{"id":42618,"date":"2022-04-22T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=42618"},"modified":"2022-04-18T09:18:54","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T14:18:54","slug":"vision-ministries-focus-on-evangelism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2022\/04\/22\/vision-ministries-focus-on-evangelism\/","title":{"rendered":"Vision ministries focus on evangelism"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARNOLD \u2013 <\/b>Two Missouri vision ministries, working in partnership, are clearly focused on evangelism through improving sight in their eyeglass clinics in the U.S. and Central America.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Smith, director of Focus On Missions, founded the organization about 20 years ago. For a time, he worked with pastors and churches in Mexico on other projects. Ten years ago, Smith\u2014a member at First Baptist Arnold\u2014began focusing exclusively on eyeglass clinics in the United States when he noticed a need for eyeglasses from people who couldn\u2019t afford them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Larry Merry, a member of Concord Church in Jefferson City, directs Vision 3:16\u2014a separate organization but one that also operates eyeglass clinics. He and Smith have been friends about 20 years when the two bonded over their similar ministries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLarry is taking care of the clinics in Mexico and El Salvador,\u201d Smith says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m taking care of the clinics in the United States. We work in harmony with each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Both men offer the eyeglass clinics, they say, because the outcomes have eternal potential. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen somebody receives vision,\u201d Smith says, \u201cand they\u2019re able to see and they\u2019re able to read and do things, it\u2019s a whole new world for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we do take eyeglasses and give them out for free,\u201d Merry says, \u201ceyeglasses are just the attraction to get people to come. The real purpose for doing a clinic is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During a clinic visitors pass through several stations, including registration, a wall chart eye exam, individual eye measurement to determine their prescription, a vision acuity procedure to match and issue the best available glasses, and a gospel presentation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe pray with every single person at every single station,\u201d Smith says. \u201cFollowing the last station they go to an evangelism station. (Volunteers) will speak to the person about their relationship with Christ.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Typically, the churches hosting the clinics have a particular focus. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe work hand in hand with a local church that\u2019s trying to reach the needy, the poor, the homeless,\u201d Smith says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver 90% of the people we serve,\u201d Merry says, \u201chave never had a pair of glasses and never will if they don\u2019t attend one of our clinics.\u00a0 <\/span>They learn to cope with whatever vision they were born with and for some that is very limiting to what they can do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the organizations are independent they operate similarly. Both rely on local churches to host clinics and volunteers to run them. Volunteers may come from the same congregation or\u2014if the church is too small\u2014from a traveling mission team. The host church also has a post-clinic responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe role of the local church,\u201d Merry says, \u201cis to follow up with those who respond and to get them to become part of a church fellowship and Bible study.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Donated glasses come from various sources. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary source of eyeglasses is from the Missouri Lions Clubs,\u201d says Merry. \u201cOver 95% of our glasses come from this source.\u201d Smith says glasses also come from individuals, churches, and organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have people who give us boxes of glasses,\u201d Smith says. \u201cWe have people who give us zip-locked bags of glasses. We\u2019ve never had an issue with not enough glasses. They appear out of everywhere.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Smith sends his eyeglass donations to Vision 3:16, which processes them before they\u2019re shared between the two organizations. Before being issued to an individual, the glasses have to be read for their prescriptions, cataloged, and inventoried.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLarry has a group of people at Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThey do all the reading of the glasses. They do all the inventory. They take care of all of the behind the scenes work, which is a tremendous amount of work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Focus On Missions holds about 30, one-day eyeglass clinics around the U.S., mostly on weekends. Some \u201cextended\u201d\u2014or multi-day\u2014eyeglass clinics are held during the week. Last August, for example, Focus On Missions held eyeglass clinics in Montana for two weeks, supporting Missouri Baptist efforts to help churches there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Merry says Vision 3:16 does fewer clinics. \u201cIn 2022 we have eight international clinics scheduled in Mexico and El Salvador.\u201d He\u2019s also had clinics in Cambodia. Vision 3:16 clinics tend to be multi-day events. <\/span><\/p>\n

Smith says, \u201cWe\u2019ve got it down so we go into a church and set up at 8 o\u2019clock in the morning. We run the clinic from 10 o\u2019clock in the morning to usually 2 or 3 o\u2019clock in the afternoon. And, we\u2019re generally always out of the clinic by 4 o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do a clinic with whatever number of volunteers we get,\u201d Merry says, \u201cbut to maximize the number of people we can serve a team of 18 to 20 people is needed.\u00a0 <\/span>With a full team we will serve 1,000 people in a three-day clinic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Both men say their greatest needs are churches to host clinics and teams willing to run them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Churches wanting to host a U.S. clinic or supply a team can call Smith at 314-406-1448.<\/span><\/p>\n

To contact Vision 3:16 about an international clinic, text or phone Merry at 573-619-0013, or email him at Larry.d.merry@gmail.com.\u00a0 <\/span>The organization\u2019s online site is www.EyeglassVision316.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Missouri vision ministries, working in partnership, are clearly focused on evangelism through improving sight in their eyeglass clinics in the U.S. and Central 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