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Leprosy Outreaches
"And behold a leper came to Him and bowed down to Him saying,
"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Matthew 8:2
Few humans experience the kind of rejection that lepers live day after day. At Hopegivers, we are commanded to see Christ in the face of every person, regardless of the deformity. By ministering the love of Christ to these people, many leper parents lovingly and unselfishly send their children to our Hope Homes in order to protect them from contracting this debilitating disease. The love of God poured into their children frequently inspires them to return to the leper colony and their families, so they too can share God's love. The Circle of Hope continues to live on and minister hope from the inside out!
Leprosy In India
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Although leprosy (Hansen's
Disease) is practically non-existent in the United States, it is an ongoing
problem for India where 60% of the world's lepers live. This insidious and
painless disease secretly eats away at the victims' extremities. Although less
infectious than measles or tuberculosis, without proper medication - MDT (Multi Drug Therapy) - these
precious people will continue to lose their fingers, hands, toes, feet, noses,
eyes and ears over time. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease; there is
medication to cure, or at the very least, arrest its progression which creates
horrific deformities.
Lepers survive by going from house to house begging. They will go to as many as 100 homes daily, but procure barely enough to eat for one day. Lepers possess nothing; there is no hope for healing, and no hope - outside of begging - to make a living. They don't even have the hope of going to heaven one day, because most people won't get near enough to share the Gospel with them.
In 1978, the Lord poured His love for these outcasts of
society into the heart of Dr. M. A. Thomas. Visiting a leper colony on the
outskirts of Delhi, Dr. Thomas could see the longing for love in the eyes of
the lepers. Yet, he knew that just telling these souls that "God loves them"
would be a difficult truth for them to swallow. They needed to experience the
love of God through their fellow man.
When Dr. Thomas learned that leprosy is not hereditary, he decided to
rescue their children - with their consent - and give them an opportunity to
escape this disease.
Once he began to take these at-risk children into the Hope Homes, many criticized him saying, "Are you going to help all 4.5 million lepers of India?" Dr. Thomas' answer was simple. "No, but if I can help just one of them, the numbers will be 4.5 million minus one!"
Once the lepers saw the love of Christ at work in their
children, many responded by receiving Christ as their Savior. Once a leper
accepts Christ, they frequently abandon begging as a source of income. They
look for ways to support their families like making candles, weaving and
embroidering linens, and raising chickens. At Hopegivers we try to support their efforts wherever it is
financially possible. Our job is always to bring hope from the inside out;
Christ nurtures their souls within and we - as brothers and sisters in Christ -
are to help them, wherever possible, re-claim some human dignity by leading
productive lives.
I love that God is not afraid to touch any one of us, whether we are lepers on the inside or on the outside! He does not see any as hopeless; neither did Dr. M. A. Thomas and Hopegivers International!
Please pray and ask the Lord how He would have you help us minister to the souls and bodies of some of the most "rejected" of mankind. We need the help of God's people to pour the Father's love into bodies that need healing, and hearts that hunger for the hope only God can supply!
"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. "Romans 5:5
"Bringing Hope from the Inside Out!"
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