Eye clinic helps Nahuatl people
More than 100 people were helped by an eye clinic that the missionaries to the Nahuatl people held for their village and surrounding villages in December.
"The first day we saw 35 people," Rachel Chapman wrote. "We felt good with all the people we were able to help and we were tired.
"The next day, we saw 37 people. Then, the last day, by the grace of God -- I’m still not sure how we did it -- but we saw 50 people. And we only had one doctor!"
Arriving early on the first day to set up, Rachel and her teammates found three people already waiting and went straight to work. The team working among the Nahuatls consists of NTM missionaries Rachel, Katie Moore, Dan and Sarah Alkire, and Ron and Tasha Davis, and from Pioneers, Tom and Teresa Elkins.
"From that point on, for the next three days, there was always someone waiting, ready to see the doctor," Rachel wrote.
Rachel was at the front desk, putting people on the list to see the doctor, taking their eye history and doing a preliminary check on their distance vision. Then an ophthalmologist who came from the USA would see them, checking their eyes and determining if they needed glasses.
And used glasses they had -- a whole room of them. Others on the Nahuatl missionary team -- primarily Sarah -- would go through them to find a pair that fit their prescription and fit them.
"We gave them that pair and taught them how to clean the glasses and gave them a case to store them in," Rachel wrote. "Out of the 122 people that we helped, we probably gave out glasses to three-quarters of them."
The clinic attracted many people from surrounding communities that the missionaries had not had the opportunity to meet yet. "I am so thankful to God for the beginning of relationships that we have now with those people in those communities," Rachel wrote.
"The first day we saw 35 people," Rachel Chapman wrote. "We felt good with all the people we were able to help and we were tired.
"The next day, we saw 37 people. Then, the last day, by the grace of God -- I’m still not sure how we did it -- but we saw 50 people. And we only had one doctor!"
Arriving early on the first day to set up, Rachel and her teammates found three people already waiting and went straight to work. The team working among the Nahuatls consists of NTM missionaries Rachel, Katie Moore, Dan and Sarah Alkire, and Ron and Tasha Davis, and from Pioneers, Tom and Teresa Elkins.
"From that point on, for the next three days, there was always someone waiting, ready to see the doctor," Rachel wrote.
Rachel was at the front desk, putting people on the list to see the doctor, taking their eye history and doing a preliminary check on their distance vision. Then an ophthalmologist who came from the USA would see them, checking their eyes and determining if they needed glasses.
And used glasses they had -- a whole room of them. Others on the Nahuatl missionary team -- primarily Sarah -- would go through them to find a pair that fit their prescription and fit them.
"We gave them that pair and taught them how to clean the glasses and gave them a case to store them in," Rachel wrote. "Out of the 122 people that we helped, we probably gave out glasses to three-quarters of them."
The clinic attracted many people from surrounding communities that the missionaries had not had the opportunity to meet yet. "I am so thankful to God for the beginning of relationships that we have now with those people in those communities," Rachel wrote.