The Leprosy Mission, (TLM) an international Christian development organisation, diagnoses, treats and offers specialist care, including reconstructive surgery, to people affected by leprosy. Its aim is to help transform and empower the lives of people affected by leprosy.

Leprosy is a disease of poverty and as well as providing healthcare, TLM offers rehabilitation, education, vocational training, small business loans, housing and fresh water supplies and sanitation to tens of thousands of people each year. TLM provides a springboard to restored health, self-sufficiency and renewed hope. Its services are provided regardless of religion or ethnicity, promoting equality and social justice.

Danja village in Niger has around 7,500 inhabitants, with around 60 per cent affected by leprosy. It sprang up as a settlement close to Danja Hospital, where people who came for treatment settled because they did not want to go back to their home villages due to stigma and the distance from the hospital.

Nine leprosy-affected communities in the southern region of Maradi are encouraged to access leprosy treatment through awareness raising activities about leprosy symptoms and treatment. People affected by leprosy also receive surgery, mobility aids and help with disability prevention. Government health staff from across the region are trained to detect and treat leprosy. A range of socio-economic development activities near the hospital are also supported. Housing and water supplies are provided, and children are given support to attend school. Literacy classes are organised, especially for women, and young people are helped to access vocational training.

Danja Secondary School gets destroyed by the rains each year and must be rebuilt. Some children prefer to walk the 15km into Maradi each day to go to the secondary school, where there are about 400 students. The school is getting better at retaining girl students but early marriage and dropping out of school is still an issue. However, the local primary school has 800 children so there is a high drop-out rate.

Please pray for TLM’s work in Niger:

• Pray for people affected by leprosy in Niger who are often ostracised from their families (and even their children) once diagnosed with leprosy. Any outward signs of leprosy can cause fear and a spouse to reject husband/wife, forcing them to leave children, and devastating lives. Give thanks that TLM is helping people affected by leprosy to piece their shattered lives back together through surgery, training and education and pray that more will come forward for help.
• Give thanks for the opportunities that The Leprosy Mission can give to people affected by leprosy. Opportunities for medical care, school education and training for employment. Give thanks that these opportunities are life-changing, like the adult literacy classes which enable people to read and write, giving them better chances of employment so they can help support their families. Pray that more people will be encouraged to come forward early for diagnosis and treatment, knowing that they can also benefit from the same care, education and training.
• Pray that more reliable, clean water supplies will be provided to Danja hospital and nearby communities in Niger, so that hope is restored and risk to health is reduced because people do not need to walk such long distances to unclean wells.
• Pray for Danja Leprosy Referral Hospital in Niger, which faces financial, staffing and resources challenges. Ask God to meet these needs to ensure the smooth running of the centre and the best possible service for people affected by leprosy.
• Pray for Issa, a former leprosy patient, who is now the chairperson of the International Association for Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement (IDEA). Give thanks for the encouragement he gives to other members of IDEA, through his own testimony, as they share their experiences, touching other people and bringing about a better understanding of leprosy.

Thank you so much for praying for people affected by leprosy and TLM's work with the many people who are still marginalised, disabled and shunned just because they have leprosy.
Your prayers really do make a difference.

Source: The Leprosy Mission

Jason and Nisae Williamson are planting a church among the Iski people group in Papua New Guinea. Anka, an elderly man, was sent to their village so that he could hear the good news, as the believers in his family were concerned about his age and declining health. Anka is at least 80 with a palpable fear of death. Local religious leaders said he had to earn his way to heaven, and he needed to worship and appease the spirits. The Williamsons prayed that Anka would receive Jesus before he died. After four months of morning Bible study, Anka was overflowing with joy: ‘Now I know that Jesus paid for my sins and I’m a child of God. I do not fear death any more, I will die and be with God!’ He had been born again and was filled with the Spirit.