John Bradshaw - That I May Receive My Sight
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: Most of the patients think blindness is part of life, and so they live and die with blindness.
— What’s a life if you live only for yourself? You have to live for others. That is what makes us humans.
— We need to be kind and be compassionate with people. We need to help poor people, and we need to help each other.
— Dr. Jacob has the motivation from God only, or all from his heart, that he should work for the poor, needy and helpless people.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: I come from a very remote village, from a very poor background. When I was a child I received help to become something in life. If I can help these patients, and give them the gift of sight and give them the ray of hope, it changes their life all over again.
— What’s a life if you live only for yourself? You have to live for others. That is what makes us humans.
— We need to be kind and be compassionate with people. We need to help poor people, and we need to help each other.
— Dr. Jacob has the motivation from God only, or all from his heart, that he should work for the poor, needy and helpless people.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: I come from a very remote village, from a very poor background. When I was a child I received help to become something in life. If I can help these patients, and give them the gift of sight and give them the ray of hope, it changes their life all over again.
This is It Is Written. I’m John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me in India. The world is full of bad news. There’s terrorism and tragedy and difficulty and hardship and want and crime and violence, and we’re familiar with it all. But at the same time, it shouldn’t be forgotten that there’s an awful lot of good taking place in this world. And it’s in times of tragedy and need that human beings press together to help those who most need help.
In Jalandhar, India, a dedicated physician is working to alleviate the challenges faced by some of India’s 15 million blind people. Every year he performs cataract surgery on the visually impaired, many of whom simply cannot see. This simple procedure means that people are literally given their sight.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: India is home to 15 million blind people. Most of it is due to cataracts. And most of it is preventable or treatable. Most of these people are living in the rural communities, where there is very minimal access to healthcare. Most of the patients think blindness is part of life and so they live and die with blindness. When they have bilateral blindness, the people cannot earn. They cannot live a normal life. They are unable to take care of their own families.
Aatma Singh: I was completely blind in both eyes. Now I see very well. But before I had so much trouble because of my sight. When it was dark I could not see when I was walking inside my home. Now I can see clearly.
Division Sangma: Because they’re so needy they can’t see. Because they are so poor, they can’t afford money and they don’t have money to come to hospital.
Dr. Maninder Minhas: You know it’s a basic right when we talk of the constitution, basic health, basic education. We are born with this right. Especially in India when you talk about below poverty line people. We are catering only to 30% of the problems. Seventy percent of people still need basic health.
Emmanuel Paul: The people here, they are not able to afford to have the surgery. That’s why it’s important here for Dr. Jacob to get the surgery done.
Susan Kamson: Dr. Jacob, he is the fastest surgeon in India. Other surgeons in one day, they will do only 30 or 40 surgeries. He can do more than 300 to 400 surgeries per day.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: I personally have done more than 120,000 surgeries. In a year we do about ten to twelve thousand surgeries. But we want to do more. The need is so vast.
Dr. Maninder Minhas: I appreciate doctors who really go out of their way to help people. I mean, what’s a life if you live only for yourself? You have to live for others. That is what makes us humans.
Division Sangma: Because they’re so needy they can’t see. Because they are so poor, they can’t afford money and they don’t have money to come to hospital.
Dr. Maninder Minhas: You know it’s a basic right when we talk of the constitution, basic health, basic education. We are born with this right. Especially in India when you talk about below poverty line people. We are catering only to 30% of the problems. Seventy percent of people still need basic health.
Emmanuel Paul: The people here, they are not able to afford to have the surgery. That’s why it’s important here for Dr. Jacob to get the surgery done.
Susan Kamson: Dr. Jacob, he is the fastest surgeon in India. Other surgeons in one day, they will do only 30 or 40 surgeries. He can do more than 300 to 400 surgeries per day.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: I personally have done more than 120,000 surgeries. In a year we do about ten to twelve thousand surgeries. But we want to do more. The need is so vast.
Dr. Maninder Minhas: I appreciate doctors who really go out of their way to help people. I mean, what’s a life if you live only for yourself? You have to live for others. That is what makes us humans.
So what do you do when you’re confronted by that kind of need? You might be tempted to think that you couldn’t possibly make a difference. You might be tempted to turn and look the other way. Or maybe you could say, what would Jesus have done? Except we know what Jesus did. Jesus never ignored the issues that confronted Him. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. The lame walked. The lepers were cleansed. Jesus opened up the ears of the deaf. And Jesus gave sight to the blind.
