Tag Archives: HIV/AIDS

Published in: Ghana February 5, 2010

A Prince Indeed

By Joshua MacLeod 1 Comment

I had never met anyone with the HIV/AIDS virus before visiting a School in Sunyani Ghana. The first thing that I saw on Prince was an incredible smile. The second thing I noticed were the scars on his arms. Prince was born with AIDS. His parents had died from HIV/AIDS and through no fault of his own, he was forced into a life of suffering from the disease.

Through gifts from the Mocha Club, Price was able to receive love and care and schooling.

When I think of the words that I might use to explain Price, I would say, Kind, Strong, Hopeful, Grateful, and Compassionate. I have never met a person afflicted with such a terrible disease, and at the same time I had never met a person with such a beautiful soul and spirit. You could sense the Spirit of God while you were around this young child. Price told me of His love for Jesus and that he didn’t blame God. He looked forward to growing up in Ghana and ending up in heaven.

His trip to heaven came sooner than expected. A year after visiting Prince, I received word that he was dead. His young body had finally succumbed to the terrible HIV/AIDS virus. I remember holding his hand and hugging him and telling him that God loved when I had visited.

I have seen many beautiful things in my travels, but I have never seen anything as beautiful as the life of this young man with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. His response to pain and suffering could be summed up in a single word. Christlike. There are many people who say that there can’t be a loving God because of the great suffering in the world. And yet it was through the suffering of Jesus that an eternity without suffering was made possible.

It is not the absence of suffering that proves there is a God, but rather the response of a beautiful soul to suffering that shows a greater reality than our world. I thank God that HIV/AIDS was not Prince’s destiny, but instead a painless heaven with great reward.

One day Jesus met a man who was also afflicted from birth. He had been born blind.

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. – John 9:1-3

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Published in: Uganda January 18, 2010

I Want to Thank You for Changing My Life

By Joshua MacLeod No Comments


It is hard to put into words the things that have happened in northern Uganda. An unimaginably evil man named Joseph Koney led by “7 spirits” decided to attack the Ugandan government. He formed a cult rebel group and named it “The Lords Resistance Army (LRA).” His tactics for gathering troops included the kidnapping of young children and forcing them to join his militia. Young women were captured from villages and forced to be the “wives” of rebel soldiers. Many horrible and demonic things were done to these children.


Seeing only the devastation that the war in Uganda brought, I began looking for signs of life. I found light in the eyes of the missionaries at “The Village of Hope”. Missionaries Jerry and Candice Bingham have been serving the people of northern Uganda for years. They reach out to persons infected with HIV/Aids and other diseases and bring healing to the victims of the LRA.


The hotel that I stayed at was called “Jo Jo’s Palace”. You can imagine what the rooms looked like! On the day before we left, a young man named Peter approached me asking for money. I felt like God wanted me to share the gospel with Peter, so I asked a question. “Did you ever tell a lie?” I said. He looked me right in the eye and said yes. “Have you ever stolen anything?” I said. “Yes.” Then I told him about a savior who died for liars and thieves and that he could spend eternity with Jesus. We knelt down and prayed for him to receive Christ and one of our team-members took this photo. I gave him a few dollars and asked him to spend half of the money giving water to the poor, and the other half he could keep for himself.
On the next day as we were preparing to leave, Peter came running up to me. “You changed my life yesterday!” he said. “I went to church this morning! I took half of your money and delivered it to the very poor. They were so happy! So, I took all of the money that you gave me and bought more water, “ he said. “I want to thank you for changing my life!” With that he walked away smiling.


It is impossible to make sense of the horrors of this life, without taking into consideration eternal purposes. The young women at The Village of Hope and Peter may have an extremely hard living condition today, but I know that they will spend eternity in peace.

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