My name is Tim R. Randolph, PhD, Founder and President of Randolph World Ministries, Inc. (RWM). We are a 501(c)(3) Christian-based medical mission ministry founder in 2000 and operating in Haiti and Africa. We make two annual medical mission trips to Haiti, 4 weeks in the summer and 3 weeks in the winter, and a one week trip to Africa in mid-March.

I connected with Holland Kendall, Founder and President of Kendall Optometry Ministry, Inc., in May of 2009. Since then myself and five other RWM team members have completed the on sight training course offered by Kendall Optometry Ministry, Inc. near their home base in Louisville, KY. We have also utilized the entire optometry system created and provided my Kendall Optometry Ministry, Inc. on two medical mission trips, the most recent was our summer medical mission trip to Haiti from June 23 to July 23, 2011. Although we perform a variety of medical, educational, and economic development activities, the “Optometry Clinic” is a very important component of our operations. Below are excerpts from a letter written to my ministry network summarizing the outcomes of our Optometry Clinic.

We started with a team of 8, staying at the OMS (Oriental Mission Society) missionary compound in Vaudreuil, Haiti (in the north near Cap-Haitien) for the first two weeks working at Bethesda Medical Center. Throughout our trip we performed the following functions: Clean Water Program, Optometry Clinic, Free Mass Screening Program, Sickle Cell Research, Mobile Medical Clinic, Clinical Laboratory Assessments, Medical Education, and rehabbing a building for a new business venture in Haiti.

Optometry Clinic – Coordinated by Ed Nance, he and four other team members (Lauren Redlinger, Caroline Neff, Charlie Caffrey, Sarah Henn) tested and fitted 223 people with glasses. For most patients, the team was able to significantly improve their vision. For others their ability to work and read their Bibles was literally restored as result of their efforts.

At the end of week one, two team members left for home leaving us with 6 team members to continue our operations. During week two at Bethesda Medical Center on the OMS compound, the optometry clinic fitted an additional 217 people with glasses. At the end of week two we lost one more team member leaving 5 to continue our work.

Saturday is our travel day so we packed up our eye clinic (16 boxes), another 12 boxes of lab supplies, our personal luggage, and the 5 remaining team members onto a large flatbed truck and left OMS late in the afternoon headed for Gonaives. It was a 4 hour trip over two beautiful mountain ranges on VERY rough roads where reaching a maximum speed of 40MPH was rare.

Gonaives is a poor area in the desert of Haiti and most of our work is socioeconomic in nature and less medical. Our ministry partner, Eben-Ezer Mission, is a Haitian NGO founded and operated by Pastor Michel Morisset. While in Gonaives the team delivered the optometry clinic at Eben-Ezer hospital, restoring vision to 124 patients. In addition, Tim assessed the laboratory at Eben-Ezer hospital, delivered laboratory supplies, performed a lab inventory, retrained the primary laboratory professional (Danella) on two important lab procedures and spent most of his time working on the building to be used for one of our businesses called The Baby Shop.

On the Saturday that ended week 3 we drove from Gonaives to Port-au-Prince so some team members could catch a 10:30AM flight back to the US. After week 3 we lost three team members, Charlie, Ed and Caroline. Sarah and Tim were met at the airport by Carole and Bob Stufflebeam who transported us and all our supplies back to the Love a Child compound in Fond-Parisien, Haiti.

Tim spent Monday and Tuesday assessing the clinic laboratory while Sarah shadowed Dr. Mardy, the Haitian medical director of the Love a Child Clinic. Most of Wednesday was spent in meetings with the clinic administrator, Carole Stufflebeam and Dr. Mardy to discuss our findings and offer recommendations for improving lab operations. The week ended with Tim and Sarah conducting the Optometry Clinic on Thursday and Friday where we fit 104 people with glasses.

The entire trip was a success but the Optometry Clinic was one of the major highlights. I want to personally thank Holland Kendall for creating such an outstanding ministry and for sharing the fruits of his labor with other ministries like ours. Together we are restoring sight to individuals who have lost hope of regaining the ability to read and, for some, the ability to work and take care of their families.