Glenn and Kim Strauss arrived in Cameroon recently as part of a medical mission trip. From the start they had many obstacles to finding patients for eye surgery. So, what do you do when you arrive in a foreign country expecting to do surgery and there are no patients?!

Take a moment to read how God moved…

"Our team was convinced that God wanted us to 'throw the net out on the other side'. So we did! This meant advertising, pulling from staff and developing and training an eye screening team, talking to churches and mosques, putting up banners, doing a tv spot (yes, Glenn is now famous here too), radio spots, Instagram, and even Whatsapp ads!!! (Boy, the world has changed!) At first, people seemed to hear by accident and trickled in one by one. But today things changed, and we saw so many that back up had to be called in! We were able to send 80 new cataract patients for measurements for surgery! The net was full!

"Yesterday, Glenn had this 17-year-old boy, Frank, who was completely blind from cataracts. He was told that we would do only one eye, but Glenn decided he should do both! Frank was so happy! Today, we removed his patches and for the first time in more than 7 years... Frank could see! We cannot wait until he and his father return to come to our first 'celebrate sight' with many others that can now see!

"We also did surgery on a pair of 60-year-old sisters. They hadn’t seen each other for 7 years either!! I considered warning them that they better be prepared for the other will look older now, but, hey, sisters just don't care!

"We have done about 300 cataract surgeries now and each has a unique story, but I want to tell about the day that one man came to know the Lord! It was a slow day as Glenn was training his Cameroonian ophthalmologist who had never ever even touched an eye before! Eric, my translator, who is a pastor, decided to share with the patients waiting. At the end, he asked, 'Is there anyone here who wants to accept the free gift that Jesus offers? Is there anyone who desires to be a follower of Jesus?' The blind man sitting at the end of the row, almost in the corner of the room, nearly leapt out of his chair as he threw his hand high in the air and smiled an amazingly big smile! Pastor Eric asked him to repeat a prayer, and to our surprise, not only did that man repeat the prayer, but several others did too!! They were so excited that they broke out in song. And, man, can Cameroonian's sing!! Filled with great traditional harmonies, their song filled the room and spilled over into the hall. The sound was magnificent, and the joy was contagious!

"'If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation, for the scripture says, "whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed."' -- Romans 10: 9-11

"So – yes, we have faced many obstacles, but God has moved mountains to bless us and our patients here in Cameroon.

"As we pray that God will continue to fill our net we thank you all for your prayers and help in getting us here."
Love, Kim and Glenn