"... as real as their wounds"

When you hear leper what comes to mind? For real…Take a sec & think about it….

Maybe it’s suffering…Maybe it’s wounds…Maybe it’s merely a term that reminds you of Bible stories you’ve heard…For me, my first thought was rejection.  And in some ways that word is accurate but upon leaving the colony I’ve replaced that word with a new one…REJOICE! Our group’s eyes welled up with tears as we went hut to hut hearing people’s stories…

One man was very well educated, a Psychologist prior to catching the disease. One was a missionary & came back to see his daughter marry & got it. The woman pictured below had 4 children before she contracted it at the age of 25. One couple’s 5 year old daughter now lives at a hostel because they now cannot work & care for her And this is just to list a few.

Despite all these tragedies the believing lepers all rejoiced knowing that some day they would physically be renewed & standing in the presence of God for eternity. I wish you could hear the sincerity in their voices. Heaven for them wasn’t this far off hopeful idea, but it was as real as their wounds.

This woman was the oldest in the village (She doesn’t know how old she is) Her frail little body curled up upon her door step livened as she raised her fingerless fists in the air saying: “I look forward to the day I rejoice in Heaven with you!” In the world’s eye’s she has nothing but in my heart I envy her because her faith is everything.

We came across this man just before getting back on the bus. I think for many of us these last moments were some of our favorite of the day. As David danced in the King’s courts this man could not contain the joy that was in his heart for the Lord. After much singing, and putting his handless arm upon our foreheads blessing us he got all the more excited as he loudly exclaimed: “When you die & go to Heaven you’ll be in the presence of JESUS!”

-Missy & Bart