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Category Archives: HIV  Sixteen years ago, a little girl was born. We don’t know the circumstances surrounding her birth or really anything about her growing up years, except that they were hard. She was born to a mother who was infected with HIV, a mother who would die of AIDS before the little girl reached high school. This…  **I want to preface this post by saying that I have only experienced parenting a child with HIV in an African setting. For many of the Ugandans I’ve met, their HIV status is not something of which they are ashamed and I have taken my cues from them. This being the case, I will not… 
Wow! I absolutely LOVE this post and I have been waiting for it ever since you announced you would be writing it! Caring for orphans with HIV has been heavy on my heart strings in all my decisions surrounding moving to UGANDA and I am so appreciate for your heart and all the facts! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 
This is a great post Mandie Joy! We have yet to find out the status of our newest and I am stunned with how fine I am with it all. Thank goodness for all the amazing people who have been willing to write like you just did and make sure that people stop fearing something so much that they cannot love. 
thankful for you writing this. i think that [ridiculously cute] little E1 has been used by God to allow many people to look their fear in the face & educate themselves. i love that. so thankful for him and you and E2 and rachel. you have forever altered the course of my life and i am so very thankful. 
Oh Mandie! I am soooooooo happy you posted this! A beautiful testimony and great information for all of us. I pray desperately that MORE PEOPLE will be open to HIV+ adoption…there is no reason these sweet ones must be passed over!!! THANK YOU!! I’m linking to you from my blog! Bless you! 
Thank you for this great information! I will admit that HIV is still a little scary for me, but you clued me in on a lot of things I didn’t know about HIV! Thank you! =) Sharing this so more can learn =) 
GREAT post Mandie! Love your heart. Love you! 
This was absolutely amazing! Thanks so much for sharing! It’s so exciting to read about what God is doing in and through you. I love your heart! 
Preach it sister!!!! It is time for the TRUTH to squash the stigma. SO grateful and proud of you for your steps of faith and love in Christ’s strength. Give those babies kisses for me!!! 
[...] my blogs about living with a child who has HIV, click here and [...] 
Convicting, convincing, and heart melting! All this information, plus nine months of watching you fall in love with E1, plus falling in love with him myself during my visit last month have all assured me that if God places a child with HIV in our family, it will be a blessing and privilege to be that child’s grandma! 
Mom, it didn’t occur to me that I haven’t asked you how you would feel if Jesus gives you an HIV+ grandchild. Thank you for telling me this…and for coming and falling in love with E1. You are going to be an awesome grandma.  A few people have expressed their concern over Rachel and I caring for an HIV + baby. Let me be the first to say that I understand. To give you an idea of where I’m coming from, let me share this story. Before leaving for Africa, I read a blog about a family that already…
Thank you for sharing this girl! I loved your honesty about this journey and I LOVED the video by the Ludys! I am sharing that with everyone I know! 
Hola Mandie! Te leo y te sigo a través de lo que escribes. Gracias por compartir tu caminar y los desafios que trae consigo el discipulado cristiano. Oro agradecida al Señor por la obra que él hace en tu vida y que puedas compartir esto con otros. Un abrazo fuerte desde Tijuana. 
You don’t know me but I found your blog through someone else and because I was in Uganda for a month this past May, I am drawn to everything and anything about serving and loving orphans. This is a beautiful post and totally echoes so much of what I’ve been thinking about lately. I especially love this part: “In that moment, I decided that I would rather live life with HIV in my blood Thank you for sharing Mandie! I will definitely be following your blog as you continue your journey! 
So many people are still terrified of HIV/AIDS, and you are right, not many know the difference. Even when I assist with community HIV screenings, I am amazed at how many times people come to have the test done because they are afraid they may have contracted HIV after hugging someone they though was HIV+. We need to do a better job at destigmatizing HIV and providing accurate information to the communities that are most misinformed. And it makes me sad to know that HIV+ children are overlooked in adoption every day, not because of concerns about the cost associated with caring for and HIV+ child (which I could understand) or the possible healthcare regimen they may need to maintain maintain, but because of ignorance, fear, stigma, and misinformation about the disease itself. I truly hope our world will someday learn to appreciate all children, regardless of their difference.
[...] for my blogs about living with a child who has HIV, click here and here. [...] |
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Love you!
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a girl named Hope and a ,000 grant | Ripples from Rachel - [...] Mandie Joy wrote down the story of one of those precious girls. Please read about Hope here. [...]
Melissa Kinast Eldredge - WHY VOTE Project HOPEFUL? READ THIS PLEASE and SHARE! Thank you Mandie Joy for speaking TRUTH! Please make sure you do the bloggy jump at the end as well to Erica Shubin’s blog! THANK YOU!
Mishele Schroeder Smoak - Please VOTE, right away! Thank you for sharing, Mandie Joy.