Faith, freedom, and the power of perseverance

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, December 4th..

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: opening eyes.

Ming Wang is a renowned ophthalmologist now living in Nashville. His early life in China was deeply affected by the Cultural Revolution and the rule of Mao Zedong.

Wang’s education was halted for years, but he eventually came to America and studied at Harvard and M.I.T.

EICHER: He would go on to pioneer multiple laser eye technologies and founded the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, which helps patients free-of-charge.

Wang’s conversion to Christianity inspired a character in the movie “God’s Not Dead” and he’s the executive director of the 2024 movie SIGHT, based on his own life story.

MAST: Dr. Wang, thank you for joining us.

WANG: Thank you, Lindsay.

MAST: Could you start by briefly talking about how you came to know Christ in the first place?

WANG: I came to America as a student from China to study, and I was an atheist. Actually, I was going to be just like 20 million others sent away to some of the poorest parts of the country for hard labor and poverty for life. And so I fought against that, eventually made my way to America in 1982 at age 21 and I was not interested in anything other than science, but it was in the study of the human eye—because I wanted to be a laser eye surgeon—that I found that my atheist worldview got into trouble. I kept on asking professor questions, and he finally took me out for lunch, and he said, “What's across the street?” I said, “There's a car.” He said, “What's the difference between a car and the human eye?” I said, “A human eye is a lot more complicated.” He said, “Okay, can you imagine a random piece of metal forming itself into a car?” I said, “No way.” And he said, “How about the human eye?” So right there, he opened the door in my life, making me realize that the human eye is so complicated but yet conformed, so nearly perfectly—most of the time—because it did not form all the randomness as atheists believe. It was formed with a purpose, and that purpose is vision. So that there was an open my life, the realization there's a creator, there’s a designer.

MAST: You’re not just an eye surgeon–you’re also a philanthropist. One group you’ve supported is the 917 Society, which gives copies of the Constitution to young people. Why is that important to you?

WANG: The people who appreciate sight the most are people who used to be blind. People who appreciate freedom the most are those who used to not have freedom. And I appreciate so much what we have here in America—the freedom and the faith. You know, human nature is that when we always have something, we do tend to take it for granted. And I think the behavior of many of us, many of Americans today, the polarization, the increasing unwillingness to work together, the increasing fixation on differences, rather than appreciating what we all have in common as fellow Americans, the increasing inability to work across political aisles, racial divides and ethnic divisions. So lack of common ground seeking is the symptom that reflects our deep lack of appreciation of America. I recognized America is about the two cornerstones. One is the Constitution and second is the Bible, the faith. So in terms of freedom, the Constitution, you know, our young people, next generation, who are all born in a country here with freedom, some of them have taken for granted and have no idea what it's like living under, you know, socialism and communism. So we need to remind all the young people of the cornerstone of our country, the Constitution. So that's why I've been involved in a society, 917 Society. And our goal has been to put the Constitution in the hands of every eighth grader here in America, and we have essentially achieved in successfully putting the Constitution in schools, eighth, eighth graders in all 50 states now.

MAST: The divisiveness you talked about–was that something you experienced when you first came to the U.S.? How has it changed since you arrived in the 80s?

WANG: I think definitely America has changed in the last 42 years since I've been here. In the last 42 years, I've seen our country is going the wrong direction. We're becoming a country that is so increasingly fixated on differences, rather than appreciating what we have in common. For us as Christians, we all have this common ground. Doesn't matter, nationality, ethnicity, political persuasion, our common ground is Christ. So I see that a sense of unity, that sense of putting Christ above everything else has been eroded here in America. And not taking for granted our freedom is not something we just say, Oh, I love America. It's an action we have to do, and their action proving that we truly love Christ, love America is our willingness to work together despite our differences.

MAST: You’ve accomplished a lot since China’s cultural revolution–I’m sure its taken a lot of grit. What have you learned about the importance of a quality like perseverance from your experiences?

WANG: Sometimes people ask him, you know, like, What? What? What is the best predictor for success? I realized that the most important predictor, as I what I have experienced in life to get anywhere, is the grit, the tenaciousness one needs to have, and I've been fortunate to have built that tenaciousness. We were very poor as a family during the Cultural Revolution in China, my parents have to live on the combined salaries of $15 a month, but despite that circumstance, they insisted me and my brother, study, study, study. And later on in life, what I learned to develop the grit and the tenaciousness is to when we encounter difficulty, challenges, and try to, even for small ones, try to fight it, and to learn to develop the ability to fight through small things, and when you successful in the small things, you know, overcome the challenges. One develops more confidence, and one develops the ability to train how to fight adversities and challenges. Being a Christian, I learned the definition of happiness is not what you do is successful or not, is, have you try your best?

MAST: Dr. Ming Wang is an ophthalmologist, author, and philanthropist in Nashville, Tennessee. His book From Darkness to Sight is the inspiration for the 2024 movie Sight. Thank you, Dr. Wang.

WANG: Thank you, Lindsay. Appreciate it.

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