Orphaids

When Sylvia’s doctor referred her to Orphaids, his estimate was that she had barely a week to live. That was four months ago.

‘I met Sylvia and José Luis in hospital,’ says Latin Link’s Matt Hart. ‘Both were HIV positive and clearly at the Aids stage. Sylvia had just given birth prematurely. Since then both José Luis and the baby, who we looked after, have died.’

Their remaining sons Angel and Jonathan have come to live at Orphaids, which was set up by Matt’s parents, John and Brenda, to offer help in just this sort of situation.

Sylvia hasn’t long to live. Medicines that could ease her suffering are simply not available, and the antiviral drugs that could have extended her life with her children were prohibitively expensive. Sadly, an offer of free treatment for six months came too late, when she was already too ill to be able to start the treatment.

Yet there is hope. Since her arrival at Orphaids, Sylvia has come to a deep and moving faith in Christ. Although she had hardly any strength left in her body she never missed an opportunity to tell visitors how God changed her life.

Matt and Tricia Hart, Latin Link members based in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ecuador, are starting a programme of Aids education and prevention in local schools. Matt hopes to form an inter-disciplinary team to work alongside him in the community and at Orphaids.

Orphaids will be launched as an officially registered charity in Ecuador on the 27th October.

© Latin Link 2001

Prayer Guide

This article is taken from the October 2001edition of Prayer Guide.

Prayer Guide is available from the Latin Link website or by post. To view Prayer Guide as a webpage click here

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