WATCH ABOVE: Rev. Hayley, of Hayling Island Baptist Church, created a moving video detailing her journey through contracting HIV and living HIV positive.
A pastor in a small island community off the south coast of England took to YouTube to explain to her parishioners how she was struggling with the secret of her HIV status.
Rev. Hayley Young found out she was HIV positive after an attack in 2013.
But the medications she took to suppress the virus had a physical toll that she could no longer hide, including the loss of her hair.
With rumours spreading among her congregation at the Hayling Island Baptist Church (HIBC), the 28-year-old decided it was time to share her story.
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Remaining silent throughout the video, uploaded to the church’s YouTube channel on May 10, she told her story in a series of messages written on pieces of cardboard — her “Cardboard Testimony.”
She explained how she was “called into ministry” at the age of 21, before coming to HICB in 2010. She became minister a year later.
Young didn’t go into the details of the attack, but said she learned she had contracted the virus after experiencing flu-like symptoms — often a sign of HIV seroconversion.
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“No, I didn’t update my Facebook status or my Twitter feed,” read one of the pieces of cardboard she held. She explained that some of the people she told were supportive, but others were not.
“A few people said I was dangerous, I should not be near children, I was a risk,” he message reads. “Seriously, do I look dangerous to you?”
Young went on to say that she “kept smiling and joking” for the sake of her parishioners as she dealt with her personal struggle.
“I knew God was there but he seemed so far away. I struggled with understanding and I didn’t think I was: good enough, confident enough, intelligent enough to cope.
“I am scared of: not being in control, not getting old, being judged, people’s perceptions of me.”
She said, however, God tells her He loves her and knows her future and she looks to the blessings in her situation.
“I no longer have to worry about my hair going curly in the rain,” she wrote with a smiley face on the card.
“Seriously, I know that I am God’s masterpiece and He hasn’t finished with me yet. Having HIV doesn’t mean that I can’t have the quality of life that Jesus offers.”
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Young explained she isn’t bothered that some people might avoid her because they feel she’s a risk to them.
“I’m the same as I was before,” read her last card, “Just a bit more positive.”
The reaction to her testimony was positive. Young told The Independent her congregation of about 80 people “have all been amazing… and they have all been overwhelmingly supportive after I played the video — it made me very humble.”
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