Because there are those who have had  an integral part in the ministry of Eye Care From the Heart, Inc., and for all of those who are simply interested, we offer this short re-cap of the ministry.

Serving the people of Ukraine through Eye Care From the Heart, Inc., has been anything but dull.  In April of 2004, we left for a seven and a half week ministry trip concentrating on central and southern Ukraine, and holding clinics in seven locations - Kherson, Tsyurapinsk, Poltava, Vinnitsa, Irpen, Bucha and Kiev.  Eye exams were performed on over 1,300 people.

In October, 2004, we left for the a two week ministry trip to the Bucha and Kiev area.  Four hundred eleven  eye exams were performed, and another fifty pair of basic reading glasses were donated to Pastor Stefan for the local prison ministry in the Bucha area.

The Spring Trip in 2005, saw the Murphy's traveling to Donetsk, Kiev, Bucha and the capital of Moldova, Chisineau. Approximately 1,000 people were seen in the eye clinics during this trip. Then in the Fall of 2005, the Murphy's held eye clinics for 3 weeks in the capital city of Kiev, seeing approximately 600 people.

In May, 2006, the Murphy's departed for Kiev, Ukraine, then traveling to Poltava and Yalta, Ukraine, and on to Chisineau, Moldova. In Moldova we were joined by optometrist, Dr. Andrew Williams, from North Carolina. This was the second trip Dr. Williams made with the Murphys. After a ten day clinc schedule, the team traveled back to Kiev, Ukraine, where a one day clinic was held for an Iranian Church group living in Kiev. They are a displaced group who had to flee their homes in Iran for various reasons.

The Fall ministry trip in September, 2006, began with the Murphy's conducting eye clincs in Kiev, Ukraine, at the Kiev Tent Church. The church group actually meets in a beautiful tent which has been renovated to include windows, and has been insulated, heated, and floored to provide a level of comfort in the harsh winters there. Eye clincs were held for three days before the Murphy's left for western Ukraine. In western Ukraine, Rovno was the first stop. The first day of eye clinics was held for handicapped individuals. This particular church has a strong ministry to the many handicapped and poor. The next five days were opened up to everyone else. After finishing work in Rovno, the Murphy's traveled to Kalush, a small city a short distance from Rovno, and then on to Ivano-Frankovsk, known as the most beautiful city in western Ukraine. After the completion of the clinics in Ivano-Frankovsk, the team traveled by overnight train back to Kiev.

We left for the 2007 Spring Ministry Trip in May. As always we left from Washington Dulles and flew directly to Kiev. For the first time we traveled to Russia, where we set up clinics in Voronezhe and Shelovo. The people in Russia are very much the same as in Ukraine, which is not a surprise at all. From Shelovo, Russia, we traveled to Yalta, Kherson and Kiev, Ukraine. Dr. Andrew Williams joined us in Kherson and Kiev.

The Spring 2008 Ministry Trip took us from Virginia to Kiev, Ukraine, and once again to Voronezh,Russia, a men's halfway house in a small village an hour outside Voronezh, and the small city of Shelovo. We spent one day in clinic at the men's halfway house near Voronezh where men who have problems with drugs and alcohol are receiving help with their addictions. Dr. Williams joined us at the beginning of this ministry trip in Voronezh. Upon leaving Voronezh we traveled to Zhitomer, Ukraine, two small villages near Zhitomer, then back to Kiev for eye clincs at the Kiev Tent Church. This time at the Tent Church we had clinics for the socially disadvantaged, which included those who were slightly mentally challenged and those with physical handicaps. Individuals with handicaps have a particularly hard time in the former Soviet Union countries.

This is certainly a short recap of those trips, but it would take pages to share all that took place.  This update is simply to say THANK YOU once again - not only from the Murphy's and Eye Care From the Heart, Inc., but from all of those whose lives have been touched through your generosity.  Some of you support ECFH with your monies and some of you through prayer.  Both are absolutely essential, and because you have been so unselfish, you have made it possible for Carter, Gloria, and Andrew to go as ambassadors of Christ and representatives of you.  Thus, we are serving in ministry together (2 Corinthians 9:12-13).

“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
James 2:15-17 NIV