Eastern Shore Episcopalian - Fall 2019

Giving Sight, Receiving Hope
by Oliver White, age 15
A Loaves and Fishes Story
by Emma Chapple, age 18
I was one of the missioners who ran the vision clinic
in San Jose. I’m very grateful that we had the chance
to take vision to the villagers there. This is especially
meaningful to me because 10 years ago my Dad created
Global Vision 2020, the company that equipped us with
the materials for our vision clinics in Peru. While I have
helped my parents many times with this process, this
is the first time I did it on my own with the help of my
mission team.
We screened many villagers who had eye diseases
who we were not able to help, they would need to see
a specialist in Iquitos for things like cataracts & lazy
eye. The glasses that we give out would not have helped
them.
I remember one of the villagers who we screened who
had symptoms of glaucoma. I was disappointed that we
couldn’t help him and that we had nothing to give him.
Then we had the idea to pray over him. A village pastor,
a fellow missioner and I encircled him and prayed for
him. While he was being prayed for in Spanish, I prayed
to God that he would get the help he needed. Praying
for him gave us all hope.
I am so grateful that I had the chance to go on this
mission. Not only for the opportunity to run the glasses
clinic and see lives changed. But for the people I met
and how those people have changed my life. Thank you
to everyone here who supported us and gave me this
chance.
From the moment we stepped off the boat, the villagers
of San Jose saw us as their friends. I won’t ever forget
those first steps because right away I met a little girl
named Leslie. After learning her name she took my
hand and we were inseparable for the rest of the trip.
Leslie was just one of over 100 kids that would end up
joining us for Vacation Bible School that week. We had
prepared for approximately 30 children to show up, but
the school in San Jose insisted that they stop their regular
classes to allow us to run our VBS. Leading that many
kids was a scary thing for me and it was going to be a
brand new experience because I had never led a group
that large. But God is good, and I learned that trusting
Him was most important and that God wouldn’t put me
somewhere if He didn’t think that I could end up doing
good things. Each morning that we prepared for the
VBS activities, I was amazed as somehow some small
shift in our preparations or some extra materials that we
would come across would allow us to provide for each
and every child. It was like a real-life version of Jesus
multiplying the fish!
These experiences will live with me forever. As I leave
for my first semester of college, I’m excited and nervous
and scared and happy for this next adventure of life. But
God has shown me that He won’t ever take me anywhere
that He won’t be with me.
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