Baptist Press
NASHVILLE (BP) — The first time I ever visited an African community devastated by HIV/AIDS, I vividly remember meeting people whose lives had been changed forever.
I met mothers living with AIDS and trying to survive long enough to see their children reach adulthood, able to care for themselves. I visited several homes where the head of the household was the oldest living child. At 14 or 15 years of age, the eldest was responsible for raising four younger siblings after the mother and father as well as both sets of grandparents had succumbed to AIDS.
I distinctly remember visiting long-abandoned homes and seeing a row of simple marked graves in what had been the family vegetable garden, a last testament to the family who once lived there. [Read more…]