Where He leads...: Pelgrina's Story

Pelgrina's Story

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As I have mentioned before, Namibia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates of any country in the world. Over 20% of the adult population is infected. While these statistics are important for many people to know, I guarantee you there are some individuals who don’t care what the numbers say. There are some people that may not be very concerned that 1/5 of the population here is dying with this disease. But what they do care about is the fact that their mother is dying, their brother is dying, their father is dying, their sister is dying, their children are dying… they are dying.

I want to tell you the story of one brave woman. Like I said, statistics are important, but what is more important is that we realize that there are real people behind these numbers. They need our prayers. They need our love.

Pelgrina grew up with both parents—the firstborn of eight children. Her father was very strict. Growing up in a Catholic school she learned how to pray and how to work, but less about the realities of life. Boys were kept separate from girls, even during dining times. No one, not even her parents, educated her about sex. In secondary school she began to be confronted with the real world. She saw boys hanging out with girls and she was shocked. She asked her classmates, “Why do boys come to the girls’ campus?” They laughed at her, “You really don’t know?!” This began her education of the birds and the bees, but at this point in her life she was still young and not interested.

Three years later, Pelgrina decided she would try this boyfriend thing out. She started a relationship with a guy, and as is very common here, she was sexually active with him. The relationship didn’t last long. Pelgrina was mostly fulfilling her curiosity…What is a relationship? What is love?

Around that time Pelgrina’s neighbor invited her to church. It was there that she gave her life to Jesus. Soon after she met a young man named Johannes. Johannes worked with Youth for Christ. After learning more about his work with YFC, Pelgrina became quite interested and asked how she could get involved. “My heart wants to work for God,” she told him. She prayed and felt confident about her calling and told her parents. While her parents were against her decision to pursue her calling to ministry, they did see a change in her life after she became a believer and started to trust her more.

The Director of YFC challenged her to join their work in Okahanja (less than an hour from Windhoek) the following February. Her parents refused to pay or help. She managed to save some money from selling seed and made it to Okahanja on her own in time for the training course. Immediately she felt out of place. Everyone around her had university degrees and there she was in the middle. Yet in spite of her fears she felt God saying to her, “Don’t be afraid.” Someone donated money to YFC that covered her course fee and she received her certificate with honors.

Johannes asked her out, but she requested they wait two years to begin their relationship. After two years and the approval of their parents, they got married. Pelgrina was 19 years old. In 2001, they became pregnant. They baby died within three months. The following year they became pregnant again and gave birth to Joshua. Pelgrina continued her ministry with YFC, teaching abstinence and so on though she was not personally aware of or affected by HIV—or so she thought.

The same year Joshua was born Johannes got very sick. He drove himself to the clinic complaining of a painful rash. His coworkers came to visit him. Everyone was in good spirits and he was expected to be discharged the next day. A pastor brought in a private doctor who saw the rashes and suggested to Johannes’ doctor that he be tested for HIV. The next day, Johannes collapsed and fell into a coma. He died after six days in the hospital.

After the funeral, Pelgrina knew that she must get tested. She took Joshua to the clinic and they both tested positive for HIV. Pelgrina was six months pregnant when Johannes died. Three months after the birth of the new baby, Joshua got sick. Her baby was also not breathing well so they were both admitted to the hospital. The baby was released, but Joshua continued to have problems that required constant visits to the doctor.

One day, Pelgrina had left her baby at the house with her sister while she took Joshua to the hospital. When Pelgrina returned, her neighbors came out to greet her. She could sense something was wrong and thought perhaps someone had beat up her sister. As she entered the house, they told her that her baby had died. “But she was fine when I left!” Pelgrina pleaded. Her sister said she fed the baby until she fell asleep and went out to wash the dishes. She heard the baby coughing and came back to see the baby take her final breath.

Pelgrina locked herself in the room. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. She remembers during this difficult time being reminded of Daniel’s story from the Old Testament. Orders had been given that it was prohibited to pray and Daniel had to decide whether he would shut the windows and pray in secret or be bold in his faith. Like Daniel, Pelgrina felt God asking, “Are you going to hide? Or are you going to trust me?”

Joshua was two years old. He was so weak he couldn’t even walk. When Pelgrina would put him down for a nap, she feared he would never wake back up. She was able to find better medical care for him at a private hospital in Windhoek. After five days he finally started eating. His rashes cleared up in one month. He started crawling and speaking English (since that’s what he heard most from the medical staff). Within a year, he had improved tremendously. The doctors took him off ARV treatment, but Pelgrina later resumed the treatment for good measure.

Pelgrina continued her ministry with YFC. She wanted to tell her full testimony, but was quieted by the community around her. “Your husband was a respected man,” some in her church told her. In other words, AIDS is taboo and shouldn’t be a topic for discussion on any platform. Pelgrina knew that if no one is talking about AIDS in the church, then there’s a big problem. She knew she had to even if no one else would.

She began counseling others. In 2008, she remarried. Her husband is also HIV-positive. She got pregnant 3 weeks after the wedding, even after using a condom. She was worried and wondered what the next nine months would be like for her, knowing full well at the start of this pregnancy that she was HIV-positive. Despite mixed advice from others, they decided to go through with the pregnancy and trust God. The pregnancy went fine and she gave birth to a precious baby girl named Tina. The first blood test for Tina came back negative for HIV. They anxiously waited the second, crucial test. It was also negative! “Lord, surely you are God!” was her constant shout of thanksgiving.

Joshua is currently doing very well physically. Pelgrina is continuing to counsel others and teach about purity and abstinence. A major part of her ministry is sharing with others, especially young girls, about the fact that they are made in the very image of God, encouraging them to realize their value and self-worth.

I have been both blessed and challenged by hearing about Pelgrina’s life and testimony. Blessed to have met a woman who has overcome so many obstacles in life and is still striving forward, and challenged to do more to pray for and love people like Pelgrina, Joshua, and even Tina who herself isn’t infected but is very much affected by the disease. I hope you will join me in praying for this family, and for the countless others around this world (even in your very town) affected by this same disease.