HIV PATIENTS' FAITH PROMPTS HOSPITAL REQUEST FOR HELP

TWO WOMEN INFECTED with the AIDS virus have told a gathering of government officials, doctors and social workers how God's love is helping them face their uncertain futures.

They spoke about how they knew peace - despite being diagnosed HIV-positive - at an AIDS seminar in the capital, where they detailed how they had been helped make a new start in life by Youth With A Mission workers in one of the country's main sex tourism centers.

The two women were among the speakers at a seminar organized at a Manila hospital by the AIDS Society of the Philippines, which invited the YWAM team in Olongapo to take part. The mission has worked among those involved in the sex trade in the city - formerly home to a United States naval base - for more than ten years.

"One of the women told how God has revealed himself to her as her loving father, and she felt the acceptance she had never known from her earthly father," said Asmund Orjasaeter, who directs the 13-strong YWAM team. "The other testified that only God could heal her emotionally and physically, not any kind of drugs she had taken before.

"Their testimonies blessed the doctors and social workers so much that we were asked if they could bring all their HIV patients to our base, but unfortunately we just do not have a large enough facility or enough staff to accommodate them all. We want to help as much as we can."

YWAM staff provide an apartment at their three-story ministry center for HIV and AIDS patients who want to be refreshed for a time in a Christian atmosphere. They also take in women who want to leave prostitution, along with their babies, and offer sewing training to give them a new way of making money.

Workers regularly visit some of the many bars in Olongapo, trying to befriend the women who work there. In addition, they visit local schools to give AIDS awareness presentations, and offer counseling and support for patients at hospitals.

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