With Wonder and Amazement

 Beloved Family and Friends,

Imagine wanting something so bad, you get up to get in line at four in the morning to be seen by a group of American missionaries who are putting on an eyeglass clinic at the tiny church in the middle of your neighborhood. 

That's what we pulled up to this morning -we arrived at about 8:30 in the morning and there was already a long line of people, sitting on benches, waiting for what would take place. It was a bit overwhelming to see the benches, one next to the other next to the next one, and to get the sense of realization -what we're doing is truly needed here!

So many people with so many stories, and what a day it was! We finished at about 4:45pm, with a total of 173 registration forms, and twenty workers (our team of eleven and nine of the church leaders) feeling so tired yet absolutely elated at all they witnessed.

Let's start with Porfirio. This man of 76 years has not been able to see for the past twenty years. He had cataracts on both eyes and let us know he was myopic. Our MOST nurse figured out he could probably make out facial features about five inches away from his nose. This meant he couldn't see the face of his beautiful daughter, who was with him, unless they got right up on his face. Everything else looked like dark shadows with lighter backgrounds. 

Now, this story is going to be a series of puzzle pieces put together from different perspectives. The above is from one team member. The next one comes from the testing station -they did their best to see if they could find a right prescription for him, yet it seemed like there would be no solution. One thing this MOST team of first-time eyeglass clinic missionaries (aside from the blogger and the MOST team leader, all the other nine members have never done eyeglass clinics before) picked up on really quick, though, is never quit before God says enough.

At the distribution station, those who were there worked with Porfirio, pulling glasses and having him try them on. They eventually pulled out the one bag with a few of the higher negative prescriptions...and at -10.25, Porfirio jumped out of his chair, threw his hands up in the air and exclaimed for all to hear:

Alabanzas al Señor!

Praise be to God! He could see! After twenty years, Porfirio could see! 

His daughter cried, and here's where another piece of the puzzle goes -she just recently lost her job, and all she had saved to try to help her dad had to be used to survive. What an amazing gift it was for her when he turned to look at her and say, "I can see you" and then looked over the front door of the church and pointed, "If I'm not mistaken, that's my grandson!"

Everyone applauded, cheering for his newfound vision, yet Porfirio kept praising God for His goodness -from the moment he slipped on those glasses until he left, he told every person he walked by how a miracle had happened, how he could now see the leaves, their faces, their hair!

Now the best part of this story puzzle are the pieces none of us knew about -the end pieces that helped bring this beautiful moment together. Porfirio had eye surgery last year, in September. Had our MOST team come to Honduras in October, as originally planned, he more than likely would not have come to the clinic. Which means, he would not be seeing today.

God, in His infinite goodness and faithfulness, orchestrated and prepared everything, from a hurricane to stop our team to changes in leadership to keep us from coming in January, so we could be here on this very day to witness the praises of a man able to see after twenty years of living in clouds and shadows. 

Praise the LORD indeed!

Oh, here's another beautiful story to share with you. It's a sweet little boy, about seven or eight, named Dilan. He came in with his mother, and the MOST nurse overheard her telling him that if he couldn't see the letters on the chart, that he needed to tell them because they wouldn't be able to help him be able to see. Once she checked his beautiful brown eyes, she got down to his level and encouraged him to tell the ladies who were doing the testing if he couldn't see. 

His nod was shy, and his smile sweet, as he agreed to tell then took his mother's hand and left. Once in the testing station, as they used one flipper then a second, then a third, at a +3.0, Dilan exclaimed in joy, "I can see now! Mama, I can see now!"

Our beloved family and friends, there are so many more stories like these, and this is just day one. What a gift it would be to every member of this team if you take the time once we all get home to ask us to share the best stories, the small stories, the sad stories, the happy stories, the surprising stories. 

But the best part of all of this, is in sharing these stories with you, we all get to see the little puzzle pieces that make up the Best Story of all...the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

The Light of the World...until tomorrow, beloveds. May you see and praise the LORD throughout your day. May you experience the living embodiment of Psalm 135 as we did today.

"Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixes his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I have no silver and god, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God...and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." ~Acts 3:1-8,10b

A side story to the picture above...it's a funny one that shows us the goodness of God even amidst our own mistakes. Our MOST educator, who speaks beautiful Spanish with the occassional hiccup, had said hiccup at one of the sessions. As she was explaining on the use of the eyedrop bottle, she let the people know "Necesitan ponerse dos gatos en cada ojo."

She realized what she said and corrected herself. Everyone had a good laugh, though, because for those who understand Spanish, what they were told was "You need to put two cats into each eye."

Megan, what an amazing woman you are!