MISSION PROGRAM

 

LEAP TRANSFORMS LIVES.

 

Children with facial conditions like cleft lip and palate are often shunned by their communities with no hope for a productive future. They have no access to quality medical care in their own countries and no resources to pay for the surgical procedures required. Our free surgical services empower them to return to their communities as welcomed, participating members.

LEAP is committed to developing long-term relationships with our patients, their communities, and other partners involved in our missions.

By returning to the same countries, we are able to build trust, offer ongoing education, and continue caring for those who need long-term medical services.

It is our prayer that LEAP’s devotion and service to our patients is seen as an example of the selfless love of Christ.

If you are interested in financially supporting our missions, please visit our Donate page. 

WHY WE SERVE

In this brief video, learn why LEAP mission volunteers serve the organization and continue doing so year after year. The hours are long, the work is hard, and while they use their vacation days to serve, missions are anything but relaxing.

India

In 2003, LEAP made their first trip to Damoh, a very remote and impoverished part of India untouched by development and modernization. On this visit, the team was nearly overwhelmed by the immense need for surgery with approximately 650 patients awaiting with cleft lip and palate. Subsequently, LEAP funded the build of a hospital surgical facility that now has four operating rooms. LEAP travels in partnership with Central India Christian Mission for plastic and general surgery care as well as orthodontic care. Each trip, the LEAP team is met with hundreds of overjoyed patients who travel great distances to receive much-needed care.

  • IN19.HG.C:PCM Lal, Makkhan with mom in waiting area M XX IMG_2506
  • IN19.HG DCF Raikwar, Nainsi smiling with parents & DCHobar MCU XX.IMG_3126
  • little girl in the slums of India
  • IN19.CH.DCC & young girl to camera M IMG_2360
  • india-2012

Belize

LEAP has been providing reconstructive surgical services in Belize since 1995. While the main focus in Belize remains children born with craniofacial conditions, LEAP has diversified to meet the needs of a country that has no plastic surgeons of its own by providing surgical care in eye, hand, burn reconstruction, and ocular prosthesis. We also expanded our mission outreach to provide preventative and restorative dental care and Mohs skin cancer diagnosis and treatment.

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  • Belize - Grant Gilliland
  • Belize 2018 - Nicole, Akiko, Vicki, Yuuki
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Zimbabwe

After a severe cholera outbreak swept through the nation, killing tens of thousands in 2009, LEAP made its first mission trip to Zimbabwe. Through a partnership with Celebration Ministries & Health and the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Surgery, LEAP performed almost 50 surgeries on its first trip. In addition, the inaugural trip included formal lectures and surgical teaching of local surgeons, laying the foundation for an ongoing education program for medical students, young physicians and nurses. Given the country’s significant surgical needs, LEAP funded a third operating room in 2014 and a fourth operating room in 2018 at our partner pediatric hospital, Sally Mugabe Central Hospital.

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  • IMG_8694 XX ZI19.WD.DEP, DJC, DML, DDH all holding post op children MW
  • Zimbabwe - Calette
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Mexico

Our Mexico missions focus on ear reconstructions for children with microtia, a condition in which the outer ear is not fully formed. Ear reconstruction for microtia patients requires a multi-stage procedure, which can take several hours per surgery to complete. LEAP began traveling to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo in 2017 due to an unmet need in the region for this highly specialized surgery. We work alongside our partners at Clínica Cristo Médico and the Rotary Club of Ixtapa to serve this community.

  • LEAP Mexico-17
  • Gladys
  • XXMX24.1 IMG_2640 HG.LEAP Team Group Photo outside Clinic W

Ukraine

LEAP has been working together with hospitals in Ukraine to provide reconstructive surgical care for children with craniofacial conditions and people with war-related injuries since September 2022. During our March 2023 mission, LEAP established a long-term relationship with Okhmatdyt Lviv Regional Children’s Hospital. These missions are made possible through our partnerships with Okhmatdyt, the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine, and Razom International.

  • Ohkmatdyt Signing
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  • UA23.IMG_9257.OR DCP, DCH, DRO working MCU with vignette
  • UA23.IMG_9358 DS OCC talks to class about patient Maria Lyz TIF MW

2023 FACTS

240

Procedures

346

Patient Evaluations

56

Dental Patients

Latest Mission Program Stories

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