When I took on the medical procurement position at YWAM Ships Kona we had almost zero money in our budget. We had a wish list of equipment we were hoping to get for our outreaches in Papua New Guinea but no idea how we would buy them.
One item on our wishlist was an autorefractor. This is a piece of medical equipment that determines the exact prescription glasses a patient needs. Our team already had two on board our medical ship The YWAM Liberty but they were large and not portable enough to use for our land based clinics. The ones we needed were smaller and much more portable. The only problem was that they cost $7,500. Did I mention our current bugdet was basically zero?
Also on our wishlist was a portable autoclave which would allow us to do surgical procedures for patients much faster. This cost a whopping $12,000 new, or $2,500 used.
So you can imagine my excitement when I was at a medical conference and came across a group named International Aid that said they might have the equipment we needed. I sent them an email detailing our wish list and they responded that they had both the autorefractor and the autoclave that we were looking for at the cost of only $500 apiece! Did we want them? they asked.
I was stunned. Still – our budget was basically zero. Our team talked about it, and we decided we would say yes even though we had no idea where we would get the money. We felt God leading us to accept and trust that he would make a way. We responded by saying we would take them and began thinking about how to raise the money.
Later that same day I was on the phone with one of our medical volunteers. Her and her friend (both ophthalmologists) were getting ready to join our team to do cataract surgeries in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. As we were talking, I felt God say to me, “share the need with her.” So I told her about my day and the equipment we had been offered and how we were about to start raising money for it.
How much do you need? she asked. And then, as soon as I told her, she donated the entire amount, plus another $500 for an extra autorefractor to donate to the local clinic in the highlands where we were about to send our next team. I immediately wrote back to our contact at International Aid and said we would take not 1 autorefractor but 2!
Our team was so blown away at how fast God worked to provide this equipment at an incredible price and the funds to buy it! We were so overjoyed and encouraged to see God working miraculously in the midst of our office day! We got to believe for the impossible and see God come through!
Claudia Agurto de Choy