Facing Your Fears

Every now and then a day unfolds at Mercy House that we didn’t expect. We are always praying His best for Council street and we try and treat the neighbors here with the respect and dignity that they deserve as children of God. Here in West Montgomery, not having transportation is a huge barrier to accessing health care. We have begun to host free HIV clinics every couple of weeks. To best steward our geographic resources, we started holding these clinics in our Pathway house.  

With each clinic, our neighbors have become more trusting about coming and getting tested. The test is a finger stick with an instant result that is kept confidential between themselves and the testing nurse. We were confused why more people were not using this opportunity to find out about their health and possible risk of disease. We began to learn that many have a fear of a positive test and by not testing – they still have hope that they do not have HIV. Our neighbors admitted that it stressed them to not know for sure but the news that they were positive would be unbearable.  They would rather live in the “not knowing” than to live with a positive result. We want them to understand that while HIV is extremely serious if gone untreated, it is not the death notice that it once was. I began to pray that their passion for life would be greater than their fear of the “what if”. I can certainly relate to worrying about the “what if’s” but I also know that when we ask God to consume us more than our fears currently do, He is more than able to step in and hold us close. 

I’d like to share with you a picture of how courage breeds freedom. A young woman was here for lunch as we were letting our neighbors know that we were having the clinic down at the Pathway House. When the group headed down to test, she started with the group but must have turned back because she didn’t come inside. Later, when the program was wrapping up for the day, she came to the door and she looked scared and very unsure that she wanted the test. By God’s will, she absorbed the courage to go through with the blood work. She seemed defeated like she already knew her result was positive. When she came out of the testing room, she had tears of relief and joy in her eyes. She thanked us and said she knew she needed to get tested because of her past lifestyle but she just couldn’t handle hearing that her past had deeply affected her future. She said that if the testing site had not been at a place she trusted and could walk to, she would have never done it. Seeing her desire for life pushes out her panic, seeing someone freed from this heavy burden is the kind of day at Mercy House I will not soon forget. We are truly honored that God allows us to be in these stories, to get to help bring strength and hope, and to get to be present when God rewards His children with perfect peace when they surrender their fear of the unknown.   

 God Bless, 

Pastor Ken Austin