Just got back from another trip
We traveled to Honduras to several different villages that no one has ever heard of. One village didn't even have the village.... it was just a clearing in the woods where locals raised three tarps and a bunch of branches hanging from some trees to give of some sort of shelter from the sun. To get there we drove on paved roads then for some time on dirt roads and finally for a long time on goat trails with knee deep ruts in the dirt. We had to carry the supplies in from the bus down a dirt road for about a 1/2 mile. I think there were about 150 people waiting for us by the time we got there. 35 people prayed to receive Christ that day. It was a hot day but the people were so thankful that we came there. Its just exactly the type of place where I love to hand out eyeglasses in. We actually taped the eye charts on the side of a truck because there were no buildings anywhere. The bathroom was a hole in the ground enclosed by a few pieces of plastic tied to branches. We helped many people see that day including a lady there who needed 40 steps of power in each eye and that's a lot. She was another one of those people who was seeing for the first time in her life. There was also a small boy who was extremely nearsighted as well . His new glasses will certainly change his life.
The next day was our hardest. We were in a school in a town similar to any small time town in the USA. We set up the eye clinic in a classroom that had to be well over 90 degrees. What made it such a difficult day was not the heat but rather the fact that that some teachers and the principle and other authorities brought in their friends throughout the day and demanded that they be helped first even though many locals were waiting in line in the hot sun for hours. It almost came to fist fights between the haves and have nots. Many times after we finished with a patient and they got up to leave there would be a mad dash for the empty exam chair only to have someone with some authority to tell us we had to kick the poor person out of the chair and wait on their friends instead. Some of these affluent people were so demanding and down right greedy . They often insisted on extra sunglasses or eye drops or eyeglasses for family members and friends. I hate being forced to partake in this type of injustice. This was one of the few times I ever saw Jennifer get frustrated with what was going on. The good thing was this didn't happen anywhere else we went.
The rest of the trip was wonderful. Everyday we would travel to a very poor village in some crazy out of the way location. Just to get there would be an adventure in itself. Several times we had to carry all the equipment up or down muddy roads because the bus or the trucks couldn't make it through the rough terrain. Several times it rained on us but that was fine because it would help cool things off. Every place we went 150 to 250 people showed up to be helped. By the third day a hundred people prayed to receive Christ as Lord and after that no one even kept count anymore but I would guess by the end of the trip more than twice that many took place. Sometimes you get so exhausted working in this type of poverty day after day but after you help someone see and they hug you or kiss you or just smile you just keep on going. The poor are always so gracious and thankful. The work we do is most certainly tiring and the conditions are almost border on the ridiculous but God offers us joy anyways. There are so many many more stories I could share but I'll save those for future blogs.
We are servants of the Lord to the poor, sent to open their eyes and share the love of Jesus. I wish I could explain better the wonders that God has allowed Jen and I to have while serving Him. His love though is indescribable so I guess I will just leave it at that.
May the joy and love and peace that God grants rest upon you always. Thank you once again for helping us to "bring vision to the world. "
humbly yours,
bryan and jen
ps. David and Linda and Chuck and Phylis are saints
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