Hello.
My name is Hannah Ray. I am 15 years old and in the 10th grade.
My favorite color is yellow. I am an M.K.
(Missionary Kid). Instead of going to public school I am home schooled.
I enjoy it a lot. My favorite subjects are Algebra (although it
is frustrating), Geography, and Science. I have one sibling, my
older sister Rebekah, who is the best sister you could ever find
and also my best friend. We don't have a lot of American friends
in our city, but we know other missionary kids throughout Ukraine
and some other countries. We also have Ukrainian friends here, as
well as friends in the states that we still keep in contact with.
I love to read and play with my dogs. Mandie, our miniature dachshund is really silly and Samson, our German shepherd is just a big baby. We sing as a family in the churches we visit. It is fun to be able to sing in their language and do something together as a family. My sister and I are preparing to start some clowning ministry and I think that will be a lot of fun too!
I love to cook and sew all kinds of things. I really like to bake chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Besides school, I also have Russian lessons, Piano, and Violin lessons.
In the last year I have had the privilege of getting to
work in several medical clinics, specifically with eye glasses. My, Rebekah,
and I learned how things worked and gained some experience. With some
later groups when no optometrist came, we were asked to run the glasses.
We did this with the help of either volunteers, or Ukrainians whose specialties
were in fields other than optometry. So Rebekah and I would pretty much
do it ourselves, since the volunteers didn’t have interpreters and
we could speak the language. While in this setting I have had many memorable
experiences, a few of which I would like
to share with you.
On one occasion, we had a lady come in who wanted “TV glasses”. While attempting not to laugh, we questioned her further until we understood she not only needed glasses for reading, but also needed some weaker ones to see the television. We managed to find her some and since then have had a countless number of people come in to receive “TV glasses”.
I now have a white, medical-type coat which I wear in the clinics. Due to this I have had several people mistake me for a doctor. Once, when we were working in a clinic out of town, I had a lady ask me which eye clinic I worked at in Dnipropetrovsk!
Unfortunately, some of our experiences are not as humorous as those above. We have many people who come in with various eye diseases - for which they need medicine,- or cataracts, for which they need surgery. On one occasion, we had a completely blind lady come in who wanted help. We are simply not able to help these people.
Although
there are many sad cases like those I’ve just shared with you, we
also have the most joyous occasions when someone comes in, puts on a pair
of glasses, and sees everything clearly, sometimes for the first time
in their life. Those are the moments we work for, when they look at the
New Testament we’ve given them to test the glasses with, and they
start to read and just keep reading and reading. When the little old ladies
smother us with kisses of gratitude as they head out the door, wishing
us all kind and good things for our future. Sure, we have people like
some folks who are really hard to please, but we also have little old
men who walk out with tie-dye frames reading glasses and a big smile on
their face.
The greatest thing of all about these clinics is that no one leaves without being offered a bag with a New Testament in it. Whenever possible the clinics are even held in a local church building, so people who never knew before where the church was located now know where believers meet.
As you finish this article, you will probably remember the funny stories the best, but please take something else away with you as well. Pray for these people we are trying to help. And as you remember about their physical need to see, do not forget to pray that their eyes will be opened spiritually, their sight repaired, and their vision for the future radically altered.
Hannah Ray
