A pastor’s wife, who has sought anonymity, has disclosed that she has been living with HIV for 11 years. She relives her life’s darkest moment while giving this interview.

For her, living with HIV is nothing compared to the mental and emotional torture she endured when she found out she was HIV positive. It took her a while to accept her status.

Unlike other victims of the virus who get their status from authorized medics who are required to take them through counseling sessions, she found out her positive status through her housemaid, just after firing her.

She fired her unwillingly, submitting to her husband’s qualms about the house help being pregnant. A piece of the jigsaw puzzle?

“She sent me a text message asking if we could meet, just a week after I had dismissed her. I however refused since the dismissal was my husband’s directive after we learned that she was expectant, and I did not want to disobey my husband,” she narrates.

She had been married to the bishop for 14 years. She always pitied HIV-positive people who she saw their world crumble in depression while the brave and mentally resilient few survived.

A mother to 4 children from the marriage, she never imagined that she would sheepishly become a victim in a plot between hubby and maid that she knew nothing of. At the time, two of her children were in primary school while the other two were in high school and college.

Her life in marriage was spent mostly in and around the church. The bishop and she were mostly in church, hence the need to hire a housemaid. She attended church missions faithfully and would represent her hubby when he was ‘unavailable’.

As a couple, she and the bishop were always close, sharing and consulting each other on everything before making decisions. Little did she know all hell was about to break loose on her adorable Christian family.

“My husband was this person who would visit a doctor immediately he sensed a slight issue threatening his health; he was also keen on the health of our family,” she recalled.

READ: Suzanne Silantoi: 29-year-old single girl with Sh. 36 million net worth

It eventually reached a point where the husband stopped going out of town as much as he used to, and instead, he redirected the tasks to her obedient and submissive wife. Game?

One time, she went on a church mission out of town and when she returned, rumors that had spread like wildfire around town were that her bishop husband was having an affair with the house girl.

“I came back from a church mission and a friend told me my husband was having an affair with my housemaid and that they had been in some secret joints. I dismissed the rumors and refused to listen to more,” she says.

On arriving home, she asked her husband about it. A night that ended woefully as the once peaceful couple had an extremely heated argument. This set motion for domestic violence within the home, which would eventually end their marriage harrowingly.

She recalls that six months down the line, her husband demanded from her to send the maid away after discovering that she was expectant.

She didn’t want to fire her, as she was looking forward to helping the maid, but the bishop would not let it happen.

Finally, after the maid was long gone, she reached out to her former boss and let the cat out of the bag, by text. She confirmed everything from the rumors to the secret affair with the bishop at certain joints.

The last part of the message shook her to her core and turned traumatizing.

“She asked me to take an HIV test and start medication in case it turned positive,” she says adding that the bishop knew that he was infected and was well aware that the baby the maid was carrying was his.

She wasted no time and bought test kits and brought them home. She tried to convince the bishop to partake in the tests with her. He brutally beat her up.

“I remember I woke up in hospital. My parents and my eldest son by my side, all looking at me with pity,” she recalls.

She told them everything. They threatened to report her hubby to the council of bishops, but he fled town. Later, they learned that he breathed his last after being involved in a fatal road accident in Voi.

“I confirmed my fears eventually even at his death, he just did not have a chance to apologize, and it took long for me to forgive him even in death,” she says.

She is now an advocate for frequent HIV testing for couples and a champion in the church.

“Nobody is too innocent to infect or to be infected, we are all vulnerable,” she says.

This article has been adapted from Nation Africa. Nation Africa is a publication of the Nation Media Group.