Outcast but Not Forsaken: True Stories from a Paraguayan Leper Colony

by Maria Weiss, Maureen Burn, Dona Maria (Illustrator)

Overview

Fascinating glimpses into the life of a woman banished to the margins or her society, these stories exude hard-earned spiritual and practical wisdom. Follow the remarkable odyssey of Maria Weiss, who spent eighteen long years in an isolated leper colony in Paraguay. Her vivid stories, as told to Maureen Burn, read like parables. They remind us that faith and solidarity often flourish where one least expects, and that there is always someone who is worse off than oneself: someone in need of your time, hands, and a listening ear.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874861846
Publisher:	Plough Publishing House, The
Publication date:	08/01/1986
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.41(d)

About the Author

Maria Weiss (1900–1988) was born in Germany and emigrated to South America as a child, first to Argentina and later to Paraguay. Maria married Adolfo Weiss in 1928 and had a son. After contracting leprosy around 1935, she was separated from her husband and son and lived eighteen years in an isolated leper colony called Santa Isabel in Sapucay, Paraguay, until treatment became available. She then joined her husband in the Bruderhof community.

Maureen Burn (1905–2006) was born to Irish-Scottish missionary parents and grew up in India. She wanted to become a medical missionary, so she traveled to Scotland to attend medical school. From there, she joined the Bruderhof community and emigrated to Paraguay in 1952, where she used her medical knowledge in a field hospital. There she got to know Maria Weiss, a leprosy patient.