January 6, 1999
Lithuanian sees Texans in a new light
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___DALLAS--Kazimieras Matusinskas believes God still anoints people to cause the blind to see.
___This is a spiritual truth he now can see with his own eyes.
___Matusinskas, a resident of Kaunas, Lithuania, had been toldby doctors in his country that his sight was beyond repair and he never would see anything beyond vague shapes.
___But God had other plans, he said, plans which began four years ago when he was a student in a Bible school.
___In that school, which was led by a group from California, part of the daily routine of the class was to pray he would recover his sight.
___His sight did not improve, however, and in fact deteriorated to the point that he could not see his wife when she sat across the aisle of the bus.
___Poor eyesight did not stop him from helping, however, when a Texas group traveled to Kaunas to make repairs on his church's building. The facility had been used for salt storage by the Communists for 40 years, but Baptists salvaged the building. The congregation is one of only five Baptist churches in the city of 450,000 and the only one with a building.
___Each day the groupmet at the church to make repairs, Matusinskas also was there helping.
HE ONCE WAS BLIND but now Kazimieras Matusinskas (third from left) can see, thanks to God's work through Texas Baptists. Matusinskas, from Lithuania, came to Texas with his daughter, Zaneta, for implant surgery by William Boothe of Garland. His Texas hosts have been Susie and Harold Bass of Hampton Place Baptist Church in Dallas. The inset photo shows Matusinskas in Lithuania before the surgery with the thick glasses he wore.
___"He was a very impressive fellow to us," said Wayne Wood, leader of the group and pastor of North Mesquite Baptist Church in Mesquite. "He laid tile and did it by feeling it with his fingers."
___Susie Bass of Hampton Place Baptist Church in Dallas also noticed Matusinskas.
___"Everyone called him The Deacon," she said. "He had real bad eyes and real thick glasses. He would put his face almost next to the board when he would hammer a nail, but he never stopped working."
___"When we saw this gentleman and saw his intense desire to be a part of the effort, we began to talk about whether we could do something to help this man," explained her husband, Harold Bass.
___Wood had the missionary, Milton Magalhanes, ask if Matusinskas' eyes were diseased or injured. After getting a negative response, Wood told Matusinskas that when the group returned to the United States they would try to find a way to help him.
___Wood was true to his word and on his return sought out William Boothe of Garland. Boothe, an opthalmologist, said he would be glad to try to help, but would need to see the records of the Matusinskas' previous eye exams.
___The proper contacts were made and the records were faxed, but because they were written in Lithuanian it took time to find a translator.
___Boothe thought he could help Matusinskas but could not be sure without examining him.
___Wood set about determining how much it would cost to bring Matusinskas and his daughter to Texas for evaluation and treatment. He figured about $2,000 for eye care and $2,000 for airfare. He sent out a plea to those who went on the trip to Lithuania and to those who had accompanied him on previous trips.
___"Before I could even get the letters in the mail, three letters arrived from team members with $100 checks," Wood said. "The first weekend after they were sent, we had already received $2,000. I could see the Lord was in this. These are not wealthy people, but the response has been overwhelming."
___The next big hurdle was Matusinskas's visa, but finally while Wood was in Brazil on another mission trip, word came that the visa had been secured.
___When Matusinskas arrived in Texas and was taken to Boothe's office, his eyes were found to be so bad that the machine would not measure how bad. But a few days later a more advanced machine arrived, and it helped pinpoint what type of lens Matusinskas needed.
___Boothe determined the left eye could not be helped much but the right eye might be helped. Even that eye was so bad, however, that surgery was delayed three weeks while a lens strong enough could be found for the necessary implant.
___The results of the surgery were amazing to everyone.
___"The next day he could read, and within days could read newspaper headlines at arm's length," Wood reported. "The doctor himself was amazed at what he could see. The first time he went to the doctor's office, he could not see that there were pictures on the walls, and now he could see there were flowers in the pictures."
___Matusinskas said his life will be changed dramatically.
___"Now he will be able to work, now he will be able to build things," he said through the translation of his daughter, Zaneta.
___Matusinskas believes his sight will be a witness to some of those who know him in Lithuania. "Some of them will say, 'Yes, it is the work of God,' but others will say, 'In America, the rich can do anything.'"
___The report he plans to give his church will not have changed, however.
___"I will tell them what I did before I left, that it is the grace of God and now I will be able to show them the result," he said.
___He once was blind but now can see. And he has a deeper insight into the grace of God, he added.
___"Even when they prayed four years ago, I had no hope, the doctors told me I had no hope," he confessed. "I trusted in God, but I had a lot of doubt."
___He could not believe the miracle that had happened until he opened his eyes after surgery, he said. "I feel ashamed before God, but I know it is only because of his grace and the skill of the doctor that I now see."
___On Dec. 8, Boothe performed surgery on the second eye to help the two eyes focus together better. Matusinskas and his daughter returned to Lithuania Dec. 21 to be with their family for Christmas.
___Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!