Go ye into ALL the world....
I visited a leper colony today. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian government has declared that leprosy has been eradicated in India. This is true when you consider that 1 infected person in 10,000 is considered acceptable. A few points: Indies population is over 1 billion which means there are over 100,000 known cases of leprosy, it is transmitted through contact and is highly contagious with open wounds adding to the rate of contagion, it is a completely curable disease for which the government will gladly provide the necessary medications.
So what's the problem? Where to begin; education, social stigma, superstition, ignorance - I can't even begin to list them all. I thought I was covered with all the vaccinations I had before coming. I never expected to be exposed to this. In all honesty, I don't even know that much about the disease, how it progresses, or the ramifications. The man who took me directs a facility providing not only medicines but education and physical therapy as well. These people truly are looked on as the lowest of animals and to see how completely beaten they are, not only physically but emotionally, might be the most heart wrenching sight yet. Help is there, this man is begging them to take the free gift that will save their lives, take away the pain and rebuild their futures. I don't understand why they refuse it.
Sound familiar?
The message is the same though the gift is different so he goes again. Tomorrow he will visit a different camp, and later this week he will return to the colony we just left. He keeps going, never giving up, and maybe once or twice a month someone will leave with him. I'm in awe of his dedication and his unwavering service as well as the steadfast confidence that his success is 'not driven by the number of patients I drop at the clinic doors but by honoring Christ in His call to heal the lepers for the glory of His kingdom'. (Matthew 10)
2 Comments:
I actually said the words "shut up!" after reading the first few lines. Then I yelled to your mom who was walking by in the hall to confirm what I was reading. She didn't seem surprised at all.
I think I am awed by the man who goes back time after time hoping for just one, not a mass number. Isn't that the heart of God's work? Go in for the one lost sheep. If more follow, then great. But our motivation must be for the one.
I started to cry when you told me about Pratiksha. God does an amazing thing by knitting our heart to another. Its not as though we single out a child and choose her. But at some point we know that we will be forever connected to that child. Before I left Ukraine, before I ever let myself imagine that Kristina could be my daughter, I covenented with God to be her spiritual mother; to be the one who prayed over her and for her.
I wish at times that God would let me walk the road that allowed me to work in a place like this for $140/month. Things seemed so much more focused when I was with the children. Though there were more hands pulling at me in Ukraine, its not like the tugging that goes on here. You'll find that you've left a part of you in India when you come home. And you'll spend an endless amount of time trying to return to look for it in the faces of the ones that are now a part of you. Count your moments with them and take more pictures. We're counting the days until you're home.
12:15 AM
Wow...that first line was great! How many times in your life can you say that. Years ago I read a book by Dr. Paul Brand (who incidentally wrote the forward to the LMS book that we use here at Orangewood...fun random fact....) who worked as a dr in India with the Lepers. It was an amazing book and I can only imagine what it is like to go there.
I was moved by the Christ-likeness of the one man who goes...even more moved by the many who choose to stay. How many times doesnt Christ come to me and say "My burden is easy and my load is light" and I choose to stay with the big boulder on my back saying..."No thanks..got it just fine!" WOW! It makes it so clear when you write it like you do!
Ive also reflected on how your journey has moved the ones who visit your blog. How it reveals parts of ourselves to each other and to you...how it changes us even as we stay here. Thank you for allowing us a window. It has mattered and it has changed thought processes in my own life.
I cant wait to see you when you return. Im praying for you today, Tuesday, November 28. MUAH! xoxoox
7:13 AM
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