Can you imagine waiting hours in line for food at a grocery store? How about driving to your local pharmacy and finding out they don’t have the medicine you need for your sick child?

For the people of Venezuela, this has been their reality for years.  

Severe food shortages and hyperinflation have forced millions to flee the country. The Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela estimates the country is suffering from an 85 percent shortage of medicine.  

In Venezuela, there are no visits to the urgent care center if you are injured or sick. Any type of sickness or injury can carry devastating consequences.This has prompted a national health crisis. 

Despite this madness, medical missionaries are there serving the neediest. And they are turning to MAP International to provide them with the medicine they need to serve those in need.

This Sunday, January 27, is World Leprosy Day, a day to raise awareness of a disease that many people believe to be eradicated from the planet.

During her worst times, the days were long and the nights seemed endless for Marcia Emerson.

Marcia was living out of her car in Atlanta, Ga., homeless, lonely and in need of medical assistance. She was unable to afford her diabetes medication, which made her anxious and contributed to her depression.

Fortunately, Marcia (pictured right) found a place she could go to get help. The Good Samaritan Health Center was a refuge in Marcia’s darkest times. The community health center, located on the west side of Atlanta, offers free medications, physician’s visits  and  a hot meal.

“When folks come here, they are treated like real people. We’re not just put on the back burner,” she says. “We’re treated like Christ would’ve treated us.”

People like Marcia are why MAP launched its Domestic Medicine Program (DMP). This partnership with the Good Samaritan Health Center and other charitable clinics in the state of Georgia provides medicines at no cost to uninsured and underinsured citizens who have fallen through the cracks of the healthcare system.

A grant from Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation allows MAP to provide high-quality medicines for patients being treated for hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and high cholesterol.

Providing medicines like those offered from MAP enabled Marcia to get back on her feet. Armed with her diabetes medicine and weekly counseling, she was able to steady her life and find employment. Marcia now works as a Certified Peer Specialist at Good Samaritan helping those who used to suffer like her.

“To see people who don’t normally have access to medicines and then they start getting medication…that’s when you see the transformation: the calmness, the hope and the knowledge that they have somewhere to go,” says Marcia, who understands the issues all too well.

“It started with a small sore on my face,” remembers Magdalena. “But soon my entire face was                      swollen and deformed.”

Magdalena lives in rural Haiti, far away from a clinic. So she suffered as inflammation on her face spread and her pain became almost unbearable. “It was very painful,” she says, “but I was also ashamed because I looked so ugly. No one wanted to look at me.

“I had terrible headaches and I couldn’t sleep because of the pain. Because of that I couldn’t work or care for my family. I thought I would die and I worried what would happen to my children.”

One day a mobile clinic came to Magdalena’s village. Her neighbors encouraged her to go but she felt so hopeless. Eventually, she gathered her courage and went to the mobile clinic where they welcomed her.

And most amazing, they told her that they had medicine, supplied by MAP International, that could heal her.

For  Magdalena  it was a miracle. “After taking the medicine I looked in the mirror and I couldn’t believe it! I looked normal again,” she says. “My entire family praised God for my healing.

“I am so grateful to MAP for sending this medicine,” she says. “Now I am normal again. I can provide for my family and I have hope.”

Watch video of Magdelena's incredible story here.

Read more stories of hope and healing in our Winter 2019 Newsletter. Let us know your thoughts!

Imagine living in Tennessee or North Carolina when a cold front dumps freezing rain on your town. Now imagine if you lived in a tent or make-shift hut with no heating and that same cold front blew through your city. Or worse, the rains swept your tent away. 

As we begin a new year, we want to pause and reflect on you, our donors who sustain MAP’s work worldwide. Through the comments you send and through the gratitude from those whom we serve, we pause with profound humility for the work MAP is able to perform in God’s name. 

These comments are the encouragement we need to continue to advance MAP’s mission of providing life-changing medicines and health supplies to the world’s neediest.

We want to share some of these donor comments with you as we begin a new year. These comments come from donors near and far, many expressing their gratitude and support of our mission.

How does MAP International touch so many lives and provide so much help? None of it would be possible without the generous support of donors like you.

In 2018 alone, medicines from MAP touched over 13.6 million lives. That means nearly two million pounds of medicine was distributed in 104 countries. The medicine included antibiotics, wound care, oral rehydration solutions, pain relievers, decongestants, deworming pills, vitamins, and other life-changing treatments.

When Hurricane Michael roared across the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia, the homes and livelihoods of thousands were wiped away. No one will forget the images of the destruction in Mexico Beach; our hearts broke with every news report.

It’s hard to comprehend losing everything overnight. Many lives will never be the same.

Hurricane Florence caused similar damage throughout the Carolinas as it dragged slowly across the Southeastern US with record rainfall. 

Thanks to you, more than 30,000 Disaster Health Kits (DHKs) were distributed to devastated residents following these storms. Critical health supplies were also provided in MAP/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Medical Mission Packs which contained over-the-counter medicines including much-needed bandages, analgesics, gauze, multivitamins, and other health supplies designed to prevent the spread of illness.Together, these hurricanes rank as two of the most catastrophic storms in U.S. history.

The father’s love for his daughter was apparent from the moment he walked into the busy clinic. Despite the worry chiseled on his face, the clinic staff could tell that the larger-than-life man dearly loved his little Gladys. No matter how imperfect she may appear, he loved her unconditionally.

The Christmas season, now in full swing, is a time for giving and sharing the abundance of our lives with those we love and those in need.

We understand there are many worthy charities asking for your help this time of year. There are countless ways to give to help those less fortunate. Before you make a gift, we encourage you to do your homework to make sure your generosity does the most good.