Care and Compassion

The major thrust of our Care and Compassion initiative is to extend the useful life of those infected. We provide hospice / clinic and related outpatient care and we promote care within the family environment through education about HIV/AIDS.

Those suffering from HIV/AIDS often suffer from a lack of the basic needs and, because of stigma, ignorance and fear of the disease, are likely to be estranged from their families. Hospice care begins with providing for their basic needs, and continues with visitation and hospice care as well as burial assistance. These services provicde hope and dignity in death.

At the center of the AIDS crisis, people of all ages are dying. Almost from the moment they receive a diagnosis of AIDS, they begin a “life” of rejection and suffering. Denied medical care and medication due to costs, most HIV/AIDS infected people are rejected by their own families, deemed a burden on society and left to die alone without dignity, either from AIDS, or starvation.

Christ’s Hope staff walk from house to house to feed, wash, counsel and lovingly share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Hospices will soon be opened to provide nurtuing care, dignity and hope for life after death. Counseling for family members and spouses will be available as well as assistance for funerals for deserving poor families.

A Personal Testimony

Her name was Ana. She was laying on a mattress that Christ’s Hope had provided for her death bed.

Prior to that she had sleeping on the hard ground, unable to walk for some time. As Else introduced us, I noticed that she had an incredible glow for someone in her situation.

A volunteer from Holland, Else had committed to working with Christ’s Hope for a year. She visited Ana several times a week bringing food, medicine, and providing a bath and care for her sores. Sometimes she found Ana laying in her own waste covered in flies.

On one hand it seemed that what Else did was very impressive, yet on the other hand it didn’t seem enough. Ana was still poor, in pain, forsaken by her family and dying. Then I saw the sheets of paper Else had taped to the walls above Ana’s bed . They were promises from God to Ana, that Else brought to her each week.

Promises like, “Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if were not so I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Ana would read and reread these verses, basking in the truth of them soaking up the love and hope that they gave her.

As we God’s promises, many of them sound nice and we believe them. But the absolute truth of them, the incredible reality of this treasure cannot be comprehended until it is all you have.

Ana taught me this.

Else was living proof of the truth that we carry this treasure in earthen vessels. She was Jesus’ hands and she shared His love for Ana. This explained the peaceful glow on Ana’s face despite her circumstances. She was not poor she was rich, she was not forsaken but full of hope for a future with her Father, she was not dying she was just about to enter a life that does not end.

This is the work of Care and Compassion. Volunteers from both mobilizing nations and ministry nations make up our staff of Care and Compassion workers. They visit patients that are referred to them by hospitals and clinics.

They provide the care and acceptance that families are often times unable to give due to the stigma of AIDS. Several times a week Care and Compassion workers come bringing food, medicine, basic medical assistance and the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They encourage patients with the Word and in praying with them.. Patients know they are not alone in their suffering, they are cared for physically, emotionally and spiritually .

Sometimes rides are arranged to the clinic or hospitals as needed. If a child of a patient needs school fees or a uniform, it is sometimes provided by Christ’s Hope funding. Care and Compassion workers will often times continue to meet with families of patients after the patients have died.

If you are interested in learning more about this ministry, please click here