of Jesus out in this post. He has his eyes on Betty!
Oh yes we are!!! Thank you for sharing tonight! Prayers and hugs!
All I can say is PRAISE JESUS!!! So glad to hear Deb. Love you so much! -Holly
amen!! i love this post!!! and i want to borrow the quote at the end. may i?"
[When encountering leprosy] Jesus didn't walk on the other side of the road. He didn't scrunch up his face in disgust or withhold his hand. He reached out with love and compassion."
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Aren't we called to do the same?"
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