Wednesday, November 20, 2024, Day 5, Day 3 of the Clinic

 Today ended with quite the rain storm, and the downpour was very noisy as it hit the tin roof above us. Early in the day traffic was pretty slow at the clinic, and at one time I even asked my prayer partners to pray for traffic to pick up — and for snow (as a joke). God did answer our prayers, and traffic did pick up! We saw 85 people today And, as I said, we got a big rainstorm. When I texted back to some of those that I had texted earlier in the day, I said, “I asked for snow, not rain.” The comment I got back was, “It’s melting before it gets to you.” 

Yesterday I wrote about how the clinic works, and I wrote about how the first thing is that the pastor tells those who come about salvation. One of our team members gives out salvation bracelets and salvation puppets, and then the person continues to an eye health assessment. 

At this time each person is given an eye dropper bottle and instructions about using a saline solution they can mix up on their own. Groups and congregations often put together kits and donate these to MOST.

After the assessment, the person is tested for reading  and distance. 

With a number for reading and a number for distance, the person then goes to dispensing where glasses are pulled and then used to test for correctness of good vision.

With glasses in hand the person then goes to fitting where the ear piece is fitted, screws are tightened, and the glasses are straightened. Each person also gets cases for the safe keeping of their glasses and they also get a pair of sunglasses 😎.

We thank the Lord for His continued blessing of the clinic, and we look forward to hosting the clinic for one more day. Continue to keep us and the wonderful people of Belize in your prayers.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024. Day 4, Day 2 of the Clinic

 Today we were able to hold a full day of clinic 8AM - 5 PM. Because today is a national holiday in Belize,  some who came today were children. What a privilege it is to be able to offer them better eyesight. In total we had 98 go through, and many were able to get a pair of glasses for distance and another for reading.

Yesterday evening and again this evening, we had the privilege of spending some time with LCMS missionary to Belize, Rev. Wildauer. He expressed his sincere appreciation, on behalf of the congregations of Belize, for the LWML Grant received in 2022 for the building of the Mercy House in Belmopan.The grant money funded the building of the Mercy House next to the elementary school and Christ Lutheran Church. By bringing the dental clinic and other programs to the Lutheran campus, it continues to lead people to the Church and connect them with the missionaries. Below is a picture of our team with the local pastor and Rev. Wildauer.

Here is how we run the clinic:

When a person arrives here, he or she will register with the pastor‘s daughter, who will then ask them to take a seat to be part of a small group that the pastor will address.

The pastor talks about the witness bracelets and tells the story of salvation.

A couple of our team members also talk about this and explain how to go through the clinic.

Two members each take a medical history of the person’s eyesight and send him or her on to be tested.

Eyesight testing is followed by dispensing of the glasses. Then the glasses are fitted to a person’s face.Then each person receives a case for each pair of glasses, and they also receive a pair of sunglasses. 

(Pictures of those last stations to be posted tomorrow.)

God has blessed us with great interpreters and a great place to hold the clinic. We continue to praise Him for this opportunity to share the love of Christ through the action of giving eyeglasses.

Monday, November 18, 2024. Day 3, Day 1 of the Clinic

 The good news is that we did arrive in Belize this morning around 10:30 AM!

We were able to get to the town of our clinic destination a little after noon. The pastor’s family  served us a wonderful lunch of rice and beans with plantains and baked chicken. 

After our lunch, we went to the church and we were able to get set up and conduct a two hour clinic which served 32 people in need of glasses today. 

We thank the Lord for safe travels today, and for our wonderful hosts here! We praise Him for the opportunity to serve, and we look forward to a full day of the eyeglass clinic tomorrow.

Sunday, November 17

 Sunday, November 17, Day 2

And. . . we are still in Dallas. Our flight to Belize has been postponed to 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, so we will head over to the airport at 4:00 a.m.

Our morning started with two of us going over to the airport to find out what it is really going on with our flight because we have been receiving mixed messages on our flight apps. Talking to an agent at airport was a good thing because one team member’s ticket had been completely canceled, and we got it reinstated. It was also good to find out that the rest of us are all reserved for Monday morning. 

While two of us went to the airport one team member arranged for us to be able to attend a church service. A couple of church members came by and picked us up in two vehicles and what a joy it was to attend church together today. Below is a picture of the two people who came to take us to church and one of our team members.

What a beautiful setting for our worship.

After lunch at Jason’s Deli we trained for our eyeglass clinic just like we would have if we had been at our destination. We had a fun and educational afternoon.

Our prayer is to arrive at our destination and put these new skills into action tomorrow.  Please join us in a prayer of protection and guidance as we travel tomorrow. We thank the Lord for the wonderful opportunity to worship with fellow believers, and a nice day of getting to know one another better.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

 Saturday, November 16, 2024

Day 1 of MOST Eyeglass Mission Trip to Belize

Here we are, not all of us and not in Belize, but in a hotel in Dallas. Two team members made it from Idaho to DFW, as did our leader from Michigan and the 9 of us from Oklahoma. Once we arrived at our gate for Belize, our flight was delayed, and then delayed again, and then postponed to tomorrow because of the tropical storm that hit in Belize this morning.

But, one team member IS in Belize, because she took a Delta flight earlier this morning, and she safely arrived before the airport was closed for flooding. She was picked up by our host and will be taken care of until we, hopefully, arrive tomorrow.

What a blessing that one of our team members had enough points to get us all rooms at this hotel! We did have a little excitement on our shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel, but God granted traveling mercies, and we are resting up for tomorrow’s travel.

We are thanking God for His protection from the storm and travel to the hotel and for a nice clean place to stay, and as one member commented, one more night of hot showers.

We pray God allows for travel tomorrow, so we can begin our eyeglass clinic on Monday as planned. 

Thank you for your continued prayers!

It Won't Be Long

 

Thirteen participants, mostly LWML Oklahoma District ladies, with a few others from Idaho, and our MOST team leader from Michigan, are partnering with MOST Ministries for an eyeglass clinic in Orange Walk, Belize. Using a very simple testing system created specifically for MOST Ministries, we as members of this team will distribute eyeglasses to those in need.  During the daily clinics, we will test vision, and we will fit eyeglasses, all while sharing the Gospel through words and actions. Depending on the daily circumstances, 100-300 people can be served each of the four days. At the end of our visit, we will spend one "free day" exploring a local Mayan archeological area. 

Please be praying for us as we prepare our hearts and minds, and as we pack and then travel. Be looking for blog posts to begin once we get settled in Belize on Saturday, November 16.