Healing the Lepers

Luke 5:12-13

"While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.'"

"Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' And immediately the leprosy left him."

Under Jewish law, lepers were deemed unclean (Leviticus 13). They were to be separated from society ("leper colony") and never to be touched. It is significant that Jesus broke this law and reached out and touched this man and healed him.

Does society have "lepers" today? In some areas of the world, the church is afraid to reach out to people with HIV/AIDS. There is a strong social stigma that surrounds those with the disease, regardless of how they may have contracted it. There are myths about how to contract it, how to cure it and how to prevent it that are devastating people's lives.

As Jesus's example here shows, it is imperative that Christians lead the way to reach out to these people - to heal their physical hurts, to help their families grieve, to offer grace and forgiveness where it's needed. This is an opportunity for ministry - to show the love of Christ around the world through this overwhelming need.

Dr. Bruce Smith, an HIV doctor from Redlands, California, and an elder in his church is dedicating himself to this work. Dr. Smith served as a medical missionary from 1982 to 1990 in Central America and has since worked in the HIV clinic of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health - one of the largest health departments in the U.S. His main work is in Maternal-Child Health, working to improve the lives of women and children. Since 2003, he has worked to equip African church leaders to deal with the problem at hand.

Dr. Smith and his wife Beth accompanied our team on our trip to Malawi and we worked with them to hold the HIV/AIDS Seminar on July 5. They are working towards the goal of doing this type of work full-time.

If you would like to contact Dr. Smith to learn more about his efforts or get involved, you can email him at cbsmith4@gte.net.

I will post updates to his ministry here as I get them. It's an awesome issue - so BIG that only GOD can help us address it.