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Epiphanie: Blind and Deaf from Birth

Epiphanie: Blind and Deaf from Birth

Epiphanie was blind and deaf from birth. We knew he was blind from the second we saw him. We could see the blank stare on his face. But someone had to tell us that he was deaf. We would have never known otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were so surprised because he smiled all the time and responded to his dad’s voice. We could really tell a difference when he touched his arm though. His face lit up every time. He had the most beautiful smile. We all teared up the first time we saw him. He was precious.

We couldn’t wait to give this little guy his sight back.

 

 

As soon as we found out he was both blind and deaf, we all thought of Helen Keller. Everyone knows her story, but not many people meet someone in person who is blind and deaf.

It is mind blowing to come face to face with someone knowing that they can’t hear or see. I paused many times, thinking about what life would be like if I couldn’t hear or see. Surely, life would be so dark and sad. Yet when I looked at Epiphanie’s face, I didn’t see darkness or sadness. I saw joy, light, and peace.

I didn’t understand how he could have such a huge smile on his face all the time.

 

 

Epiphanie and his father showed up for surgery five days early, so we got to follow Epiphanie around all week. He was a joy to be around. He rarely had anything but a smile on his face. We saw him fuss maybe once or twice.

 

 

There was one other boy his age who was also waiting for surgery. His name was Foley. Throughout the week they became sweet friends. They often played games with each other. They were typical boys, even though they were blind. By the end of the week, they were inseparable. They sat next to each other every chance they got.

 

 

On the day of Epiphanie’s surgery, craziness happened in the operating room. The oxygen tank stopped working that operated the special scalpel for children’s surgery. We had scheduled all five children’s surgeries for that day and were only able to do two. Epiphanie was one of the two who actually had surgery that day.

I will never forget Epiphanie’s cute little body sitting cross legged on a table with his surgery cap on. That huge smile never left his face. 

 

 

As I watched him lay down on the operating table, my heart jumped. It was a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

 

 

Everything went well with his surgery. As his dad carried him out of the operating room, Epiphanie’s friend Foley ran as fast as he could to be with him. Foley hadn’t had his surgery yet, so he couldn’t see, but he just knew he needed to be with his friend during that time. And he knew that he would be next.

 

The next day, our optometrist took the patches off Epiphanie’s eyes. I don’t know if Epiphanie even knew what was happening. How could he? He was deaf so his dad couldn’t tell him what was happening. Can you imagine? He hadn’t seen for his entire eight years of life. He didn’t even know it was an option to be able to see. Then suddenly, he was being unpatched and he could see, for the first time in his life! He was experiencing it all in his head still because he couldn’t talk about it or be told about it. It just happened.

 

We knew he could see immediately. He looked all around him. He wasn’t scared to look like some of the other children. It is interesting to see how people experience their first sight in different ways. Some are scared. Some cry. Some laugh. Some dance. Some stare in silence. Some smile.

Epiphanie smiled, as usual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That same day, I posted Epiphanie’s sweet smile on social media.

His smile caught the attention of another very sweet boy across the world.

When twelve-year-old Price James saw a photo of Epiphanie and heard his story, he was overwhelmed. God did something in Price’s heart that day. He gave him compassion for a boy all the way across the world that he had never met.

Price put Epiphanie’s photo on the home screen of his phone and couldn’t stop looking at his face. He often wondered about him and his family. Price truly fell in love with Epiphanie’s joyful smile.

When Price saw a video of Epiphanie seeing for the first time, he showed it to his whole family. He told everyone that he wanted to go to Togo and meet Epiphanie.

 

 

The Holy Spirit truly got ahold of Price’s heart the day he saw Epiphanie’s face. He even wrote a letter to tell about his love for Epiphanie.

 

 

The Sight.org staff is humbled by the purity of Price’s love for someone he has never met. We pray that God will continue to do big things in both Price and Epiphanie’s lives. Who knows, maybe one day they will get to meet each other. We serve a very big God!

 

You can give sight to someone just like Epiphanie. For $12.50 a month, you can give sight and the gospel to one person a year.

Will you prayerfully consider giving today?

 

Pharmacist Gives Sight to a Pharmacist

Pharmacist Gives Sight to a Pharmacist

 

As soon as I saw his description, I knew who I was going to match him with.

 

Each of our Visionaries gets matched with a patient. They get a photo and description of the patient to whom they gave sight. These descriptions include age, job, and sometimes family information.

 

I am always looking for matches that will connect to the heart of the donor.

 

A few months ago, Meheza sent me photos and a story about a man who had just received sight.

 

 

His description read:

His name is Adoli Mawukplom. He is 73 and he was a pharmacist in his village. He has eleven children and three of them have passed away. He has twelve grandchildren. He has been blind for five years now. He stopped his job when he went blind. Last month he heard about Sight.org and he told his daughter to bring him to us. He said, “I know I will get my sight back in Jesus name, if not God would not let me hear about Sight.org.”

 

As soon as I saw his description, I knew which of our Visionaries I was going to match him with.

 

Ashtin Taylor was one of our very first Visionaries. She has been donating monthly to give sight for almost two years. 

 

 

Ashtin is a pharmacist, so when I saw that Adoli was a pharmacist, I just knew I had to match them together.

