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Gill Jones, a worker with BMS World Mission in South Africa and Zimbabwe, shares a story of a remarkable woman, in a challenging situation, who is sharing God’s grace.

Alisha is a 44 year-old widow who is HIV positive, living in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Her husband died in 1994, and in 1997 she became sick and was diagnosed HIV-positive at that time. She had two children, one of whom died in 2002, but her son is aged 25 now, and is HIV-negative.

In 1997 when she was diagnosed, she was very sick, with a CD4 count of 10 and went to church for what she termed as ‘the last time before I died’. Whilst there, the pastor asked people to come forward for prayer if they were ill. She went forward, was prayed for, and has never been that sick since. She also managed to get anti-retroviral therapy, and her CD4 count is now over 600. Initially it was difficult for her to accept that she was HIV-positive, but now she sees it as part of who she is.

Alisha has done a basic counselling course and set up a support group for those who are HIV-positive in her community. This also helps the many child-headed households in her area, not only psychologically, but practically too.

She is hoping to be able to set up a support group in the church too, but unfortunately there is still great stigma attached to the illness. Alisha says, with passion, that: “you have seen me and heard my testimony. I am created in the image of God.” This is what she wants to be able to put over to the church.

When people are first diagnosed with HIV in Zimbabwe, it can take from six months up to a year before they can receive treatment – and even then it can be hard to get treatment regularly, and to eat properly in order for the drugs to work. However, in the rural areas, it is virtually impossible, as there are so few clinics and the people cannot manage to walk the many kilometres needed to get diagnosed and then treatment.

Alisha is now working as a clerk at a petrol station in the centre of Bulawayo, but lives 13 km away, involving a lot of travel. She is still involved in the support groups, and she has also appeared on local TV to talk about living with HIV and Aids in order to counter the stigma.

Re-printed in Christian Today with the kind permission of BMS World Mission www.bmsworldmission.org