Mamadou of Waterloo, Sierra Lione, was going blind.  He was born with bilateral cataracts.  Over the 7 years of his life, his vision got worse.  He had trouble walking and picking up objects.  He was also very sensitive to sunlight.  He was going to school, but he could not see or write clearly.

Ella Hawthorne, an optometrist who also works with Mercy Ships, recalls evaluating Mamadou.  “He could tell there was a light that was being turned on, but he couldn't even really tell that a hand was being waved in front of his face,” she told Fox News Digital.

Dr. Paul Rudalevicius, an eye surgeon who volunteers with Mercy Ships, knew that Mamadou urgently needed eye surgery.  “If the cataracts are not removed soon enough, the brain can never learn to see.”

On February 7, 2024, Dr. Rudalevicius and his team performed cataract surgery on Mamadou.  When the eye patches were removed the next day, Mamadou’s life changed.  “It was so wonderful to see him looking around and starting to perceive the world and being able to absorb some of the information around him,” said Hawthorne.  “It was so special, and you could see the joy that had started to build up inside him.” *

If YOU develop an ability to see, YOUR life can be changed, forever.

The type of vision that gives eternal life is spiritual in nature; it comes from faith in Jesus Christ.

Please read John 9, the account of when Jesus healed a blind man.  By the power of Jesus, he miraculously received his physical eyesight.  As you read the chapter, you will also see that he also develops “spiritual” eyesight: he learns about the identity of Jesus, that He is the Son of God.

That “spiritual” vision is crucial, for it was Jesus, the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins so that we can have forgiveness (John 3:16).  Through Him, we can truly see and have eternal life.

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Read the Gospel accounts.  Examine the evidence.  See Jesus for who He is: the sinless Son of God who have His life for us so that we might see and live.

“I once was lost, but now I’m found;
Was blind, but now I see.”
-- John Newton

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from “Boy facing blindness gets life-changing eye surgery: ‘Such a blessing’” by Melissa Rudy of Fox News, www.foxnews.com.

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org