Brad-Emde

Brad Emde, OD

Dr. Emde is a 1992 biology graduate of Southern College of Seventh-day Adventists (now Southern Adventist University). He received his Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center School of Optometry in 1997. He currently lives in the countryside of beautiful East Tennessee. He owns East View Eye Care, P.C., a private group practice in Greeneville, and has been in practice there for 22 years. His wife of over 25 years, Angela, is a high school teacher at Greeneville Adventist Academy where their three daughters attend. Dr. Emde has a passion for medical mission work and has traveled to Costa Rica, Peru, Mongolia, Moldova, and Kenya providing free eye care and glasses to those in need.

Russian Eyes

in Fall 2021   |
Published on 09/01/2021   |
2 min | <<|>>

Medical missionary work opens doors to hearts when other means fail. We witnessed a remarkable example of this while on a mission trip to Moldova in the small Russian village of Brinza.

It was our third day of conducting vision clinics in various villages. The temperature was 14 degrees Fahrenheit the morning we left our hotel in Cahul.

We held a vision clinic all day inside the Brinza Seventh-day Adventist church. After seeing 153 patients we began to wrap things up so we would have time to prepare for the evening meetings. We stopped accepting any new patients which meant turning away about 50 people.

Then the head elder and pastor came to us and said, “Please, please. Can you please just examine two more men?”

We were willing, but wondered aloud, “Why is it necessary to see them now?”
The leaders continued, “We have been trying to get these two gentleman to come to our meetings for years.

“They won’t even step across the threshold of the front door to our church because they are superstitious. But they want their eyes checked so badly, now they are willing to come in! If we turn them away, it would be a disgrace.”

I agreed to examine them and provide them with glasses. They were so thankful! The members of the church were also very grateful, because the superstitions of these men were proven groundless as a direct result of medical missionary service. Nothing else could have opened that door!

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