An East Texas-based ministry is taking people from darkness to the light, restoring vision to more than 10,000 people through Sight.org’s mobile clinics in West Africa.

Since Lewis Swann co-founded Sight.org in 2012 in Tyler, the organization says it’s also shared the Gospel with more than 50,000 people in Togo, a mostly French-speaking country of 9 million.

“In that part of the world, if I go to a village of 200 people, I expect to see about a dozen people blinded by cataracts,” Swann said.

Cataracts are the most common affliction.

“Primarily due to malnutrition and the tropical sun, the progression of cataracts is so fast that many who develop cataracts are blind within months,” according to Sight.org.

In Togo, vision issues affect entire families.

“They say in Africa, no hands, no food. There’s no means for them to work. Other people have to take care of them. Extreme poverty met with even deeper extreme poverty when you combine blindness,” Swann said.

Sight.org’s mobile clinics are set up in rural parts of the country, away from the capital Lomé, where a 15-minute procedure can have a profound impact on entire villages.

The team’s pastors then focus on spiritual restoration within the community, where blindness all but guarantees social isolation.

“Then you see all these people come outside. They’re hiding. They’re indoors all the time because when they walk out, they hear the comments, the hear the shame. And it’s a very nice place to introduce the truth, which is you’re not cursed. And even better yet, we love you. And God loves you. And I’m even here because God loves you.”

A word of these free surgeries spreads to neighboring countries, patients are traveling to Togo from Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. Others have come from a thousand miles away to train alongside Sight.org’s doctors.

This reputation of quality care has opened doors to preach the Gospel in areas rooted in voodoo and witchcraft.

“Because of us just stepping out and following this voice. Being crazy, being faithful, and what seems ridiculous, we have not had a single chief deny us that request.”

Surgeons, nurses, and missionaries, many of whom are from East Texas, make up a team of dedicated volunteers who serve alongside the organization’s native African staff.

After more than a decade, their vision for this ministry is just taking off.

Right now, Swann is helping build a helicopter to reach the most remote villages in Togo.

“Every time we do surgery, there are dozens of villages that have no idea that within walking distance they can have their sight. And so with this program, we’re going to have an audio speaker underneath. We’re going to announce to the entire region that sight’s available.”

This could exponentially grow the organization’s reach.

With Swann piloting the single-person helicopter, a recorded message will announce surgeries and revivals. The speaker can be heard from a half-mile away.

Swann self-funded his own pilot training and received his certification this Fall.

He’s been helping build the helicopter in Florida, so he’ll be skilled in repairs after it’s shipped to Africa. Once flights begin in late 2026, Sight.org will be operating the only non-government helicopter in Togo, Swan says.

In between his trips to Togo, he plans to keep his skills sharp using a simulator in his office in downtown Tyler.

Swann isn’t the only one moved by this bold new calling — pointing to a number of encounters with friends and total strangers.

He recalled one conversation with a friend, who drew a random card from a deck of scriptures and spiritual quotes.

“And it says, ‘What you can’t go through, God will help you fly over.’ And so he was trying to get a word from the Lord. He pulled this card and just gave it to me and just said, “Hey Lewis, I was trying to talk you out of it, but I feel like it was the Lord.’”

A witness to providence, Swann says he’s ready follow this path, wherever the holy spirit leads.

“We can be world changers through prayer. We can be world changers through saying, ‘Lord, I’m here to give you my heart.”

Sight.org’s mission is supported by donors, mostly from East Texas.

Each donation of $150 fully funds a vision restoring surgery.

Right now, Mercy Ships, also based in East Texas, is offering a pledge to match funding for up to 1,000 surgeries through Sight.org.

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of KLTV/KTRE-TV or Gray Television. They are solely the opinion of the author. All content © Copyright 2025 Lane Luckie