On 28 March, a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook Myanmar. It claimed nearly 4,000 lives. It plunged an already suffering nation deeper into crisis.

Since the military coup in 2021, Myanmar has been in turmoil. The United Nations estimate the conflict has claimed over 6,800 lives. More than 3.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of the fighting. Press freedom has been silenced, so much of the hardship is hidden from the world.

The earthquake’s epicentre was just outside the north-western town of Sagaing. This is an area impacted by fighting between the military and pro-democracy forces. A short distance away, Mandalay – Myanmar’s second-largest city – was decimated. With the economy in tatters, rubble from flattened buildings still lines the streets. Now, post-earthquake, the United Nations warns of a ‘catastrophic’ humanitarian crisis.

Even before the earthquake, access to healthcare was scarce. Years of violence had made travel dangerous. The only two specialist hospitals for leprosy care were already almost impossible to get to.

But God saw the suffering of people affected by leprosy in Myanmar. Through you, His love spoke loud and clear to people trapped in their communities by disability, poverty and conflict. Your generosity trained health volunteers to be the hands and feet of Jesus. These kind and brave volunteers are now going into marginalised communities every day. Communities that otherwise would have been forgotten.

The tenacious volunteers are a vital weapon in the fight to prevent disability. Cleaning and dressing wounds, distributing essential medicines and finding new cases of leprosy. They source the cure for patients from the nearest government health post.

The volunteers take your love with them wherever they go. They show God’s love to people who have not known kindness for many years. A smile and an arm around your shoulder can make all the difference. It means more to a broken heart than any medical treatment.

Because it is so dangerous to travel, care, including surgery, needs to be provided in the community itself. Your gifts are funding pop-up surgical camps.

In the midst of the fighting, medics like Dr Saw, who you can see pictured, are conducting life-changing surgery. It is wonderful that movement is being restored to limbs in makeshift operating theatres.

Everyday your prayers and kindness bring hope to where there once was none. It is because of you that people know they are deeply loved. We can’t wait to bring you more stories of how you are carrying the light of Christ into the world’s darkest corners.

Thank you for being part of God’s rescue plan for people affected by leprosy in Myanmar.