Greg Braun, a member of our church, shared his mission trip to Benin (West Africa) for his company, which manufactures eyeglasses for LensCrafters and other distributors.
Benin is known as the birthplace of voodoo and boasts the Point of No Return, the port on the Atlantic that supplied the European and American slave trade. Christianity is the predominant, though by no means majority, religion. Voodoo is still a close second.
Greg told us that his job on the team was interfacing with their military protectors, who managed the thousands of people waiting in line daily for free glasses. Many of the patients had walked hundreds of miles. The team's days were long and nights short. Slides showed the protectors to be teenagers with AK-47s. Halfway through the week the leader of the military group came to Greg and told him they wouldn't be able to continue protecting the team unless Greg provided 100 pair of sunglasses so the soldiers could" look Hollywood." Greg said that since this was not their first mission project in a third world country, they had come prepared. Their Hollywood stylin' guards offered no other complaints.
The most moving part of the talk was Greg's description of the spiritual impact. He said that day by day he felt God's presence. Jesus, according to Matthew 4:12-23, provided the gift of sight to many. Greg felt the Kingdom of God at hand.
His slides showed the children and adults beaming in their new glasses.
Greg's team of 32 doctors and technicians examined, prescribed, fitted and distributed 10,482 pairs of eyeglasses during their week in Africa, not counting sunglasses.
Benin is known as the birthplace of voodoo and boasts the Point of No Return, the port on the Atlantic that supplied the European and American slave trade. Christianity is the predominant, though by no means majority, religion. Voodoo is still a close second.
Greg told us that his job on the team was interfacing with their military protectors, who managed the thousands of people waiting in line daily for free glasses. Many of the patients had walked hundreds of miles. The team's days were long and nights short. Slides showed the protectors to be teenagers with AK-47s. Halfway through the week the leader of the military group came to Greg and told him they wouldn't be able to continue protecting the team unless Greg provided 100 pair of sunglasses so the soldiers could" look Hollywood." Greg said that since this was not their first mission project in a third world country, they had come prepared. Their Hollywood stylin' guards offered no other complaints.
The most moving part of the talk was Greg's description of the spiritual impact. He said that day by day he felt God's presence. Jesus, according to Matthew 4:12-23, provided the gift of sight to many. Greg felt the Kingdom of God at hand.
His slides showed the children and adults beaming in their new glasses.
Greg's team of 32 doctors and technicians examined, prescribed, fitted and distributed 10,482 pairs of eyeglasses during their week in Africa, not counting sunglasses.