MOST team member, Dawn, checks people’s eyes for cataracts and other eye problems before processing to testing stations

For so many people in Anapra and Kilometer 30 in Juarez, getting annual eye exams and glasses is an impossibility due to lack of financial means. This was the reason why Ysleta Lutheran Mission Human Care (YLM) reached out to Mission Opportunities Short Term Ministries (MOST) to ask if they could recruit an Eyeglass Clinic team for Mexico.  Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church from Brighton, MI answered the call, sending 18 of their members as missionaries to bring 3,000 single-vision glasses and sunglasses into these communities.

Eighteen year old Caitlyn helps woman find glasses for distance

Working with the mission-churches in Mexico, the MOST Eyeglass Clinic spent two days at Iglesia Luterana San Lucas, where they saw close to 300 people from the communities of San Lucas, La Santa Biblia, Cristo Rey, and even refugees from a nearby shelter.

With the last MOST Eyeglass Clinic taking place in 2017, the need was great as people of all ages were seen at the nursing station for cataracts, eye infections, and other possible eye problems.  Even those who did have cataracts, which glasses cannot help, were seen at the testing stations.  Each person, no matter the age or need, was treated with love and respect by the MOST team members.  Several even shared their stories concerning the difficulties they have had with their sight.

Joan captured the joy of seeing clearly for the first time in years for this man

“She has astigmatisms and myopia, went to an ophthalmologist to get a prescription for glasses,” one of the translators explained to Kelly, MOST team leader, as they tried to find glasses for a young mother that could help with her eyesight, “They took her money but never gave her the glasses.”

A man who had difficulty seeing both distance and reading, broke out into the biggest smile when the right prescription was found, making everything on the paper before him clearly visible.  “I had to get a picture of his smile,” Joan, one of the MOST team members, explained, “The picture is blurry but his smile lets you know he sees clearly for the first time in years.”

Maria received her glasses a week after the MOST Eyeglass Team had seen her

In Kilometer 30, another 300 plus people were seen, given the same love and care as those in Anapra.  Maria, a woman who needed glasses with a high prescription the team did not carry, found out a week later the dedication of this team’s care for those they serve.

“She needed a -16.50 prescription for distance,” Kelly, the MOST leader of the team, explained, “We found the glasses in Michigan and arranged to get them sent with the next MOST team.”

93 year old Cruz enjoyed the attention received as he was tested, fitted, and loved on by MOST team members

The continuous flow of people throughout the day had the team working six hours and taking turns for lunch breaks, but at all times, there was someone available to help, to talk, to share, and to answer questions.  Translators from Mexico as well as the Zaragoza Rotary Club of El Paso helped ensure the information necessary was communicated, from encouragement to see an eye doctor for a seventeen-year-old with extremely bad vision to an 80-year-old woman with double cataracts in her eyes.

“To me, the most touching moment was Bryce and Cori taking the the time to do the distance and reading eye exam for 93-year-old Cruz Isauro,” Luz, who helps to coordinate YLM’s Servant Event teams and assists in translating, shared, “He reminded me so much of my grandfather, and to see this team, every one of them, take their time to help him find the right prescription, just moved me, especially because Cruz had cataracts in both eyes.  Glasses weren’t going to help him, but the love and attention he received had him leaving with a smile, which he didn’t have when he arrived.”

For many of these people, glasses were all that was needed to be able to physically see clearly, but for everyone involved, the love of Jesus was seen even before glasses were put on.

“…the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down…”
~Psalm 146:8 ~