Why I Didn't Panic

I had a cool moment the other week.  Three of our eighty kids were caught red-handed under the dinner table; each with a spoon in their hand and all gathered around an open jar of peanut butter.  My first reaction was “Who is responsible for this!”

Not a super big deal, right?

Well as a father of six and half of my kids being HIV+, what was cool was that my initial reaction wasn’t “Oh no what’s going to happen to so and so!”  My reaction wasn’t that, because HIV isn’t transferred through everyday activities (i.e. sharing spoons and eating out of the same jar of peanut butter.)

I didn’t need to panic. 

Before Heather and I’s journey of caring for HIV+ orphans began I would have had no idea that it is impossible to transfer HIV through everyday activities.  Now that I know, I can focus on the things that do matter, like busting whoever was the ring leader of “Operation Peanut Butter." (OPB for short)

Orphans who are HIV+ have already been abandoned by relatives.  Many have already been cast aside even by orphanages and their societies.  They don’t need another person to just walk by them or to be afraid of them.  What they do need are people who are willing to pick them up and love them.

Are you willing to adopt or foster a child who’s HIV+?

with hope,

the petersons

"The peanut butter that my children were willing to face hard time for.  And, yes, that is a Chinese Skippy Peanut Butter container."