Membership with FCO

Open to optometrists, optometry students, and persons holding a Ph.D. or equivalent who are associated with an accredited optometry school or engaged in full-time vision research. 

Mission Opportunities

Information about current mission projects for optometrists, optometry students, and others in the ophthalmic professions.

Student Chapter Information

Locate and connect with a student chapter in your area of the world.

Our Mission & Vision

The Fellowship of Christian Optometrists, International, Inc., founded in 1986, is a not-for-profit evangelical organization of Christian optometrists, optometry students, and allied ophthalmic personnel committed to world wide eye care missions and intraprofessional Christian fellowship.

The Purposes of FCO International, Inc.

  • To help optometrists and allied ophthalmic personnel become established in the type of mission work which combines eye care and the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both in the workplace and on mission fields around the world.
  • To promote, further, and maintain fellowship among optometrists and others in the ophthalmic professions who believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scriptures.
  • To provide optometric and ophthalmic services for poor and needy persons in both the United States and foreign countries, on a charitable basis and not for pecuniary profit.
  • To establish, maintain and operate educational training programs and clinics in optometry and allied ophthalmic fields for students of optometry and allied ophthalmic fields and who are members of or affiliated with FCO, International.
  • To assist in the furtherance of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

Our Beliefs

  • We believe in one God, Maker of all things and manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • We believe that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, being incarnate, was begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.
  • We believe the final authority to be the Word of God as expressed through the Bible, being divinely inspired and inerrant.
  • We believe that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and the shedding of His blood was the atonement for our sin and was necessary for our salvation.
  • We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
  • We believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead and that He will return to reign and rule on the earth.
  • We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the saved to be with the Lord and the lost to an everlasting punishment.

There are four requirements for FCO membership:

  • Acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as one’s personal Saviour and Lord.
  • Written acceptance of FCO’s Statement of Beliefs and Statement of Purposes as described in the FCO, International Bylaws.
  • Conduct consistent with Biblical standards.
  • Maintenance of professional competency, good academic standing, and personal and professional integrity.

FCO Events

FCO has adopted CMDA's National Convention as our annual conference. There are also other CMDA conferences throughout the year as well.

For more than 80 years, CMDA has been dedicated to transforming the lives of healthcare professionals just like you, so that you can transform the world.

FCO History
With nearly 18,000 members across the world, our members are making a difference in their practices, in their communities and in our world. Why do our members continue to support CMDA despite the busy practice of healthcare? Because being a Christian voice in healthcare has never been more important, and because CMDA offers resources and services that you can't find anywhere else. But don't just take our word for it. Hear from our members to find out why being a CMDA member is so important and valuable in healthcare today.

FCO PROFESSIONAL LINKS

Together with Hope for India, a non-profit humanitarian organization based in Upstate New York, ClearVue Eye Care has provided medical care to the villagers of Chillakalu and the surrounding southern region of Andhra Pradesh, India since 2004.

Visual Compassion is a nonprofit Christian organization established in 2006 that is “attacking poverty from a visual perspective.” A diverse and multi-faceted ministry, Visual Compassion provides comprehensive career training in the optics industry to those with incarceration or addiction histories. They seek to provide like-minded Optometrists with quality lab services at very low prices. Optometrists can save money in their private practices while helping Visual Compassion to continue to help others.

The American Pre-Optometric Association seeks to unite all pre-optometric groups in the United States and abroad together to become a collective group of students, doctors, and advisers to strengthen the field we care for. We intend to mentor and expose all interested individuals about the profession of optometry with the information available to us.

EYE CARE MISSION SUPPORT

For Mission opportunities, click here.

A ministry of Kendall Optometry Ministries, Inc., the 1.0 Eyeglasses Inventory Program is a new automated method to properly utilize the huge available supply of used prescription glasses during mission and humanitarian trips.

Our Eyes, International is an eye care mission-support ministry. The sole purpose of this ministry is to help fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ by making available to, and promoting the use of the evangelistic gospel tract, Our Eyes: A Christian Perspective, by eye care missions and missionaries around the world, in the language of the people.

RestoringVision.org provides new readers and sunglasses to groups going to, or with clinics in, developing countries. We've been doing this since 2003 and have sent over 2M pairs with over 750 groups.

A program of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation in Decatur Georgia, collects and refurbishes used eyeglasses to send on mission trips around the world. We send out more than 10,000 glasses a year. Let me know if your group is interested in providing glasses on a mission trip that you go on. We have glasses of all types: Prescription, Non-prescription, Bifocal, Sun glasses, Rx- Sunglasses and cases. If you don’t take an optometrist with you, the people can simply pick through the glasses to find what suits their vision needs.

We can mail the glasses to you before you leave the United States. Everything is free of charge. It would also be great if you sponsor churches or groups overseas to send those glasses.

I am in my office Monday thru Friday. Let me know if you are interested in receiving glasses and working with us on this project. It is a great feeling to help someone to see again.

Tiffany Ellerbee
Volunteer Coordinator Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation
1775 Clairmont Rd
Decatur, GA 30033
404-325-3630 Ext 332    Fax:404-636-5549
www.Lionslighthouse.org

A Christian eyeglass recycling center for Christian ministry and missions is seeking eyeglass collections. They clean, sort, and neutralize glasses. Glasses of all types can be used on the mission field to take Christ to others. For more information please contact Amber (optichic3@yahoo.com).

MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

FCO MISSION RESOURCES

Global Health Outreach offers a variety of resources to help you as you prepare for a trip. Click here for travel, passport and visa information, spiritual preparation and more.

The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is a free service to allow U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

Embassy Registry

How to Apply for or Renew your Passport...

Passports

Optometric Practice Opportunities

Whiteriver Indian Hospital

We are seeking two optometrists, a staff optometrist and a supervisory optometrist, to staff our state-of-the-art facility and provide comprehensive eye care for our community. Whiteriver Indian Hospital is part of the US Indian Health Service and provides health care for the approximately 18,000 White Mountain Apache Tribal members living on the 1.6 million acre WMAT Reservation in the mountains of eastern Arizona.

Optometrist Needed for GHO Trip to the Dominican Republic

We are in need of an optometrist or an ophthalmologist who can join us on our CMDA Global Health Outreach mission trip to the Dominican Republic on August 3-11, 2024. This is an excellent trip for students of all backgrounds, including healthcare students, college students and even high school students. It is also a great family trip for spouses and young people, as there will be opportunities for children's ministries.

Meet the FCO Leadership Team

Aaron Frey, OD

Chair

Megan Leyda, OD

Vice-Chair

Taylor Sprague, OD

Asst. Vice-Chair

Kelly Frantz, O.D.

Dir. of Cont. Education

Jenifer Smith, MPA, CRA

Administrator