KristiApplesauce, who lives and works in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, shared some sobering statistics and photos on her blog yesterday.

The newest statistics states that one in five South African adults are infected with HIV/AIDS. Infected NOT affected.

Last week we had a few people visiting and we took them to a cemetery that a few of our friends are buried in and it is staggering to see this fairly new cemetery grow and grow even in the short time we have lived here. It goes on for miles and miles. Every time we drive by it seems like they are adding on or knocking down something to make the cemetery larger. It is gigantic already, I can’t imagine what it will look like in 5 years.

While we were there, there were some men digging new graves with picks, no shovels were seen and we were talking about how hard it must be to work like that and we couldn’t help but think that one of them was in essence digging their own. I wonder how many more will have to be dug before we are all forgotten in this graveyard of a country.

Now I know these aren’t the kind of pictures we like to look at right before the weekend. It would be easier if we didn’t have to have these images stuck in our mind. It would be more convenient to pretend statistics and places like that don’t exist.

Pray for Kristi and other missionaries like her who are working in a country that is devestated by this terrible disease. You can get involved by learning more and by giving to organizations like Blood:Water Mission who are making a difference.