In 2018, Dr. Drew Costello was watching footage from his church’s mission trip to a school in South Sudan. Something caught his eye — out of the more than 200 kids on screen, not a single one was wearing glasses.
As an optometrist, Drew knew that 15–20% of those children needed glasses to see clearly, and no one had ever checked. For a child, that’s the difference between keeping up in school and quietly falling behind.
This realization landed with extra weight because Drew, a West Point graduate, had been an Army optometrist, flying to remote operating bases in Iraq to provide eye care and make glasses with mobile equipment. Looking at those kids, he recognized a need almost no one else had the training — or the calling — to meet. It put Lt. Col. Costello back on mission.
That’s how Vision for the Gospel began: one classroom of overlooked kids, an Army-trained eye doctor, and the growing conviction that a compassionate and providential God had spent years preparing him to serve in a truly unique way.
Today, that same conviction is what’s taking Vision for the Gospel into Cuba. Keep reading to learn about how we’re building a full-service optical lab to reach far more than one classroom — with far more than just glasses. Our vision is to provide glasses and the Gospel to an entire country in need of both!
Where we’re headed next
We’re building a full-service optical lab in Cuba.
Decades of economic hardship have left Cuba without a single functioning optical lab — most Cubans simply can’t get prescription glasses.
We’re partnering with a local Christian ministry to build a full-service optical lab — from eye exam to finished glasses, all on-site, creating 5-8 full-time jobs staffed by local Cuban Christians with a heart for evangelism.
of school-aged children have significant vision problems.
Age 50+
Nearly everyone over fifty needs glasses for distance or near vision.
No access
In many parts of the world it is nearly impossible to get eyeglasses — or even find an eye doctor.
One pair
of prescription glasses can actually change the course of a person’s life.
Where we’ve been
Havana, Cuba — 2026
We partnered with an ABWEAssociation of Baptists for World Evangelism‑sponsored Cuban ministry to host an eye clinic in Havana — real eye exams, real prescriptions, and real glasses put directly into people’s hands.
67 eye exams.
53 pairs of prescription glasses.
150 pairs of reading glasses given.
Needed eye medication dispensed.
67
eye exams completed in just two days — each one an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Where we’ve already been
In much of India, an eye doctor is simply out of reach.
For families in rural India, the nearest eye doctor can be a day’s journey away — and even then, a real pair of prescription glasses is often unaffordable. A child’s poor vision in school could lead to a life of poverty.
Our team partnered with two different Indian Christian non-profit organizations across two provinces — Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — for six days, delivering vision screenings, real eye exams, and prescription glasses fitted on site — alongside the message of the Gospel, shared through a local church that continues that work today.
600 vision screenings.
125 full eye exams.
103 pairs of prescription glasses.
103
prescription glasses delivered in just six days — each one an open door to share the Gospel.
How your gift becomes hope
FIRST — THE GLASSES
Made for their eyes
We provide exact prescription lenses, fitted into frames the person chooses — not used glasses with someone else's prescription from a donation bin.
THEN — THE GOSPEL
The reason we serve
Alongside every pair of glasses, we share the hope of the Gospel and connect each person to a local church that will love them.
Every frame has a face.
Scenes from our clinics — behind every prescription is a person, seeing clearly, some for the first time.
Our board
Dr. Drew Costello
President
Dr. Matt Morrison
CFO
Eddie Finley
Secretary
Ward Engle
Director
Jesse Paine
Director
Give the hope of the Gospel — with the gift of sight.
Your gift helps provide vision screenings, eye exams, custom prescription glasses, and — most importantly — an open door to share the good news of eternal life through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Choose an amount
$8/month provides prescription glasses and the Gospel, presented by local Cuban Christians.
Vision for the Gospel, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt religious organization. All gifts are tax-deductible and fund mission trips and clinic events that demonstrate the love and hope found only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.”1 Corinthians 13:12
