Patrick Greene was known by his neighbors in Henderson County, Texas as a professed atheist. He was notorious for threatening to sue Henderson County each year over the courthouse manger scene at Christmas time.

The reason? Greene says his experience with Christians through the years was of narrow-minded individuals who treated him unkindly. “My wife and I had never had a Christian do anything nice for us,” Greene said. “Just the opposite.”

That changed when the 63-year-old Greene learned he had a detached retina. He was forced to give up driving his Yellow Cab, and resigned himself to his impending blindness. Eye surgery would cost $20,000 he said, and he didn’t even have the money to pay bills or buy groceries.

Jessica Crye, a member of the Sand Springs Baptist Church in Henderson Cou…