Leprosy Ministry
Touching The Untouchables
Independent Church in India reaches out to touch those with leprosy and show these hurting and outcast people, known as the "untouchables" of India, the love of Jesus! We are doing ministry and are constantly reaching out to many people with leprosy. Countless lives have been transformed and made whole again by Jesus' love and the love of ICII’s Gospel workers!
Just Imagine For A Moment...
Imagine that you have leprosy. You are homeless on the street, because your wife, children, and everyone you knew drove you away, saying, "Go, die somewhere else." You have to beg for your food, or search for scraps in the cast-off garbage. Except that lately, your eyesight has been fading. Now, you can’t see clearly enough to pick the dirt, insects, and spoilage from the meager meals you manage to find; you just have to eat and hope for the best. Now, when you hear the usual rude remarks, you can’t even see who it is who is cursing you as an untouchable. Shocking to imagine? This is daily life for multitudes of older leprosy victims in India.
Mark 1:40-42 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
Leprosy Friends' Testimonies
A person stricken with leprosy in India lives the most miserable and lonely life imaginable. The Lord had a divine appointment for these people struggling with leprosy whom the Independent Church in India team met at the government hospital and preached the Gospel to them. Read the heart-wrenching testimonies of some of those with leprosy whom the Gospel team met. Find out how you can get involved in helping them to rebuild their shattered lives through Jesus Christ.
Man of Hope Abraham
Palaniyammal’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Panjavarnam’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Pappathi’s Testimony (Leprosy)
A Letter From the Women at the New Life Leprosy Colony
A Letter From the Men at the New Life Leprosy Colony
Rathnam’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Chinnathai’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Pushpam’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Kosangi’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Vellathayee’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Leprosy Friends’ Testimonies
Saveriayar Leprosy Testimony
Seniyammal Leprosy Testimony
How Did ICII Get Involved In Leprosy Ministry?
One day about eleven years ago, while trying to do ministry in a very unreceptive village, the ICII team met a woman named Udaiyammal who had leprosy. Kathy touched her, and the village people, who shunned Udaiyammal as an "untouchable", were so amazed and curious about what Kathy was doing that they gathered around to see. When they saw Kathy and Pastor Britto showing Udaiyammal compassion and bandaging her wounds, they opened up to us, and allowed us to minister in the whole village.
What Is ICII Doing About Leprosy?
ICII is involved in many kinds of outreach to help those with leprosy. We provide food, clothing and medical help to victims who live in government and private colonies and to those who are homeless. We also operate our own shelter, called the Promised Land Leprosy Community, and we have a weekly church service for those with leprosy. You can learn more by clicking on the links below.
Ways You Can Help
Help us reach out to leprosy victims in the love of Jesus. Your donation will help to bring them the Gospel, discipleship, food, clothing, medical care, and much more!. 100% of donations to this program will be used for leprosy ministry.
Leprosy Medical and Food Pack
You can provide basic medical care and a bag of rice, lentils, and Indian spices for a poor person with leprosy. These are the poorest of the poor, the “untouchables” of India. Your gift will provide food to help a needy leprosy victim to survive, and medical treatment to bring relief for their ulcers and infections.
Leprosy Outreach Ministry News
Update from the Smith’s in India reaching Leprosy Colonies
Medical Needs Provided For Leprosy Colony
Helen Mary Orphanage & Leprosy Testimony
Man of Hope Abraham
Palaniyammal’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Panjavarnam’s Testimony (Leprosy)
Pappathi’s Testimony (Leprosy)
A Letter From the Women at the New Life Leprosy Colony
What Is Leprosy?
Down through the pages of human history, no affliction of man has inspired more dread, more disgust, more revulsion than leprosy. From Biblical times even to this very day in many places in the world, those who contract leprosy are not merely pitied but are shunned, abandoned, ostracized, persecuted, even feared. Not only regarded as a horrifying affliction of the physical body, in many cultures it is traditionally associated with diseases of the soul: sin, bad karma, a curse inflicted on one who knowingly or not has somehow offended in this life or a previous existence, and deserves this unthinkable punishment.
Even called "the living death", it is considered a fate far worse than death.
The Effects of Leprosy
Leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease of the skin and nerves. It is caused by the organism mycobacterium leprae.
Starting as a light-colored, insensitive patch of skin, the disease progresses as the bacteria multiply and invade the nerves below the skin. Soon, the victim experiences loss of the sensation of touch in the extremities, which gives rise to a host of complications. Without pain as a warning, everyday activities such as work or cooking frequently produce unrealized injuries like cuts and burns.
These wounds often go untreated and become seriously infected. Eventually, the infections lead to loss of fingers or toes, one of the hallmarks of the disease. Damaged nerves lead to weakness and disability of the limbs. Facial deformities and vision impairment are also common with advanced leprosy. The leprosy bacteria cause other deformities such as affecting the facial features.
Leprosy's Effect On Eyes
Some of the most debilitating effects of leprosy are to the eyes of its victims. The disease attacks the vision in various ways. Many older people with leprosy develop cataracts, which is a leading cause of blindness among leprosy victims. Leprosy and blindness often seem to go hand-in-hand, vastly increasing the suffering of the victim, who is already dealing with a life of devastating disability and social stigma.
While most of the effects of advanced leprosy are beyond medical reversal, there is hope for better vision for many victims with cataracts through a relatively routine eye surgery. Sadly, most leprosy sufferers in India either can’t afford or don’t know how to obtain treatment, and so their vision, like their other senses, gradually fades, and darkness envelops their lives.
How Is Leprosy Spread?
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), leprosy can be spread from person to person, possibly through airborne droplets from coughing or sneezing. However, there is evidence that up to 95% of adults won't get leprosy even if exposed to the bacteria, says CDC's page on leprosy exposure.
Is There A Cure For Leprosy?
The bacteria which cause leprosy can be killed using a combination of drugs, called multidrug therapy (MDT). The World Health Organization supplies these drugs free of charge in countries where leprosy is endemic. However, victims with advanced leprosy often have nerve damage, disabilities, disfigurement, and other complications that can't be so easily reversed.
Social Treatment of People With Leprosy In India
Rejected by all whom they loved or knew, the victim wanders the streets alone, enduring the hurled stones and curse words, begging even for a morsel of food or a sip of water. In most developed countries, leprosy is so exceedingly rare that even the very concept seems like but a shadowy myth whose origins are shrouded in mystery and vanished long ago into the swirling mists of time. But it is a very real disease that affects hundreds of thousands of living souls throughout the world today.
How We Treat Leprosy As Christians
Jesus cleansed people with leprosy and opened the eyes of the blind. He cares deeply for the suffering of India’s most untouchable “untouchables”. Through His grace, Independent Church In India is excited to present an opportunity for leprosy victims in our area to have cataract surgery at a reasonable cost. Eye Hospital a city in our area, has offered to make surgery available to our Leprosy Friends who have cataracts for only $80 per patient! Many leprosy friends can have better vision simply through glasses, which Eye Hospital will provide for only $35. This is possible through the hospital’s charitable program, which is available now.
Please prayerfully consider helping a leprosy victim to better vision. Your love gift can make a tremendous difference in the quality of a desperately needy leprosy friend’s life.
Leprosy Photos
Subscribe To Receive Updates About Ministry