NEW YORK – “Peace be with you,” says Frank P. Tomaselli Jr. as he ends a conversation. But these words are more than a greeting to Tomaselli, they’re a way of life.

Growing up in a household where his parents used insulting names instead of encouraging words, Tomaselli eventually began using drugs and contracted HIV/AIDS.

Four years ago Tomaselli met Ronnie Adams, one of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Global Missions field personnel, at a Bible study for an AIDS service organization. Filled with fear about his past, Tomaselli recalled wondering, “How can God forgive me for all the things I’ve done to support my habit for years?”

Tomaselli found words of hope from a local priest who told him, “If God can forgive the six billion people in the world, he can forgive you.”

Adams recalled the change in Tomaselli. “He accepted that forgiveness and is a strong leader. He is a more effective missionary to the AIDS community than I am,” Adams admitted.

Tomaselli wants to share the peace he found with others who have HIV/AIDS. “I really love speaking about God to people, especially the lost,” said Tomaselli, who sees himself in the people he encounters. “My past is dead. When I see it, I know where I was.

“If I can preach to people with my own disease and they say, ‘Wow, if he can do it, I want to be saved,’” Tomaselli said his efforts are worthwhile.

A native New Yorker who describes himself as reading at a second grade level, Tomaselli learned the Bible by repeatedly listening to audio tapes for a year. Saying he felt like a modern-day Moses – a man with a message but without the right words – Tomaselli prayed for guidance as he learned the Scriptures and studied devotional guides.

Without money to attend Bible school, Tomaselli enrolled in a correspondence Bible study course. Now, he teaches at Bible studies, filling in when Adams is out of town.

Tomaselli said he wants to live out the verse in Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not, for I am with you.” And he wants to share his hope with others. “I love to tell people where I got it in the Bible, where I had fears in my life.”

Peace be with you.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.