Eternal Vision has been active in the Philippines since July, 2001. The way we got involved in this ministry was by accompanying members of a Michigan church to Iloilo City in the Philippines. We held a full medical clinic, including medical, dental, pharmacy and optical. I helped dispense an estimated 400 pairs of glasses and I found the Filipino people very warm and friendly, very much in need and appreciative!

Now, with four teams working, we have a total of 7 eyeglass clinics here in the Philippines, 4 on the island of Panay and 3 on the island of Luzon.

When we first began we only had six hundred pairs of eyeglasses to dispense. Then, one month later we received an additional 10,000. In May 2002 we received another 30,000 pairs! Thank God for all the people in the USA involved in helping with this project. It takes countless man hours to collect, sort, clean, categorize and pack the glasses.

Grateful eyeglass recipients - "The gift of sight."

When a new load of eyeglasses are available, we get out the word that Eternal Vision is available for eyeglass clinics if needed. The demand has been so great that we have found it neccesary to establish three full time crews, each team made up of two. Every eyeglass clinic is in a different place where we serve shoulder to shoulder with new people who help us with setting up the clinic, dispensing the eyeglasses and assisting us to prepare to go to our next venue. We travel in everything from jeepneys (extended jeeps), to tricycles (motorcycles with side cars), buses and boats.

We held a clinic at a sanitarium for lepers (a Lepersarium), and the people were just so grateful that someone would come to provide them with free eyeglasses. I remember one man in particular who had been confined in this Lepersarium since 1966. One of his lenses was smashed and the other just filthy. You can't imagine how happy he was to be fitted with a new, clean, unbroken pair of glasses that allowed him to read and see clearly after so many years.

The one common thread is thisthere are so many people in need of corrective vision without the means to acquire glasses.

What a touching sight to see people cry as they receive the Lord, and not only that... to cry all over again when they receive their glasses. This is why the ministry is called Eternal Vision; we not only share temporary vision, the eyeglasses, we also share with all people who come to our clinics the spiritual, eternal vision.