Emmanuel Paul: "Eyes for India" is changing the lives of children, mothers and fathers, and all the ones that are able to live a life of their own.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: They come crying, hoping that they will get some hope. And we give them sight, they are so delighted.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: They come crying, hoping that they will get some hope. And we give them sight, they are so delighted.
In a moment, the incredible story of people helping people, and how you can be the difference in somebody’s life. I’ll be right back.
Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. When Jesus was on the earth, He had compassion on those who lived in difficult circumstances. Luke 17:12 and 13 says, "And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’" Well, we know what happened next. It’s a famous story. Jesus healed ten terminally ill outcasts.
In Matthew 8, Jesus was met by another leper. "And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed". The woman with the issue of blood? Jesus healed her. He cast out demons. Mark 3, verse 10, says, "For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him". Luke 4, verse 40, says, "When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them". Luke 9:11 says Jesus "healed those who had need of healing". He even healed people when He knew that doing so would get Him into trouble. The disciples healed in the time of the early Christian church.
Peter and John went down to the temple to pray, and a lame man asked them for money. They said, "We don’t have any money". "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk". And the man did. He went walking and leaping and praising God. You can understand why.
Acts 5:15 says, "They brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them". Imagine that. Healing the sick is incredibly important to God. Now, you might say, oh, but I’m not a physician. I can’t treat those who are ill. I certainly can’t work miracles. Ah, but you can. You really can. Here in India, there are people experiencing the miracle of healing, made possible by people like you.
Mohinder Singh: The problem is, if one cannot see, he does not know who has come or gone. Also, sometimes I would trip or fall over in shallow ditches because I couldn't see. Blindness means we can't work properly at all. Before I had the operation I used to get headaches. Then I lost vision in both my eyes. After the surgery I regained my sight.
Dalbeirkaur Singh: Some people cannot afford surgery. There are many poor people that need to be helped. Some people don't even have someone to take them to the hospital. Donations for eye surgeries is a very kind act.
Dalbeirkaur Singh: Some people cannot afford surgery. There are many poor people that need to be helped. Some people don't even have someone to take them to the hospital. Donations for eye surgeries is a very kind act.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: I come from a very remote village in the eastern part of India, born in a family of eight siblings, only one son, and I have seven beautiful sisters. And my father and mother lived in this rural village in a thatched home, nothing to look forward to. I come from a village where there is no healthcare. The entire area did not have any health facilities. I remember the local doctor coming to my home, when my sisters, my father and mother fell ill. I used to see this doctor who may have not been a qualified physician. Since then I’ve had a desire, even before going to school. I said that one day I must become a physician. Our church pastor actually identified some potential in this little fellow who could become something in life. The pastor must have taken a lot of time to convince my parents to let their only son to be taken to a boarding school.
John Bradshaw: After becoming an ophthalmologist, Dr. Prabhakar dedicated his life to helping the blind in India. But what motivates him?
— He has the motivation from God only, or from his heart, that he should work for the poor, needy, and helpless people.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: Why not me if I can go to the villages, pick up these children with blindness, pick up the old people, all the mothers and fathers, if I can help these patients and give them the ray of hope, it changes their life all over again. I think that’s what Jesus did when He was on this earth. He went to the people where they were. He ministered unto them. He touched their lives, and He said, "Come and follow me."
— I’m so lucky to work with Dr. Jacob. He is so much kind, humble, and he is so much caring, and so much compassionate. And he will be in the hospital working day and night without having his meal. As a Christian we need to help poor people and we need to help each other. As Christ says, we need to be kind and be compassionate with the people.
— God loves us if we love people. If we love the people, then God loves us. God is love. That’s why it’s so very much a necessity that we should help the human being.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: Why not me if I can go to the villages, pick up these children with blindness, pick up the old people, all the mothers and fathers, if I can help these patients and give them the ray of hope, it changes their life all over again. I think that’s what Jesus did when He was on this earth. He went to the people where they were. He ministered unto them. He touched their lives, and He said, "Come and follow me."
— I’m so lucky to work with Dr. Jacob. He is so much kind, humble, and he is so much caring, and so much compassionate. And he will be in the hospital working day and night without having his meal. As a Christian we need to help poor people and we need to help each other. As Christ says, we need to be kind and be compassionate with the people.
— God loves us if we love people. If we love the people, then God loves us. God is love. That’s why it’s so very much a necessity that we should help the human being.
