I have spend quite a lot of the past day with Canon Gideon Byamugisha (right) from Uganda. If you haven't heard of him don't worry - but you should have! Gideon was the first religious leader in Africa to publically say that he is HIV positive. He is now the Goodwill Ambassador on HIV and AIDS for Christian Aid and engaged in a hundred different programmes to change our attituded towards people living with HIV and AIDS. Last night he was awarded the prestigous Niwano Peace Prize.
Is being positive a negative thing? Not if you get anywhere near Gideon - he's one of the most positive people I have come across for a long time, positive about life, the gospel, and AIDS. Could I catch something from Gideon sharing time with him today? Yes, he is highly infectious - don't get too close or you really will catch a nasty case of joy in the gospel and anger at the way so many people living with HIV/AIDS are treated in our world. We had great conversations about the difference between sin, failure, criminality and sickness. We touched on the new (homophobic?) bill being pushed through the Ugandan parliament at the moment. I listened as he spoke about living life to its maximum potential (John 10:10). Great stuff.
And ... don't forget World Aids Day is just ten days away.
Think positive!
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Praise God for this testimony. I have not met Gideon, but back in 1988, I was commissioned to write a storyline for a film on teen pregnancy in Africa. Entitled "Consequences", it was filmed in Zimbabwe, and the company that filmed it wanted to make some AIDS education film as well. At that time, and throughout the 1990s, states like Zambia, Zimbabwe, SA, would not let them do AIDS films in their countries because they were in denial re: AIDS.
ReplyDeleteSoon after my film was released, I was also commissioned to write 2 AIDS education plays for Uganda, one for primary school kids, which they acted as a national drama competition, and another for the Ugandans in London, which was also staged in Kampala. In all the research I did while I was writing these plays, the negative stigma around HIV positive people was the biggest problem these victims faced. Even in some churches, it was difficult for them to find acceptance.
So it is good to hear about this kind of testimony from a man serving God. Glad too that the U.S has lifted the ban on HIV positive people previously denied an entry visa to the U.S.
greta blog made me feel poistive about what is normally seen as negative
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