A Samaritan’s Purse cataract surgical team provided Cambodians with life-changing eye surgery and the Gospel message.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5).
Torn’s eyes shine with tears as she holds the hands of the Samaritan’s Purse staffers. She pulls their faces close to hers, finally able to see them clearly for the first time.
Torn affectionately expressed gratitude to our team for ending years of longing for restored vision.
“You’re beautiful,” she says to members of the team.
Torn was brought to the clinic for a double cataract surgery. She is endearingly called a Donchee, a word that means “granny” in the native Khmer language. The word refers to an elderly woman who has dedicated herself to a religious life. Now, after three years of blindness, the 66-year-old Buddhist nun is able to see again.
“I was in darkness, but then the bandage came off, and I saw the light shining. It was like walking into a room and turning the light on and then being able to see everything,” Torn says. “It is the love and blessing of God that guided me to your team.”
How Far God Will Go
Torn is among 230 patients receiving the life-changing eye surgery, free of charge, during our week-long cataract surgical mission in western Cambodia. For those still living in poverty, this 15-to-30-minute eye surgery can drastically change an individual’s life—enabling them to continue working, providing for their families, and living independently.
Bethany Densham, the program manager for the Samaritan’s Purse cataract program, has seen God work in lives and communities through the life-changing procedures all over the world.
“Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness around the world, and it’s often related to an aging population who’ve had a lot of sun exposure,” explains Bethany Densham, the program manager for the Samaritan’s Purse cataract program.
“In most of the places that we go, a lot of people who get cataracts will be unable to do activities of daily living for themselves,” Densham says. For those who are the main providers for their families, this makes surgery even more crucial.
Barry Jessen, the country director for our office in Cambodia, explains how this program draws gifted medical professionals from all over the world to come and serve and provide a surgery that is free and unconditional.
“It shows that God is willing to go farther than anyone to come and help you,” Jessen says.
The cataract surgical team not only addresses a pattern of poor sight in this generation, but is bringing the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the spiritual blindness of the region.
“I Have Now Met A Real God…”
Torn is easy to spot in the clinic dressed all in white. Torn’s clothes are not all that make her stand out though—especially now, because she can’t stop smiling and rejoicing with the Samaritan’s Purse staff that she is able to see again.
Torn was blessed by the kindness of God’s people providing compassionate quality care to help her see again.
Torn began losing her eyesight around six years ago. As a result of her husband divorcing her many years previously and her only son passing away as a child, Torn was alone when her sight began declining. She decided to return to her family living near the Vietnam boarder, but it was not the welcome she was hoping for.
“After I could not see, I went back to my eight siblings, but when they saw that I was blind. This did not accept me; they let me go, so I decided to go to live in the pagoda,” she says, recounting how they also took away her house and land. “I asked my sister to bring me to a hospital in Phnom Pehn (the capital city), but my sister said, ‘If you want to go somewhere, you can go. Just go away. Go anywhere.’”
Having no one to turn to and nowhere else to go, Torn decided to move in to a Buddhist community. When she first moved to the local pagoda, she describes feeling new hope.
“I believed that one day a God who has power would help me, [but] I didn’t know whose God that would be,” she explains.
Little did she know the Lord was preparing her to experience his love in a new and powerful way. After connecting with our team, receiving cataract surgery, and having her sight restored, Torn’s belief became a reality.
“The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the light – the sun,” Torn says. “It was like I had died and then came back to life.”
With her new sight, Torn says she’s looking forward to planting vegetables, cleaning the campus, and making food at the pagoda. “I still have energy to serve,” she says. “I can go back and read and learn something new through reading. I can read the Bible and learn about Jesus.”
Though Torn did not become a Christian, she experienced the love of God through His people ministering tangibly in her life. Please be in prayer for Torn as she discovers more about who Jesus is.
“I have now met a real God that can heal me. Thank you! Blessing to the staff. God sent you. Nothing can compare.”
After a Hundred Years of Prayer
The Samaritan’s Purse cataract team partners with local churches who ministered to patients, friends, and family and were part of planting hundreds of Gospel seeds. Many patients were brought to these local churches to be fed and housed for the night, and while they are there, pastors share the Gospel with them in their heart language.
Local churches in western Cambodia share food, homes, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the cataract patients.
“These local churches were very excited about having the patients come because it’s a great opportunity for ministry and for sharing the Gospel. You’ve got a captive audience,” Densham says. “It’s just a really great opportunity for our staff, and especially our national staff, to go there in the evenings and really minister to the patients.”
During our cataract mission in Cambodia, God opened spiritual eyes and more than 180 patients chose to follow Jesus after hearing the Gospel at a host church. An elderly man named Seom was one patient who professed Jesus as Lord and Savior after conversations with a local church partner.
“I decided to believe in Jesus because I saw all the joy around me, and I saw Christ through you all. I see how God is good, how He’s good to you, and I also want to experience God’s love,” explains Seom, who also shares some of his story. He was just a teenager when Cambodia went through the Khmer Rouge war. He was conscripted into the military, becoming a child-soldier at the age of 15.
Later in life, his poor sight prevented him from working on his farm and being able to fully provide for his family. However, after receiving cataract surgery and hearing the Gospel, Seom sees his life differently.
“It is a blessing that God brought me here. Everything has happened because God wanted to bless me and has a plan for me,” he says. I believe that no matter what hardships I face in the future, God will help me.”
Seom, right, joins his wife in sharing gratitude for his restored eyes and the transformation of his life through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Church leaders see the impact of the cataract program as an example of a larger cultural shift happening in Cambodia. Right now, churches are witnessing the fruit of a hundred years of Christian ministry, and local congregations are experiencing a harvest.
As Cambodia country director, Barry Jessen has witnessed this firsthand as communities open their hearts to Christ during the many Samaritan’s Purse projects throughout the country.
“After a hundred years of prayer and faithful diligence in sowing the seed, now, just in the last few years, we’re seeing a period of harvest, thousands and thousands every year are coming to Christ,” he says.
He saw individuals and their families begin to understand the unconditional love Christ has for them as they experience the level of care we provide while asking for nothing in return.
“It’s so unique in a country, that’s primarily Buddhist, to be able to go in and see people who are very open to hearing the Gospel,” Densham says, celebrating the spiritual harvest the cataract team witnessed in just a few days. “A lot of hearts were changed this week, and that was just very special.”
Please pray for this nation as it seeks truth and for those who chose to follow Jesus during our cataract mission in Cambodia. Pray that they may heal well from the surgery and continue to grow in their newfound faith.
