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10.07.04 Jerry Thacker, founder and president of Scepter Institute Inc. President of Scepter Institute brings faith to bear on AIDS experience Jerry Thacker, founder and president of Scepter Institute Inc., seems to have a lot in common with Job, the biblical character known for patience under adversity. Thacker, his wife Sue, and their baby daughter Sarah all contracted HIV in 1984 through a blood transfusion given to his wife following childbirth. The couple's 16-year-old son, Jared — who was not infected with HIV — died of meningitis in 1995. Since being diagnosed with HIV, Thacker, who has never smoked, has undergone surgery for cancer of the esophagus. But patience is not the end of the story for Thacker, who spoke to Erskine students Thursday as part of the Erskine Lectures series sponsored by Erskine Theological Seminary. Thacker's life-affirming response to sorrow and loss is an active one as he works through his non-profit corporation to ensure that fewer people become infected with HIV, that more people embrace premarital abstinence and marital fidelity, and that pregnancy care centers flourish for mothers and babies who need assistance. Thacker and his family have faced difficulties many people would find unbearable, but he said he keeps in mind three tasks he believes are essential in life. "Glorify God, take care of your family and help others," he said. He and his wife were diagnosed with HIV in 1986, but kept it a secret at first. "There was a dread and hysteria about this disease at that time," he said. "For seven years we kept silent as we heard the sick AIDS jokes — and didn't laugh," he said. "Someone I knew even told me that everyone with AIDS should be placed in a concentration camp." Not knowing how long they would have with their children, Thacker and his wife determined that they would teach their children to trust in God. "We must purpose to love God even when things don't seem sensible," he said. "Sometimes God doesn't answer the 'why' questions," he said. "God is God — we're not." Thacker recalled the troubles of Job, who lost 10 children, was stripped of all his wealth, and was afflicted with a skin ailment so miserable that he "sat down among the ashes" scraping himself with a shard of pottery. Thacker said Job's "character and the things he did were in his life before his troubles started." "Trials show basic character, and basic character is enhanced by trials," he told students. "The question for you young people is not if God will take you through trials, but when God will take you through trials." Stressing the importance of serving God through suffering and pain, Thacker said, "Things that come may be hard and make you want to quit," adding that he and his wife have experienced despair at times. "Grace is something we need to pray for daily," he said. Thacker spoke poignantly of his children and expressed gratitude for the four grandchildren his eldest daughter has given him and his wife. He read an excerpt from the writings of his late son Jared, who found coping with his family's situation difficult. His son had gone through a lot of anger about the illness of his parents and sister. "I had taught him some karate, and he broke all the wood I had in the basement," Thacker said. But some time before Jared's death, which came some 30 hours after the onset of pneumococcal meningitis, the teenager had arrived at acceptance and had even spoken on the podium with his father. He asked for prayers for his youngest daughter, a junior in college. "She's a virgin, she's got HIV, and she's trying to figure out where she fits in this world," he said. Thacker is founder and president of Scepter Institute Inc., president of Right Ideas Inc., a marketing and communications firm, and publisher of "At the Center" and other magazines. He has written about his family's situation in a book entitled "When AIDS Comes Home." Thacker was part of a quasi-governmental team that visited Uganda to research the effective HIV/AIDS reduction program going on there. He also has developed training seminars for missionaries and other field workers around the world. Originally from West Virginia, Thacker is a graduate of Bob Jones University. |
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