Meet Patricia Sawa, from Kitale, Kenya. A mom and wife, a ministry leader, a counselor and an encouraging friend.
A few years ago Patricia and her husband, Francis, were about as down and out as two people can be.
- They discovered they were HIV positive
- Their employers fired them out of fear of having infected workers
- Their friends began to stigmatize them
- Their neighbors treated them like lepers
- Rumors, like moving shadows, haunted their family
- There was no income
- There was no food
Patricia could have just curled up...quit living...and leave behind a family of orphaned and homeless children.
But that is not her nature, and that is not what she chose to do.
She decided to go public...to fight this illness and to help others affected and infected with HIV.
Patricia began a simple ministry outreach in Kitale called DISCOVER to RECOVER...a great name...first of all DISCOVER your HIV status by being tested...Until you know for sure what that status is, many live in a world of denial and fear and danger to themselves and others.And then comes the RECOVER part...Patricia teaches families that HIV is NOT a death sentence and there are pro-active things that can be done to build up your immune system...like anti-retrovirals...ARVs...and healthy and Godly living.
Patricia spends her days helping men and women, boys and girls get to VTCs (Voluntary Testing and Counseling Centers)...where a quick and painless test can let a person know if they are, in-fact, HIV positive.
Patricia has also opened a wonderful center for the care of children who have been devastated by the AIDS epidemic.
- Some of these kids have HIV
- Some have been orphaned by parents who died of AIDS
- Some are at-risk kids because of the lives they lead or are born into...
- All of them need her help... Today Patricia Sawa lectures all over the world about the battle against AIDS...how we have to behave in ways that do not put us at risk, how to treat folks who have AIDS lovingly , as Christ would..
Years ago, Patricia was the first recipient of one of our HOLY COWs...milk cows we give to folks who are in need of the income and nutrition that milk brings them...
She has also guided us to needy families and folks through DISCOVER TO RECOVER who have been blessed.
This was another HOLY COW that Caroline, Allison, Megan, Andrea and Chris got to deliver to Patricia...Rather than renting a pick-up truck and transporting it...we walked it across town...what a crazy day...I think the cow thought we were taking her to the butchery shop.I'd love to give 10 Holy Cows to families in Patricia's ministry this year...it takes a family or small group saying, 'We want to buy a cow and help an AIDS affected family, through Patricia's ministry.
Maybe that's you...give me a call or e-mail me at stever@saddleback.com or leave a comment to this message. Simple things sometimes reap huge results...it did in Patricia's life.
