Chong was a 26-year-old a father of three, and the only Christian in his village in northern Laos. His eyesight was fading fast. In his right eye, only a shadow of vision remained; in his left, nothing. His mother-in-law called him cursed for his blindness. The rest of the village agreed. A farmer who could not see was a man without a future.

He had never been to a doctor, never left his village. Yet, as a leader who longed to make disciples, he prayed with others about the possibility of traveling to Thailand. Months later, he sat in the chair of a cornea specialist in Chiang Mai. The diagnosis: Fuch’s Dystrophy. Both eyes needed transplants. The cost was high—not just in money, but in the strict, lengthy recovery the surgery required. Unable to imagine leaving the village for so long, Chong declined. In silence, his heart broke.

A year later, God’s timing shifted. Fellow disciple-makers joined the work in Laos and offered to help make the surgery possible if Chong and his wife would relocate for recovery. When they heard the offer, the couple wept. This act of love was something they hadn’t experienced before.

Funding came. The surgery was grueling. Dozens of medicines, months of recovery. But when the bandages came off, his sight returned clear in his left eye.

In the city, while healing, Chong and his wife led several people to Christ. When they returned to the village, the same neighbors who had once called him cursed now asked to hear of the God who had given him sight. Soon, the second-poorest family in the village came to Jesus after being freed from demonic oppression. Fellowships began multiplying. Once, he was shunned. Now, Chong is a respected leader, a disciple who makes disciples. In a village that once had one believer, there are now several thriving fellowships of believers—all because God saw a man the world called cursed and called him beloved.

This is a true story. Some details may have been edited to protect identities.