This week I thought I was seeing a 15 year old boy with a stomach ache, until I looked in his mouth and saw Candida (a fungus). Oops. He was there with his mother, so I had to tell them I suspected AIDS. I sent them to VCT, Voluntary Counseling and Testing, and he was positive. He probably has fungus growing all along his esophagus, which puts him at stage 4 out of 4 AIDS. That is pretty darn sick.
He had very cool shades and a very macho black T shirt, but he was choking back tears as I was telling him all about HIV. I’m not surprised. His world just turned upside down. Now instead of looking at another 60 years, he might be looking at another 10 years, 15 tops.
How did he get AIDS? There are three possibilities:
1. He was born with it. No one else in the family knows their status, so He could have been born with it, having gotten it in his mother's womb. It would be late to present, at age 15, but he is from a well-to-do family, so he could have been healthy enough all along.
2. He could have started having sex at age 12 or 13. That would be odd that he would get that sick that fast from 2 or 3 years of sexual activity, but it's possible.
3. He could have been molested. He has been at boarding school for two years, so he could have been molested by one of the older boys or by a teacher or another adult.
So, as we get to know each other a lot in the coming months, it may come out how he thinks he might have become infected. The how doesn’t matter much now. He is infected and sick. The why doesn’t matter much either. He is unlucky in a fallen world.
The only question s that matter now are “Who?” and “How?”
Who? : Not, “Who gave this to me?” But, “Who do I turn to since my life has flipped upside down?” I will humbly be suggesting that he turn to Jesus. He probably won’t make the infection go away nor will He punish the infector on this Earth, but He will be with the young man as he struggles to live a healthy life. Jesus will sustain him when there seems no hope. Jesus will redeem his soul. It doesn’t seem like much consolation from a 15 year old boy’s point of view, but it is all we have on this Earth.
How? : Not, “How do I get even?” or “How do I get rid of this?” but “How do I live with this horror?” I will also humbly suggest that Jesus is the same answer to that different question. Jesus can turn horror into hope. There isn’t anything redeeming about dying young or being sick young, but there is redemption in eventually using his illness to help others who are ill and to give glory to God.
How does AIDS in a boy who is just becoming a man glorify God? I don’t have a clue how it will happen, or even how it can happen, but I pray that glory does come out of this. I pray I can give some comfort as he starts this very sad journey.