There’s something in the human heart, I believe in every human heart, that wants to respond to a need. There’s something about the human heart, I believe placed there by God, that wants to step into the gap and see people ministered to, to see the helpless helped, the hopeless have hope, to see those who are despairing relieved of their despair. Imagine being able to give the gift of sight. Would there be a greater gift that a person could possibly give? Well, you can give the gift of sight, and I’ll tell you how in just a moment.
Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. Now, you’ve heard the story. A man who was sitting on the side of the road near the city of Jericho, when he discovered Jesus was walking into the city. He called out, "Son of David, have mercy on me". Now, the people around urged the man to be quiet. But all that did, was it goaded him into calling out to Jesus all the louder. "Son of David, have mercy on me". Jesus became aware of what was going on, so He asked those there to bring the man into His presence. The blind man came to the presence of Jesus. Jesus said to him, "What is it you would like Me to do for you"? And that man was not backwards in coming forward. He had a need, and he asked Jesus to provide that need. He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight".
Now, you can imagine somebody having a need like that today, and making the same request of God. Does God still work miracles? The answer to that is obvious. Yes, He does. Now, we don’t see miracles like that happen very often today. Jesus isn’t walking the earth in a literal sense like He was 2,000 years ago. But God does still heal. And God does still work miracles. Very often, He uses people to get the job done. When that man called out to Jesus, he made a very specific request: "Lord, that I may receive my sight". If you were blind, I expect that would be your prayer. The man’s prayer was answered. Jesus said, "’Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God".
Now, can you imagine being used by God to restore sight to someone who is visually impaired, or to someone who is completely blind? This is not merely hypothetical. Now, turn that upside down. Imagine that somebody wants to be able to see, and the mechanism exists for them to be able to see again, and yet nobody will connect the person with the healing mechanism. Let me say that again. Imagine someone wants to be able to see, and they can, but no one will help. Now, that man called to Jesus, and he said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight". And today there are people calling to me and to you, and they’re saying, "That I may receive my sight. That I may receive my sight". And the truth is, God is looking to restore sight to the blind, and He wants you to make it possible.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: Every year we do about ten to twelve thousand surgeries. The need is so great, the resources are so minimal, and they are so poor. The support is not adequate enough to meet the increasing demand of the surgeries. And so if only we have more resources. What we need is materials, funds, equipment, team members, and we’d be able to do about 20,000 or more surgeries in a year, and it would be a great opportunity to serve these patients, give them the gift of sight. It’s a big impact changing the lives of people across India.
John Bradshaw: Followers of Jesus are called to enter into the work of Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus had compassion on others. Again and again it says He was moved with compassion. The sufferings of others bothered Him. Their losses affected Him. The struggles of people moved Jesus. Would you be moved? Remember what God said through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah, chapter 58: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard" - Isaiah 58:6-8.
Dr. Jacob Prabhakar: Once they remove the bandages, the patients are so excited. At one time you see excitement and joy in the lives of these poor patients who have been blind for so many, many years. Eyes for India is making such a difference in the lives of these poor people across India, because they are able to live a life of their own. They’re able to go back to their workplaces. They're able to earn and care for their families. That makes a huge impact in their life. I come from a very remote village, from a very poor background. Uh, and I see even now the poverty still continues, in villages across India. When I was a child, I received help from many, many people, to become something in life. Why not me, take this opportunity as a physician to go and help people and elevate them from their, of their suffering and woes, and give them a ray of hope through my, through my very own life.
John Bradshaw: Thank you for making a difference, and for giving the gift of sight. Let me pray with you now. Let’s pray together:
Our Father in Heaven, we thank You today for Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We thank You that You’ve opened up our eyes and the eyes of our heart, that You’ve expressed to us that there is a God in Heaven who loves the human family to the extent that He would allow His Son Jesus to die that we might live. We thank You for the example of Jesus, who helped and intervened and healed and blessed. Lord, allow us to be used in the same way. Thank You, that through us You are changing lives in India, through the miracle of modern surgery, granting people their sight again. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would bless Dr. Jacob and his team. I pray that many would have their eyes opened, and that many more would come to know You as the God of Heaven, and Jesus as the Savior of all humanity. And thank You for those whom You are using to make the gift of sight a reality in the lives of others. Now bless us, Lord, please, and bless many that they might see, and that they might see You. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me in India. I’m looking forward to seeing you again next time. Until then, remember, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’"