Reflections on the Amazon Mission

As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 2 Corinthians 9: 9

The fan blew a tiny, hot breeze onto us offering minute relief from the stifling heat. Our examining room at the front of the boat had no AC but a few open windows. With the crush of clients, the heat grew more intense.
A young man escorted a ninety year old lady to her seat across the table from us. A young mother and daughter joined her as they sat nearby. We smiled at them but Ruth, our interpreter, did the talking.
Ruth asked her to read the passage from the opened Portuguese Bible Alan put in front of her..
With a shake of her head, she told Ruth she couldn’t read it. With each pair of glasses Alan tried, she continued to shake her head.
“She needs a high strength. Give me 4.0,” he told me.
I reached into the bag containing 4.0 reading glasses to find a pair for a lady. One pair caught my eye. The label said 6.0. I had never seen a strength that high in our supply.
“How about this pair?” I asked.
“I didn’t know we had any like that,” he answered as he handed the glasses to her.
With the glasses perched on her nose, she grinned and nodded. Immediately, she began reading and reading. Her face was aglow as we all marveled at the transformation.
Finally, she stopped to converse with Ruth. We discovered that she had not been able to read the Bible for some time. She only had a New Testament and wondered if she could get the entire Bible. Her grandson worked on our sister boat so Ruth assured her that he would receive her new Bible.
Though the strength of the glasses fit, the frames did not. Apparently, the previous owner was much larger. The stretched glasses kept falling down her nose.
Alan and Ruth hurried to the kitchen to make the adjustments. Boiling water softened the plastic so he could contour them to her face.
With her new glasses in a spiffy case, the sweet lady embraced each of us before she left. What a blessing to be able to see someone’s life changed by being able to see clearly again.
Glasses we gave out came from the Lions Club and friends who donated unused glasses. Everyone who has unneeded glasses can give them to their local Lions Club who clean, repair, measure, and label them before distribution. One person’s castoff becomes another’s treasure.

Dear Lord, help me give to those less fortunate whether at home or abroad. Amen