Education
We provide education services.... Medical Services
We provide medical services... Community Development
We provide community development services... In May my friends and I visited a leprosy rehabilitation village near Lincang City in Yunnan Province. The village is now also called “natural village,” because after treatments, the leprosy patients here are basically no longer infectious, and they can live with their children.
When the head of the village led us into this village comprising only two rows of mud houses, the leprosy patients looked rather lonely and detached. When we reached out to hold their deformed hands and talked with them,
however, I noticed that their rigid faces immediately showed a trace of smile. They kindly fetched small benches, invited us to sit down, and brought us tea to drink.
We sang a few short songs and explained to them the meaning of the lyrics. They kept saying thanks to us. These people, once abandoned by their relatives and friends, were deeply moved when they heard about the Almighty who never abandon us love each and every one in the world.
Presently, in the three local “natural villages,” our co-workers continue to help villagers with their rehabilitation so that their wounds can heal. They also teach the villagers simple health care and hygienic knowledge. In order to make ends meet, the villagers can’t stay at home to hasten the healing of the wounds, and they have to work in the fields. To prevent the wounds on their feet from deteriorating, we have designed special protective shoes and special insoles for patients recovering from ulcers. Once they put on the shoes, the pressure on the ulcerated areas will be minimized, which will promote healing of the wounds. Not long ago, we ordered some protective shoes designed by us, and our co-workers delivered the shoes to Fengqing and Mengding rehabilitation villages in mid June. When the villagers received these gifts of love, their faces bloomed with angelic smiles.
Rehabilitation villages are located in very remote mountain areas. Before entering fourth grade, the children have to stay in the village school run by two volunteer teachers. The walls of the school are about to collapse and the classroom equipment is very crude. Because their relatives suffered from leprosy, they are often discriminated by fellow students from outside the villages. Please pray for the children in these villages.
We provide different types of services to the rehabilitation villages. In medical care, we help leprosy patients recover and provide health care and hygienic education; in education, we provide early childhood education to the children; in mental health, we reconstruct the value system of the villagers and help them re-claim human values; and in community development, we assist in the reconstruction of housing.
When hearing of leprosy, most people would stay away as soon as possible, but I want to repeat that the patients in the three rehabilitation villages are no longer infectious. Although they are very poor, they are more in need of love, care, and acceptance. We hope that more people are willing to become carriers of love.
