"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Luke 4:18-19
Can you imagine trying to function daily through life without eyesight? Go ahead--close your eyes for a moment to get a better understanding. Okay...you gave it a minute, but imagine living in a blur or in darkness for years or for a lifetime. Well, one thing you couldn’t do would be read e-mail, the newspaper, road signs, or perform many simple tasks required to carry out certain jobs or tasks of everyday life. The World Health Organization reports that around the world every 5 seconds a person goes blind and every minute a child goes blind. 90% of the blind or those with poor vision live in the developing world. Fortunately, 75% of blindness is treatable and/or preventable and people with poor vision can often get significant improvement through a pair of glasses.
Recently we took a short-term team to a country in North Africa. During this trip we gave the gift of eyesight by providing simple vision screenings (over 1 billion people in our world have never had a simple vision test). We also provided health education on eye care that will help prevent blindness. And to those who need glasses, we provided them with their own new pair of glasses. The cost is surprisingly low.
As successful as this trip was, there remains still so much more to do. Hundreds were helped, but thousands still suffer with poor eye care. Most of all, these people need to see their Savior, through the love shown by those who ministered to them. Would you help us extend the mercy and compassion of Christ through giving the gift of sight?
