The Leprosy Mission (TLM) is an international Christian development organisation that diagnoses, treats and offers specialist care, including reconstructive surgery, to leprosy patients. Its aim is to 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.

Stigma
Widely believed to be the world's oldest disease, leprosy is also one of the world's most stigmatised. A specialist approach is required to educate, encourage and empower people to stand up for their human rights. Age-old stigma surrounding leprosy sees entire families robbed of their job opportunities, education, marriage prospects and their dreams shattered.

Fears and misunderstandings surrounding leprosy, such as the disease being a curse for some alleged misdeed, are widespread. In turn they fuel a vicious circle that begins with those affected hiding the first suspect skin patches in order to avoid being shunned by their families and becoming a social outcast.

Three million disabled
Leprosy is a mildly-infectious disease caused by a bacillus called Mycobacterium leprae – a relative of the TB bacillus. It occurs where there is dirty water, bad nutrition and poor standards of living, meaning people's immune systems are not strong and they are unable to fight the disease.

World Health Organisation figures reveal there are around a quarter of a million new cases of leprosy diagnosed globally each year. Globally, there are more than three million people living with irreversible disabilities, including blindness, as a result of the late treatment of leprosy.

The Leprosy Mission England & Wales concentrates its efforts on 11 countries. It works closely with staff in these Asian and African nations to provide and evaluate a range of different projects that help transform the lives of leprosy-affected people. As a global charity, The Leprosy Mission works in around 30 leprosy-endemic countries.

Please would you pray for The Leprosy Mission's work? If you would like a copy of the annual prayer diary, ASK, please contact us.

Pray for The Leprosy Mission England and Wales's CREATE (CSOs (Civil Society Organisations) for Resource mobilisation, Advocacy, Training & Employment) project in four states in India (Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) which aims to challenge and address stigma and discrimination where people live by raising awareness of needs in local communities. Pray that the results of this will mean that neighbours will not reject and ill-treat those with/affected by leprosy. Pray also that mainstream employers will open up employment opportunities to people affected by leprosy, thus challenging discrimination. Give thanks for the project and pray that the leprosy-affected will be enabled to train for work and get jobs that will enable them to set up their own sustainable micro-businesses.

25 April 2016 is the anniversary of the devastating earthquakes in Nepal.

You can help to 'Rebuild Nepal' and transform lives for leprosy-affected people.

Hold a World Leprosy Day January – 25 April 2016
www.worldleprosysunday.org.uk 

Picture: Narasannapeta Colony in Andhra Pradesh, helped by TLMEW's work in conjunction with Brighter Future.

The internet has become an essential part of everyday life, with live streaming used for video calls, sporting events and news updates. Yet there is a sickening and fast-growing issue where individuals, often from the West, use live streaming to pay to watch and participate in the live sexual abuse of children in developing countries, often involving children who are have been trafficked or coerced into performing these acts.

IJM's offices in the Philippines have been involved in cases of cybersex trafficking in 2011, and have already rescued children as young as 2 years old from this type of oppression. The Philippines is ranked as the top country producing and distributing videos of child abuse. This crime is escalating, and the links to the UK cannot be ignored.

On the 26th April 2016, International Justice Mission is joining with Christians in Government for a day of prayer and fasting. Join with us in the Chapel at Central Hall Westminster at 6-7.30pm to pray that governments, international law enforcement and internet providers would work closely together to bring an end to this crime.

If you cannot attend the event in London please pray where you are, whether alone or in a group, so that across the UK and the world we are united in prayer against this issue. Please join with us in praying that this exploitation would be brought out of the shadows and into the light. Pray that God would change the hearts and minds of both those who pay to watch this abuse and those who perform or arrange the abuse.

Read more: www.ijmuk.org/blog/filipino-children-young-2-rescued-cybersex-trafficking

International Justice Mission is a global organisation that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world. IJM partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen justice systems. Inspired by God's call to love all people and to seek justice, IJM's team of Christian lawyers, social workers, investigators and other professionals protect the poor from violence without regard to race, religion or any other factor. www.ijmuk.org