Angelina, a pregnant mother of three, lives with her children in a slum near a large garbage dump in Guatemala City.

Her life isn’t easy. Toxic fumes and burning garbage threaten her family’s health and gangs threaten their safety. But in the middle of this horrific setting, Angelina and her family find hope at a clinic filled with medicines provided by MAP International.

Angelina’s youngest daughter, Charon, is just five years old and is already suffering from respiratory issues from
the burning trash at the dump. This family has no other option; this is their home. Living without hope was unbearable, but then they found the Heart of Love clinic. 

Heart of Love clinic, started by nurse Lelah and her husband pastor Saul (pictured right), provides Angelina and her children with medicines for their respiratory issues as well as vitamins free of charge.

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.

The global elimination of leprosy was officially announced in 2000. However, approximately 210,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and some believe millions more are living undiagnosed.

For over 60 years, on the last Sunday of January, people around the world have observed World Leprosy Day by remembering and praying for those living with the terrible effects of the disease.

Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease that develops slowly, with an average incubation period of five years. It is caused by a bacterium, Mycobacterium leprae, and chiefly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, and eyes. It is curable. But, when left untreated they can cause severe deformities and have life-threatening consequences.

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.

“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.”

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.

Born with a severe cleft lip, she habitually buried her face in her father’s chest. She didn’t want people to stare. At 12 months, Gladys already understood that she was different.

Born in the mountainous region of Santa Maria, Colombia, Gladys had been abandoned by her mother. Exasperated by the care required for a child with cleft lip, and embarrassed by her condition, her mother left Gladys in her father’s care. He was the only family she knew.