From time to time, I'd like to introduce you to some of the people who touched our lives. I hope they touch yours too.

Psalm 118: 18 "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law."

William

William was our houseman/inside security guard/finder of the toilet paper, etc. He is short, age unknown, face telling of stories never spoken. When not busy, we found him in the old red velvet odd-shaped chair tucked in the corner of the dining area. I went to see what he was doing, and he was reading a 2”x2” white pamphlet with a handful of scriptures. No, he didn’t have a Bible, but he spent hours rereading the few verses he had. Out of my mouth popped, “Do you want to be a pastor?” “Yes!” I could hear the fervor in his voice, and see the longing in his eyes. Tyndale had donated some Bibles that had been sent to the troops. It was the entire Bible, small, and the type was tiny. Regretfully, William said that he couldn’t read that. His eyes were bad, a refrain we heard repeatedly, and needed reading glasses. (Maybe the next trip we’ll bring some from Wheaton Eye Clinic?) I couldn’t find any large-print materials on one of the 4 big tables in the huge living room where we had piles of all of the donations, clothes and print materials. I went to our room, hoping that something had packed itself. And it had. Bob had thrown in his Mom’s brand new leather study Bible. She’s got Alzheimer’s, and is in a nursing home and can’t use it anymore. I waited until Bob came back from his favorite spot in Liberia, the orphanage, and asked if William could have it. “Sure!” He said. When I presented it to William, he was overwhelmed. A wide smile split his face, and can a very dark-skinned man glow? In the days that followed, William was no longer on the red chair, but on the back porch with another young man, reading and teaching the Word. Yes! Another offering had hit its mark!

William's story about poor eyesight hampering the reading of regular Bibles was repeated over and over again. In response to that, we are collecting reading glasses to send with Nancy and the team this month. If you have any that you'd like to donate, you can send it to EMA/USA, P.O. Box 36, Wheaton, IL 60126