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Whew! What a whirlwind of a week. As always, having a team visiting from your home church means a jam packed crazy busy schedule, but always proves to be an awesome time in the end. This Eye Team from Brentwood Baptist proved to be no different! What a great group of folks. I only knew a few people on the team prior to them arriving, so it was a joy to get to connect with old friends and meet some new ones as well.
This is the second annual trip for the BBC eye team, and we continue to see such a benefit from the services that they provide on behalf of Living Hope. The team was here for just a week to run eye clinics at each of the townships that Living Hope works in, but the impact they had will last much longer than a week! As with all other types and kinds of services in the townships, eye testing is pretty much unheard of, and even if you could get an eye test, it is very likely that you couldn't afford the prescription glasses required.
After setting up in a new township each and every day, we opened the doors to long lines of people waiting outside, and let the madness of the next 5 or so hours begin! Clients underwent a generalized health screening with blood pressure and blood sugar checks, HIV/TB screenings, diet & weight assessment, eye screening, glasses fitting, foot washing and time of prayer.
It's always interesting for us long term missionaries to watch ministry happen within a condensed interaction between a short-term volunteer and the patient they are seeing. Often clients reveal very personal things to visiting team members that they might not feel comfortable revealing to people who live here and see them everyday. More than a few heartbreaking stories poured out and the tears flowed when we asked the clients how we could pray for them. And in the tradition of following Christ's servant example of foot washing, we love to see how spoiled and loved on clients feel after that treat!
For all of us, watching a client walk away with tears of joy streaming down their face, is why we do what we do. 600 people are seeing better this week thanks to the BBC team and I was so glad to get a chance to work with them. In our down time, we had our fun as well, and of course we will never suffer from a shortage of inside jokes! I have to say that this team was filled with patient, loving, caring and kind folks that took the time with each client in providing the services they did, and I am just proud to know them. Can't wait 'til next year!
