Johnny

Johnny is a 16-year-old boy who lives in our Care Center. His father died when he was young. His mother, Mary, whom I have mentioned before, died of AIDS in June. The two weeks before she died, I spent a lot of time with her and Johnny in the hospital. When I received the call in the early morning that she had died, I wept for Johnny and I wept for the death of a young woman whose life was stolen by this awful disease. I immediately went to get Johnny at our Care Center and I held him as both of us cried. Then we went to his grandmother’s house to be with her and to make preparations for the funeral. Funerals are typically done the same day or soon after the death because embalming is so expensive. After a few hours, many of our boys came to the house to greet the family. The coffin came and in the small yard about 100 of us gathered to honor Mary’s life and to praise God that she had become a Christian just months before she died. The boys sang some beautiful songs and then we drove to the nearby graveyard for a final prayer.

Last month Johnny and John, whose story I have shared in the past, whose mom also has HIV, and I went together to the market so that they could make a cross for Mary’s gravesite. After they finished, we went and placed it at the site, along with two of our other boys. Johnny is close to his grandmother and he and I visit her often. Please pray that I will know how to love and support Johnny through his grieving process of his mom.