 

We don’t see many patients who are pharmacists. In fact, I’m not sure we have ever seen one. Most of our patients are farmers, produce sellers, teachers, or pastors.

 

When I texted Ashtin with the photo of Adoli and his description, she was so thankful.

 

Ashtin and Adoli may never meet in person, but will always be connected in a very special way.

 

When asked why she gives monthly to Sight.org, this was Ashtin’s response:

“It is very easy for all of us to take for granted our health and access to healthcare here in the United States. People can come up to me any day of the week and ask for help with their healthcare and have easy access to the medications or treatments they need to remedy their problem. Not everyone in the world has this luxury and it’s easy to forget that. It takes very little time, effort and resources from me to make a very large impact on those who receive care from the Sight.org team. Also, I believe that it is very important that those of us who may not be able or called to go and do, support those who can. So it is important to be to be able to use the resources God has given me to help support those that are doing what He has called them to do out in the field.”

 

We are beyond thankful for each one of our Visionaries.

Their monthly support keeps eye surgeries going.

They open a door for the gospel to be shared with each patient. 

 

Will you open a door too?

Join Visionaries today!

 

Watch the video below to find out more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You So Much!

Thank You So Much!

Sight Night was a great success and we are humbly grateful to you for coming and to everyone who gave so generously. To God be the glory!

We’re excited to let you know that you raised $30,081 at Sight Night toward our goal of $41,250! This will bring sight to 200 people in Togo over the next four months!

THANK YOU!!!!

We can’t tell you how much it means to people in Togo to know that people like you care enough to help. They are overwhelmed when we tell them that someone across the world paid for their eye surgeries.

Thank you for caring.

 

Thank you to Callynth Photography Studio for hosting Sight Night and for taking the beautiful photos above.

Thank you also to BSCENE for coming out and taking photos. You can see their photos here.

Thank you to our sponsors:

Four Seasons Women’s Health

Dr. Neshia Rudd, Optometrist (Today’s Vision)

Ragsdale & Martin Optical

Yarbrough Wilcox Law Firm

Pixologie Tyler

Co.Work Tyler

Medical Recruiting | MedicalRecruiting.com

Heaton Eye Associates

Neighbors Emergency Center- Tyler

Lisa Barr

We Thank God for this Little Miracle Baby

We Thank God for this Little Miracle Baby

Big, HUGE, Announcement from Lewis Swann, founder of Sight.org

 

“Naomi and I are EXCITED to announce that we have a little one on the way!

We want to give God all the glory for this little miracle baby that He has given us. It is always in His perfect timing that He gives us good gifts and cultivates something in us that we wouldn’t otherwise have, while we wait.”

 

Watch video below to see the gender reveal.

 

We are all very excited about this new little addition to the Sight.org team!

We would love for you to pray for a healthy pregnancy for Naomi and a happy, healthy baby!

 

 

20 Years Without a Mother

20 Years Without a Mother

As I sat with our medical team talking, our ophthalmic assistant, Dominic, said,

“Something happened yesterday that I need to share with all of you. No one knows this yet. It was such a surprise to me that I have not told anyone yet.

When I was very young, my mother had to leave us. I was raised by my father and grandparents. I don’t even know what my mother looks like.

I have not talked to or seen my mother in twenty years.

Several years ago, I started praying that I would get to see my mother again. I don’t even know what country she lives in now, but I feel like God wants me to see her. My father does not know where she is. No one in my family does.

 

Dominic

 

I have been praying for so many years now and nothing has happened. There is nothing I can do but pray.

I almost gave up on ever seeing her, until last week. My uncle called me and said that he had seen my mother in Liberia, where I am from.

My mother asked about me, so my uncle gave her my phone number.

 

Dominic

 

Yesterday, my mother called me.

I talked to my mother yesterday for the first time in twenty years.

 

Dominic

 

She was so excited that she talked the entire time. I barely said a word.

I am so overwhelmed that God has brought my mother back to me. A son needs his mother. I am thirty-six years old but I still need my mother.

I got to tell her about the work I do with Sight.org. I am so happy that she now has a taste of my labor. I have long been wishing to do something for my mother as it is our culture to show that you are not a waste.

I am so thankful. Praise God.”

 

Dominic

 

Our medical team was overjoyed to hear Dominic’s news. Dominic has been through a lot of hard times in his life. As a child, he and his family had to flee Liberia during the horrific war. He saw things as a child that no one should ever see.

 

Dominic

 

And yet, you would never know he had gone through all that.

I call Dominic my tour guide when I go to Togo. He is our best interpreter. He knows all the animal and plant names. He is extremely intelligent.

 

Dominic

 

Dominic has always dreamed of becoming a doctor. That is why he is the best ophthalmic assistant anyone could ask for.

He pours himself into his work. He is a hard worker and he loves his work. He is serious about helping the people in Togo. He is serious about getting our patients well again.

He is also serious about encouraging each patient with the good news of Jesus.

 

Dominic

 

And now, he is serious about getting to see his mother again.

His goal is to go back to Liberia in December so he can see his mother at Christmas time.

We are all so excited for Dominic. He has his momma back!

Sight.org will be helping fund Dominic’s trip to Liberia. If you would like to help Dominic go see his mother, you can donate at Sight.org.

 

Dominic

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