At left, Yellamma listening joyfully in 2014 to a message from Ecclesiastes 3 on how God has made all things beautiful; at right, Yellamma’s granddaughter, Prem Latha, who devotedly cared for her and her grandfather until their deaths
Generations of Blessings and Love
How one family’s devotion reaches out to touch others
Dear Friends,
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I believe each of these two ladies in the photo above is equally lovely in the eyes of their Father God who created them. A friend of mine, Patty Forney, captured this precious image of Yellamma, an aged leprosy patient, nearly three years ago in a Telegu Christian Worship Center in Hyderabad, India. She was listening to the following words that assured her of not only her own beauty in the sight of God, but also of her ultimate value to Him: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecc. 3:11).
Yellamma’s radiance and joy are almost tangible, but those qualities are also apparent in her granddaughter Prem Latha (photo at right), a year later in 2015, as she displays her beautician’s certificate. Many, including myself, were deeply touched by the tender care Prem Latha humbly gave her grandparents until their recent deaths brought on by the ravaging effects of leprosy.
Prem Latha’s steadfast devotion has been rewarded, first by a high school education (generously provided by a single Heaven’s Family sponsor for five years), and then by a scholarship to gain her beautician’s training (provided by other Heaven’s Family donors through a special project that also raised the funds for the equipment she needed to work and earn money for her family as a beautician).
By the same token of compassion-inspired giving, Yellamma and her husband, Hanumanth, received much comfort in the waning years of their lives through food distributions and medical care provided by Heaven’s Family since 2011. Unfortunately, he passed away in the summer of 2014 during an intense heat wave that swept India that year. Yellamma followed in February of 2016, but their granddaughter Prem Latha lives on, her future filled with hope and the assurance that she, too, is being watched over by a caring God.
Your faithful contributions shout forth a testimony from the rooftops that their lives—and indeed, the lives of all those afflicted with leprosy—are not forgotten, nor their stories untold. Thank you for your listening ear, compassionate heart, and generous spirit!
Together with Christ,
Carole Collins
Director, Leprosy Ministry
