A dear friend, Jeanette Whitson just shared her absolutely brilliant idea with me. She has decided that, instead of buying more stuff for family and friends for Christmas, she is going to donate the money she would have spent to American Leprosy Mission in their names. Isn't that brilliant?

If I may ask, as Resurrection Fellowship is working very closely with Karigiri in India, if you are willing to do so, please mark the gift for Karigiri.

Below is a copy of their donation page.  https://leprosy.secure-donor.com/give?source=I2012WEBS

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I would like my donation to benefit:	Where Most Needed - (1000)  Leprosy Cure and Care - (4020)  Vaccine Research - (7093)  Buruli Ulcer - (5322)  Cure for Congo - (5162)  TRUTH Campaign - Cure for Congo (5162)  J&B Oehrig - International Program (1115)
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For those who are beginning to read this blog or perhaps are picking up where you left off before all the photographs were added...please scroll down to the bottom of each page until you get to the beginning of the blog or the place where you last read an entry...
I know that a lot of this is like drinking from a fire-hose, but if you begin at the bottom and work your way up to the top bit by bit you will digest the elephant in the end.
I do wish to ask for your prayers for those who attended the Global Alpha Training seminar, for the work and the workers at Karigiri, and for the work of ALM worldwide.
Blessings.
Johann

The Kingdom of Light against the kingdom of darkness...

Karigiri's chaplain, the Rev. T. Devadoss...he needs your prayers...

Below are a few photographs of temples and those who worship there...

A 100 day work program...these women have been employed by the government for 100 days...in this case, to help repair a road...those pails are full of dirt...

This lady works alongside her neighbors...however, she has active leprosy...

Note the white patch in the sore...Dr. Thomas said he would report the case...

A colony...not a success story...while the residents have been taken care of in their own community, no outsiders want to live here in spite of the fact that the disease is no longer a reality and the next generations have not been effected at all...

I was fascinated how this long time resident chopped away the husk from a coconut...but this task could result in an injury.

Cheerful healed long term residents...

A long term resident, but I never did find out the whole sad story...

The next generation...

Cured, but still  as outsider...

Other residents...

The pictures speak for themselves...

New friends...Augustine and Valsa...in their home after a spectacular meal!

Shanthigramam - a place to bless you, humble you, break your heart, and change your life forever...

A few of the neat cottages where the rejected residents live out the autumn of their lives.  Neither family nor friend wants anything to do with them...

A few more cottages...please note how neat these are...the residents do all this work without fingers...

The beautiful chapel, again cared for by the residents, especially one little chap...

The residents...oh the joy was palpable! Many have become Christians simply through the love shown to them by the Christian staff...by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, Jesus said, by the love you have for one another...I prayed for them and they sang for me...beautiful angelic voices...

The staff...earthly angels...

Pattu - her first message was for me to tell Sue Renault (by name!) that she still has the music box given to her...years ago...

The man who keeps the chapel...his cottage was by far the neatest of them all... which is saying a lot!  These small things still give them dignity...

Here my heart broke...this dear lady...a daughter of God...was weeping because none of her family had visited her...I still had IR 600 in ten rupee notes, so I asked the Social Worker to buy them all all sweet treats from us, the US family...

Quite a card...I asked her to smile and she burst out laughing...

This gentleman wanted me to see his vegetable and fruit tree garden...how did he do this without fingers?  It is an amazing garden...straight furrows...how did he plant the seeds?  But he was so proud of what he could do...

Another beautiful person...one for whom Jesus died...one whom Jesus loves and touches through us, His hands and feet...ah, how we take a touch for granted!  That is all they wanted...to be touched...

This lady was one of two who were too sick to join the group outside...the other lady was dying...I prayed with each one and with the group...

Schieffelin Institute of Health

The Director, Dr. Mannam Ebeneezer and his right hand...er...woman, Gladys.

The rubber mill, dedicate by one of our own members...

The process of making the micro cellular rubber ready for special shoes...it is soft and spongy, yet tough enough to protect sensation-less feet.

The rubber is harvested from rubber trees in Kerala and then prepared for transport in this form...

The the micro cellular rubber is taken to this building where...

shoes are made for...

all types of feet...

or for those who have no feet...

or for those who have lost parts of their feet...

I bought a custom made pair of sandals to take back with me for "show and tell" at our Diocesan Meeting in December...this is the chap who made them...

This is one way to keep pressure off injured feet...but this only comes after the ulcer is cured...and that may be a long time coming...

Surgery can reverse the complications of leprosy in the hands of sufferers...the hand on the left was once like the hand on the right...this man was waiting for the next part of the process...

The man on the right is an electrician...a man who needs his hands...without the surgery his claw-like hands would have made his job difficult if not impossible...

Then there are sad stories like this...this man ulcer became so bad that his leg had to be amputated...this could have been prevented, but there is only so much the staff at Karigiri can do...

There is a great need for education in the villages...