This may be the highlight of my Tanzania trip so far! This is Hamisi, he is 71 years old. Hamisi is very poor and I would guess he only weighs about 60 pounds. His body is bent and broken. His clothes are filthy and torn. His feet show the wear and tear of an arduous journey of life. When he came into the building where we held our eye clinic I swore he looked like death incarnate.
After testing his eyes and giving him 2 pairs of the prescription glasses he needed, he lit up like a Christmas tree and his countenance changed completely. Just look at the joy in his eyes now that they can see!

It’s moments like this that make all the hardships of traveling to the crazy places I go to worthwhile !!! God’s Eyes, bringing vision to the poor and lifting the spirits of those who need help the most

This is Elineema! She is 27 years old and unemployed. Somehow she heard about us working in Mtu wa Mbu, Tanzania, Africa. She left her home this morning at 5 am and walked for nearly 7 hours with her 5 year old son and her 2 year old daughter who she carried the entire way. Even though we had to turn away many people before she arrived, we decided we could not turn her away. I examined her eyes and dispensed the glasses you see her wearing in this photo. Look at the joy on her face as her sheer determination made her dreams of seeing clearly come true today!

I didn’t want her to have to walk all the way back home so I paid for a pic pic (motorcycle taxi) to drive them back home! God is good!

This is Vides! He was my favorite patient today! All four feet 6 inches of him. He was so kind and grateful. After he received his new glasses for reading he waited for me until I returned from a short lunch break because he wanted to take a picture with me. He promised to pray for me until he dies! You just got to love guys like him. God’s Eyes bringing vision today at a school in Peru that is closed because of Covid!

This is Fredis! Today he is seeing clear. But Fredis has such a sad story. His Father committed suicide when Fredis was 15 after that all three of his brothers committed suicide then 2 of his 4 sisters committed suicide and 2 of his nieces from 2 of his remaining sisters died all before Fredis turned 25.

Sometimes life deals impossible hands to a person. Fredis got his first bible today ...... hoping he can find some comfort there.

This is Annabelle from Paraguay, she is 51 years old . Annabelle doesn’t smile much anymore even though her eyes see perfect now.

I asked her why and she told me a story of great sadness. Both her younger brothers have died in the past 3 months. They were 40 and 41 years old. One died in a car accident and one fell off a six story building. I could feel her hurting.

If you still have siblings tonight make sure you let them know how much you love them. And if you have siblings you no longer talk with offer forgiveness and invite them back into your life.

This is Rosario from Ecuador. She is 62 years old. Rosario’s Father and son died so she went to church to cry. The pastor of that church told her church is no place to cry and he kicked her out and told her to go home. She hasn’t been to church for a very long time. Today I was able to bless her with 3 pairs of new eyeglasses. I held her hands and she cried as I talked and prayed and just loved on her.

I introduced her to Kim who runs the mission we are here with . Kim will take it from here and love on her long after I’m gone. Everyone one needs love..... pour it out freely and in abundance especially when you hear someone cry.

There are few things in life I enjoy more than golf but being able to offer eye care to someone who could never afford it brings me even more joy than a great round of golf. This is Maria Cruz and she is 38 years old. Maria has never seen anything in focus that was farther than 2 feet away. For the first time in her entire life she can now see everything clearly! After receiving very high powered lenses she just kept telling me over and over everything she could see!I think even though I’m wearing a mask you can see how much joy I receive traveling around the world getting to do this! Gods Eyes bringing vision to the world and joy to my heart!

This is Paulina. 8 hours into our eye clinic today 94 year old Paulina came here in her wheelchair hoping against hope that we could help her see again. This time we could!!!! The minute I put on her new eye glasses her eyes opened wide and she threw up her hands and began to shout that she could see! I think you can see the joy in her face! The bottom middle picture has her daughter in the photo who had been crying because her momma could see!

Ten minutes later Paulina was still telling my translator how happy she was that she could see!!!!
Sometimes we really are bringing vision to the world!!

This is Yosselyn! She could hardly see at all when she arrived this morning. She got her first pair of glasses today with 56 total steps of power in them … that’s five times stronger than an average pair of prescription glasses! She also discovered Gods love today and here she is just beaming from ear to ear.

Yosselyn is fortunate because her husband has a job, however she does not, unemployment is high here so I gave her $40 and told her to take her husband out tonight for a fancy meal and celebrate her joy with him!

This is just one of the 266 stories we had today!