The Gift of Sight (Paperback)

Imagine if you couldn't see; imagine all the visual wonders that you would miss because your vision was so poor. For some, getting our eyes checked and the right prescription of glasses is affordable and allows us to see these visual wonders of God's creation, but for others, this could be a dream they believe will never come true. Author Holland Kendall writes how God led him to start his own optometry ministry to help the vision needs of those less fortunate in Honduras, Nicaragua and around the world in his new book, The Gift of Sight. While on a mission trip to Honduras, Holland noticed how the vision needs of the local people were underserved, mainly because of the lack of resources to help properly fit the people with the right glasses. Holland soon realized God had called him to make an impact in this area of mission work: first in developing a program for glasses prescriptions and secondly with learning how to operate an optometry ministry that continues to help others see today. As readers read through the pages, they read of lives changed for the better just through the act of being able to see with glasses: a homeless man finding a job and an apartment after getting glasses, a Honduras woman with a -13.0 prescription being able to see clearly again, and even a Buddhist monk becoming a Christian after being blessed with renewed sight. Now when people ask Holland why he does all he can to help others through his ministry, he tells them, "Because this is what Christ said I should do." Their stories in The Gift of Sight show how God can move people to help those around them for the better. As we help others, we not only forget about our own problems but appreciate the blessing that it is to see. I grew up in a Christian family. My father, M. H. Kendall was a college professor and head of the religion department at Mars Hill College (now Mars Hill University), in Mars Hill, N.C. for nearly 40 years. In July, 1999 I decided I would take one mission trip to Honduras working through an organization called "Baptist Medical Dental Mission International". We placed some glasses out on a table and people came by and tried them on at random until something helped them. I immediately knew this was wrong but I did not know what was right. I knew it was the best we could do at the time. I came back from that trip with a God Given passion to do it better. Since 1999 I have gone to Honduras 28 times and Nicaragua 3 times. Each time something was improved. In 2003 we incorporated as "Kendall Optometry Ministry" and we have now had 1700 teams use our equipment taking them to 79 different countries.