Roy is animated as he tells a story to the children.

Avis had told God that if He let her have Nikki, she would open a home for AIDS orphans. With Nikki adopted as part of the Rideout family and growing stronger by the day, it was time to act.

Avis and Roy found a large house in Chiang Mai, and began praying for another miracle. It is virtually impossible for foreigners to receive a license to operate an orphanage in Thailand. God would have to make a way.

The Rideouts already had seen God work wonders. They marveled as He did it again.

“We didn’t have to do anything,” Roy said. “God did it all, getting interviews with government officials that normally would take forever. She would get to talk to them right on the spot.”

“Just suppose I didn’t take those boys in. They would have died. They would have died from pneumonia, they would have died from rejection. We want to give these kids a chance to live.”

The license was granted, and Agape Home was ready to open its doors. Avis went back to Bangkok, and asked for more children with AIDS.

“I said give me the ones who have been rejected, the ones that no one wants,” Avis said.

All of the more than 120 children who have been cared for at Agape Home were born to HIV-positive mothers, and all of them tested positive initially. But not all of them remained positive.

Between 50-70 percent of all babies born to mothers with HIV initially test positive because of the mother’s antibodies, not because they have the virus. By the age of 2, they no longer are in danger. Thirty-seven of the children at Agape Home have become negative and been adopted.

This girl loved the attention she received while having her fingernails trimmed. .

“These kids who convert back, they come in as if they were HIV-positive,” Avis said. “You can’t tell. The symptoms are the same. One boy tested positive because of antibodies from the mother, and he came in sick and dying. Now he’s HIV-negative. Another boy was 2 _ pounds. Nobody could tell he would ever be negative. I did a blood test two weeks ago, and the virus is gone. Just suppose I didn’t take those boys in. They would have died. They would have died from pneumonia, they would have died from rejection. We want to give these kids a chance to live.”