My granddaughter was listening in on a Zoom call about our recent trip to Honduras. We were discussing getting eye exams for the children in the community and possibly glasses for those who needed them. She “took notes” by drawing pictures of what she heard. As a grandfather, that’s a hard picture to miss.

After that meeting, José reached out to the doctors we work with in our community medical clinic to find a local optometrist. He contacted a man from Óptica Kingdom, and to our surprise, the man volunteered to bring his team to the school the very next week. Four optometrists came and examined the eyes of every child and any adult who wanted to be checked.  They were very professional and treated the people in the community very well.

Ten children were found to have very poor eyesight—and just last Saturday, they received their glasses! We are deeply grateful for this. Our hope is that better vision will help these children do better in school and in life. The parents paid 10% of the cost, and we covered the other 90%. If the children take good care of their glasses, we’ll return the parents’ 10% in November. That 10% is more than a day’s wages for many families, and our hope is that this investment will encourage them to value and care for the glasses. In a community of 150 families, I can only recall one person who owned glasses before this.

Going forward, we’ll be partnering with a U.S. nonprofit to continue providing glasses for those in need. More about that later.  We also hope to find a Honduran dentist to help with the many serious dental needs we see in the community. Please pray that this will become possible. We’re also in the early stages of planning a chicken-raising project on our property, which will give both women and men the opportunity to earn income and provide food for their families.

Lastly, I know that when many people in Honduras see me, they think “rich American.” But I’ve seen how doors open for people in the community simply because I’m there. It makes me wonder—how many people around you could benefit from your influence, just by being connected to you? I first learned this years ago while building relationships with homeless individuals. Even a casual connection can mean so much. Never underestimate the blessing you can be in someone else’s life.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I am so grateful for the blessings of heaven on this community, and look forward to continued work together with the community.