http://www.prescottenews.com
Written by Lynne LaMaster
Jon, Robert, Stacy and Lilly.
Why Cambodia? Because many cannot see.
According to his website, Prescott Eye Doctor,
local optometrist Dr. Jon Bundy is, "Dedicated to staying at the
forefront of technology... committed to providing state-of-the-art care
in a warm, comfortable atmosphere. He emphasizes patient education with a
caring touch."
Bundy is married to Stacy, and they have two young children, Lilly and Robert.
So, why is he traipsing to northern Cambodia with a suitcase full of 800 pairs of eyeglasses?
Bundy explained, "In 2010, I sat in Sunday School and said, 'I'm not called for overseas missions. Some people are, some people aren't. I'm not.' Three months later, I was on a plane to Banglalore, India. I've been back there one other time. So, this trip, it started coming together two years ago when my older brother went to Cambodia and sent back some pictures. And it looked like there was a need there, and so we decided to start planning for it. So, a team of four of us [is going to Cambodia] - the other three guys are from Fargo, they work at different churches up there. We're going to leave January 28, and go for about 10 days, to Ratanakiri Province in Northern Cambodia. It's like 8 hours drive north from Phnom Pen, almost to Laos and Vietnam."
Bundy's sense of adventure is tinged with realism. On his blog, 2020 Around the World, Bundy admits that travelling isn't his favorite thing. Under the heading, 'What am I not looking forward to?' he includes a map, labelled, "About a 9 hour drive." Then he writes, "Stacy will confirm I don't do so great driving 2 hours from Prescott to Phoenix. Oh well. God is great. 24 hours each way in a plane? No prob."
About a 9 hour drive.
(See also, An Optometrist's Guide to Long Range Flying)
The plan is simple. "So, we have about 800 pairs of glasses that we're taking, 120 eyedrops bottles - lubricating and antibiotic drops," Bundy said. "It should be good. There's four different villages that the local missionaries are going to take us to that we can help out with. This province has the worst health care statistics of all in Cambodia. So, when you think of a third world, poor country, this is the poorest of poor."
Yet, there's Internet access. On that same blog, Bundy talks of, "...getting chills Skypeing with missionary. 'Dude-you're in the middle of nowhere Cambodia where the average income is $5/month…..and yet I can see and talk to you.' The explanation has something to do with cell towers in Vietnam but all I can think is holy moly that is amazing."
Is Bundy going alone, are there any other doctors going with him? Bundy shook his head with a smile, "My brother's a pastor, the other guy's another pastor, another is just a 25-year-old guy that works part time in the church and does photography and videography. He just wants to go. I'm the only one who has any medical anything. But, basically, we don't need healthcare professionals when we go. The way we do it, is fairly basic, but that way we can actually train others to do it, or we can have lay people help us. It works really well."
Frequent flier miles, donations from the Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation in Phoenix, and a bit of creativity funded this trip.
"This picture jumped out at me," Bundy said.But,
why Cambodia? To answer, Bundy described a picture that touched his
heart. "When my brother went a couple of years ago, he sent back bunches
of pictures, and one of his showed a gentleman, that looks about, 60,
70 years old, and he's trying to read his Bible, but he has a lens that
he's holding up to his eye, but it's actually a magnifying lens probably
3 inches thick, and the way you're supposed to use it, is to lay it on
the paper, so it makes everything big, so you would see, like two
letters at a time, that's kind of the magnification that it gives. He's
holding it up to his eye, trying to use it as a monicle. When I saw
that, it's obvious that they don't have any semblance of eye care over
there. And so, we're going to try to help them out."
But, Bundy has another purpose, and that's to help not only with their eye vision, but their spiritual vision. The people they are going to see, they've never even had the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus Christ, Bundy said. " The people that we're going to go minister to are called the Brou people. They're considered an unreached people group. That means there are no evangelical Christians there. So, they can go their entire life without ever hearing the name of Jesus. That's really where my heart is. For those who never have the opportunity."
"I'm glad that nobody just assumed that I would learn how to follow Jesus," Bundy said. "Somebody came alongside me and said, "Here's how it works. Here's what you do. Here's who He is. Here's a Bible. Over there, I don't want to just hope that they somehow, some way, come to know Jesus. If there's anything that we can do to help that, of course I can't do anything, it's all the Holy Spirit.
