Last week Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to a place called ACCEPT. This is a facility that cares for people that are affected or infected with AIDS/HIV. They accept all types of patients and also take in children who have been orphaned or rejected due to AIDS/HIV. ACCEPT is an acronym for AIDS Counseling Care Education Prevention and Training. This acronym describes their mission and focus. Some patients come in and are nearly dying and some come because they have been abandoned by their families and thus are seeking proper treatment for their disease. Either way they nurse them back to health with the proper care and medications, or they help them die peacefully. Each patient is presented with the gospel message and given opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before they die.
The orphaned children are given a home within the facility, given food to eat, educated, and also brought up to know the Lord. Kris will only be working with the children at this point. He will be going there every other Wednesday to give them adjustments. The adjustments in conjunction with the proper medications greatly help improve their immune system function, thus allowing them to stay well. Plus we all know how active kids are...they are not without the traditional aches and pains that go along with being active.
Below are a few pictures from the afternoon:
There are about 7 girls and about 12 boys I believe. Each one is HIV positive. Most of the children looked fairly healthy, but also looked small for their age. They were all quite lively and excited to be adjusted. Kris is not the first chiropractor to help them, so they were all pretty familiar with the treatments. Molly and I were able to get to know a few of them, but mostly we just watched. My hope is that they will get more comfortable being around us the more we go. Molly and I want to bring some activities next time just to keep them entertained while they are waiting for their adjustments. Kris is purely volunteering when adjusting these kids. He does not receive any compensation, however, I do believe that this experience was one of the most rewarding since being in India.
I was able to take away so much from this experience, even after just going there one time. These children are abandoned at birth, have HIV, live in below average living conditions, are rejected by society, and have a future that looks somewhat grim. They have every right to be mad at life, and maybe sometimes they are. But, it makes me think "WHAT IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT?" These kids have showed me that I live a charmed and rich life. I have health, family, food to eat, a home to live in, and so much more! I also am blessed to have people that care about me and have invested their time because they want to have a relationship with me. Like I said before, these kids know Jesus Christ, and that is a treasure they have that is worth mentioning. He can be everything that they need and more.
So that is my prayer! I pray that Jesus would be everything that they need. I pray also that our family would be able to show them love. I have asked God to show me how love them like He does; how I can tangibly be the hands and feet of Jesus. I don't really know what that looks like yet, but he is revealing it to me. Kris will continue to adjust each kid, but I hope that Molly and I can also show them a love that only comes from God alone. Please pray for this ministry and for us too as we learn how to best love and care for them. God is doing awesome things through this ministry. Feel free to check out their website (acceptindia.org). They run on prayers, volunteer support, and volunteer giving.
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