“I forgot my medication!” Ponge apologized, knowing that his forgetfulness meant a full day’s delay for us to get him back to Bible school. During his school break, he had been helping us at the Abundant Life Home (ALH). So I sent him to the hospital for his routine blood test and to get his HIV medication.
When I returned to ALH the next day to pick him up, Ponge came running to the truck. “Mom Karen, I don’t need to take medication anymore! The doctor says I don’t have HIV!”
“No, that’s not what he meant, Ponge,” I replied gently. “The doctor just means that you have what is called an undetectable viral load. We’ve seen that happen with lots of the other HIV children and adults. But you’re still HIV positive.”
“That’s what I told the doctor!” Ponge said, as he thrust a green piece of paper in my face. “But he did two blood tests just to make sure, and he said that my blood test came back not as undetectable, but as negative!”
As I read the paper in front of me, my hands began to shake. It said no virus, and no HIV antibodies.
“Mom Karen, no more medication,” Ponge said, “I am healed!”
My eyes filled with tears. Was it possible? Immediately, I recalled when we moved into this sphere of Thai society twelve years earlier and it was prophesied that we would see children healed from HIV/AIDS. My mind flashed back over all of the hard times, all of the hospitalizations, all of the desperate prayers, asking God to heal these precious children from HIV.
I looked into Ponge’s wide eyes and reached forward to hug him. Quickly, others around us joined in. Despite our shocked disbelief, we gathered in a circle to pray and give thanks to God before we loaded into the truck. As I drove to the bus station, I was in a daze, my eyes still filling with tears, while Ponge talked a mile a minute. “Why aren’t you crying?” I asked Ponge.
“I’m in shock,” he replied. “This is the first time I’ve ever experienced true happiness in my whole life!”
The next day, I called the doctor at the AIDS clinic. He was giddy with excitement. In his twenty years of working with HIV/AIDS, he had never seen a case that had become negative. “This is impossible!” he said. “Are you doing anything special at the Abundant Life Home?”
“Yes, we are,” I told him. “We believe that Jesus is alive and he heals today!”
After an engaging conversation, the doctor said, “I am a man of science, but I have to admit that there is no possible explanation for this healing, so I think you are right to believe it is a miracle!”
Afterward, the hospital made a request to retest all of our children, current and past, to see if any others have been healed.
Meanwhile, Ponge continues to experience an unfamiliar happiness. “I asked God why he would do this for me,” he said, “and why he loved me so much that he would heal me. I have nothing to give to God, no money, nothing of value, so I told God that I will give him my whole being and I will serve him for the rest of my life.”
When I returned to ALH the next day to pick him up, Ponge came running to the truck. “Mom Karen, I don’t need to take medication anymore! The doctor says I don’t have HIV!”
“No, that’s not what he meant, Ponge,” I replied gently. “The doctor just means that you have what is called an undetectable viral load. We’ve seen that happen with lots of the other HIV children and adults. But you’re still HIV positive.”
“That’s what I told the doctor!” Ponge said, as he thrust a green piece of paper in my face. “But he did two blood tests just to make sure, and he said that my blood test came back not as undetectable, but as negative!”
As I read the paper in front of me, my hands began to shake. It said no virus, and no HIV antibodies.
“Mom Karen, no more medication,” Ponge said, “I am healed!”
My eyes filled with tears. Was it possible? Immediately, I recalled when we moved into this sphere of Thai society twelve years earlier and it was prophesied that we would see children healed from HIV/AIDS. My mind flashed back over all of the hard times, all of the hospitalizations, all of the desperate prayers, asking God to heal these precious children from HIV.
I looked into Ponge’s wide eyes and reached forward to hug him. Quickly, others around us joined in. Despite our shocked disbelief, we gathered in a circle to pray and give thanks to God before we loaded into the truck. As I drove to the bus station, I was in a daze, my eyes still filling with tears, while Ponge talked a mile a minute. “Why aren’t you crying?” I asked Ponge.
“I’m in shock,” he replied. “This is the first time I’ve ever experienced true happiness in my whole life!”
The next day, I called the doctor at the AIDS clinic. He was giddy with excitement. In his twenty years of working with HIV/AIDS, he had never seen a case that had become negative. “This is impossible!” he said. “Are you doing anything special at the Abundant Life Home?”
“Yes, we are,” I told him. “We believe that Jesus is alive and he heals today!”
After an engaging conversation, the doctor said, “I am a man of science, but I have to admit that there is no possible explanation for this healing, so I think you are right to believe it is a miracle!”
Afterward, the hospital made a request to retest all of our children, current and past, to see if any others have been healed.
Meanwhile, Ponge continues to experience an unfamiliar happiness. “I asked God why he would do this for me,” he said, “and why he loved me so much that he would heal me. I have nothing to give to God, no money, nothing of value, so I told God that I will give him my whole being and I will serve him for the rest of my life.”