Bundy quoted from Romans 10:14,15, which reads, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"
"That's why we go."
Bundy is married to Stacy, and they have two young children, Lilly and Robert.
So, why is he traipsing to northern Cambodia with a suitcase full of 800 pairs of eyeglasses?
Bundy explained, "In 2010, I sat in Sunday School and said, 'I'm not called for overseas missions. Some people are, some people aren't. I'm not.' Three months later, I was on a plane to Banglalore, India. I've been back there one other time. So, this trip, it started coming together two years ago when my older brother went to Cambodia and sent back some pictures. And it looked like there was a need there, and so we decided to start planning for it. So, a team of four of us [is going to Cambodia] - the other three guys are from Fargo, they work at different churches up there. We're going to leave January 28, and go for about 10 days, to Ratanakiri Province in Northern Cambodia. It's like 8 hours drive north from Phnom Pen, almost to Laos and Vietnam."
Bundy's sense of adventure is tinged with realism. On his blog, 2020 Around the World, Bundy admits that travelling isn't his favorite thing. Under the heading, 'What am I not looking forward to?' he includes a map, labelled, "About a 9 hour drive." Then he writes, "Stacy will confirm I don't do so great driving 2 hours from Prescott to Phoenix. Oh well. God is great. 24 hours each way in a plane? No prob."
About a 9 hour drive.
(See also, An Optometrist's Guide to Long Range Flying)
The plan is simple. "So, we have about 800 pairs of glasses that we're taking, 120 eyedrops bottles - lubricating and antibiotic drops," Bundy said. "It should be good. There's four different villages that the local missionaries are going to take us to that we can help out with. This province has the worst health care statistics of all in Cambodia. So, when you think of a third world, poor country, this is the poorest of poor."
Yet, there's Internet access. On that same blog, Bundy talks of, "...getting chills Skypeing with missionary. 'Dude-you're in the middle of nowhere Cambodia where the average income is $5/month…..and yet I can see and talk to you.' The explanation has something to do with cell towers in Vietnam but all I can think is holy moly that is amazing."
Is Bundy going alone, are there any other doctors going with him? Bundy shook his head with a smile, "My brother's a pastor, the other guy's another pastor, another is just a 25-year-old guy that works part time in the church and does photography and videography. He just wants to go. I'm the only one who has any medical anything. But, basically, we don't need healthcare professionals when we go. The way we do it, is fairly basic, but that way we can actually train others to do it, or we can have lay people help us. It works really well."
Frequent flier miles, donations from the Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation in Phoenix, and a bit of creativity funded this trip.
"This picture jumped out at me," Bundy said.But,
why Cambodia? To answer, Bundy described a picture that touched his
heart. "When my brother went a couple of years ago, he sent back bunches
of pictures, and one of his showed a gentleman, that looks about, 60,
70 years old, and he's trying to read his Bible, but he has a lens that
he's holding up to his eye, but it's actually a magnifying lens probably
3 inches thick, and the way you're supposed to use it, is to lay it on
the paper, so it makes everything big, so you would see, like two
letters at a time, that's kind of the magnification that it gives. He's
holding it up to his eye, trying to use it as a monicle. When I saw
that, it's obvious that they don't have any semblance of eye care over
there. And so, we're going to try to help them out."But, Bundy has another purpose, and that's to help not only with their eye vision, but their spiritual vision. The people they are going to see, they've never even had the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus Christ, Bundy said. " The people that we're going to go minister to are called the Brou people. They're considered an unreached people group. That means there are no evangelical Christians there. So, they can go their entire life without ever hearing the name of Jesus. That's really where my heart is. For those who never have the opportunity."
"I'm glad that nobody just assumed that I would learn how to follow Jesus," Bundy said. "Somebody came alongside me and said, "Here's how it works. Here's what you do. Here's who He is. Here's a Bible. Over there, I don't want to just hope that they somehow, some way, come to know Jesus. If there's anything that we can do to help that, of course I can't do anything, it's all the Holy Spirit.
Bundy quoted from Romans 10:14,15, which reads, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"
"That's why we go."
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