Kimberly Taylor: Travels to Southeast Asia
This past month, I had the chance to travel with a team to Southeast Asia where we spent 5 days conducting vision clinics in partnership with our local CRU staff. The days were long, but the work was so fruitful! In the 5 days of vision clinics, we visited 6 different sites and also held a clinic in one of the communist government party buildings. This was a huge accomplishment for the local staff! As Christians in this country, they often face scrutiny and opposition from the governing authorities. The irony of this situation was lost on no one. The same powers established to monitor and inform on religious movements were now the vehicle we were using to share the gospel and build positive relationships for the local church. We even had the chance to fit some of the communist party members with glasses!
In total, we served 1,101 people in our clinics. We were able to provide glasses to 1,016 and 103 people after hearing the gospel made a decision for Christ!
Below: One of our US volunteers working with the local CRU staff to help fit a woman with the right prescription glasses
Below: Since there were not enough local staff to translate for each of us, they asked 2 brothers from the local church to help us for the week. I got to work with 10 year old Chien as my translator! Chien and his brother have primarily learned English from YouTube. It happened more than once that he jumped up from our table and would disappear for 15 minutes to an hour. Sometimes, right in the middle of fitting someone. If you could accept the challenges of working with a 10 year old's attention span, he was fantastic!
We wrapped up each day with a gathering of our team and the local church volunteers by celebrating the decisions made that day. The last village we visited was in a tribal area (below). In many cases we had to have a local person translate the regional dialect to our translator who then translated to our team. We had 23 people make a decision for Christ on the last day! As we wrapped up at this village the pastor mentioned how much he appreciated our team and the vision clinics. He explained that with the challenges they face there, it would have taken him two years to reach that many people! After a long and tiring week, that was a real encouragement to our team.
Above: On our second day doing clinics this sweet elderly lady came to my table hoping we could help her see better. Upon inspection, we could see that she was dealing with the more serious problem of glaucoma. However, glasses can still make a big difference for people in her situation. We ended up fitting her with +4.50 reading glasses! After finding the right pair I was able to share the gospel with her. I just remember how she kept squeezing my hand and gently rubbing my arm. She didn't need words to communicate how she felt and what she wanted to express. There are some things that transcend culture and can be understood just by the touch of a hand. In moments like this, I'm reminded how the good news of the gospel is not just good news for me and others who look like me. It is good news for the whole world! You are loved by God, Christ is King, and there is freedom from sin!
Prayer
Continued prayers for my first trip as the primary team leader. This trip is to Central Asia in March. Prayers for good communication and harmony with the local staff team!
Continued opportunities to build Christ centered, life giving relationships here in Dallas.My roommate's stepdad Lavon, who is battling cancer.
Our department relies heavily on the help of volunteers to serve alongside us on our trips. As we're gearing up for the Spring, we have had an unusually low amount of volunteers apply. If the trend continues, we will end up canceling some of our trips which can be a real discouragement to our field partners. Prayers for more volunteers to apply.
